"Why I don't take PayPal" by Troy H. Cheek on Sep 22, 2008
I got this email the other day...
From: (An Obvious Idiot)
To: (Troy)
Subj: Computer OrderDear Mr Cheek,
I saw the computer you had advertised on your web site and I would like to purchase it. I have sent $100 (US) to your PayPal account as a down payment. Please contact me as to how much more you want and what other information you need from me. Please ship to the following address... (snip)
There are several things wrong with this email. First of all, I didn't even have a computer listed for sale on my website. I did have pictures of several modifications that I've made to computers, but none of them were for sale. Secondly, I didn't ask for any type of down payment. When I am listing items for sale, I always make it clear not to send any money before contacting me.
Finally, I don't take PayPal. I wrote back and told him this.
From: (An Obvious Idiot)
To: (Troy)
Subj: PayPalDear Troy,
You don't understand. Of course you take PayPal. I checked before I wrote you. Your account is under troy@cheek.org and I have sent the money there. How much more to pay off the computer?
Oh, I don't deny that I have an active account with PayPal. I've had one for a few years now, I suppose. I signed up so I could pay for something online, the guy I was buying it from saying that he preferred to use PayPal. So I signed up, entered some credit card information, and was on my way.
The next day, a nice young lady from my credit card company called. She asked if I had been doing any business with an offshore gambling establishments lately.
From: (An Obvious Idiot)
To: (Troy)
Subj: PayPal confirmationTroy,
I checked my PayPal history and it says that you have accepted the payment. In case you didn't get my earlier email, here is my shipping address again...
I told the nice lady that I hadn't been doing any business out of the country lately. We went over my recent account activity. I verified my ISP and a few other people that I'd been doing business with for months if not years.
The second to last item was PayPal.
The last item was an online casino, exactly ten (10) times the PayPal amount, exactly ten (10) minutes later.
From: (An Obvious Idiot)
To: (Troy)
Subj: Credit CardHey Troy,
Remember me? They guy you were selling the computer to? Well, I just got my credit card statement and it confirms that PayPal has been paid the $100. PayPal confirms that the $100 has gone to your account. So quite frankly I don't understand how you can keep telling me that you don't take PayPal. You've got the money. Stop stalling and start working on getting me my computer.
The nice young lady and I agreed that the credit card number was no longer secure. She closed that account, gave me a new card number, and sent me a new card which arrived in a few days. I'd have to talk to my ISP and other people who charged me regularly, but that shouldn't be a problem.
The day after that, a nice young man from the credit card company called to remind me that since the account was closed, I couldn't keep using that credit card. I told him that I hadn't been using it. By the way, how many times had it been tried?
Oh, about 20 times in the last two days.
From: (An Obvious Idiot)
To: (Troy)
Subj: Customer complaintMr Cheek,
It has been over three weeks since I sent you the down payment. You have not billed me for the remaining amount, you have not made arrangements to ship the computer, and you are still persisting in this nonsense that you do not do business via PayPal even though your seller record there shows that you have made dozens of transactions in the last two years.
If I do not hear a satisfactory explaination from you by the end of the week, I will tell PayPal that it has been 30 days since I sent payment and you have still not provided me with the merchandise. From what I understand about their Terms of Service, they will refund my money and freeze your account so that you can't do this to anyone else.
Once my next credit card bill came in, I disputed the charge the casino made. I seriously considered disputing the PayPal charge as well, but I didn't want to cause any problems for the guy I was paying. He said he'd never had any problems himself, but knew some people that did, and directed me to several websites where they explained their difficulties. I began to understand that I had gotten off lightly.
I dialed up the PayPal website and hit the link to cancel my account. Apparently, my password, mother's maiden name, social security number, and zip code weren't enough to convince them that I was who I said I was, as they also asked for a credit card number. I gave them the one I'd used to sign up with.
From: (An Obvious Idiot)
To: (Troy)
Subj: Warning to PayPalCheek,
This has gone on far enough. I have contacted PayPal and have requested my money back. They have started an investigation. You are about to get what's coming to you.
The credit card number was no longer valid, the website told me, so I'd have to enter another one. I really couldn't understand how giving them a credit card number that they'd never seen before would convince them that I was the same person who gave them a different credit card number earlier. I tried calling customer service.
After several calls over several days, I finally got a real person on the line. She told me that I'd have to FAX them several documents, including bank statements, utility bills, driver license, and I forget what else. This was to verify my identity. They didn't have a decent answer for why they didn't verify my identity before opening my account, so I refused to send them anything.
From: (An Obvious Idiot)
To: (Troy)
Subj: What did you do!!!Cheek,
What kind of crap are you pulling with PayPal? They said they went to freeze your account but it was already frozen because it was already under investigation. They also tell me that they can't refund my money because your account balance is insufficient. Damn you! Now I'm going to have to have my credit card company do a charge back.
Well, because "somebody made an unauthorized attempt to access your account" they decided to temporarily freeze my account until they completed an investigation. This didn't bother me at the time, because my unauthorized access was made while I was trying to close said account.
It did start bothering me later, though, when I asked somebody to send me a check and they said, "Oh, I'll just send it to your PayPal account." I told them they couldn't, because it was frozen. They tried anyway.
Much to our mutual surprise, it worked.
I now had a non-zero balance with no way to collect it. I emailed in to complain. He emailed in to complain. My account was un-frozen. Curiously enough, it was un-froze with a zero balance again, though he complained that PayPal couldn't refund his money because my account balance was too low.
From: (An Obvious Idiot)
To: (Troy)
Subj: legal actionCheek,
This is the last straw. My credit card company reversed the charge, but PayPal tried to charge it again for some reason, so I had to tell the credit card company to reverse it again and not accept any more charges from them. Then PayPal turned around and charged my bank account. I didn't have $100 in my account at the time, so my bank is charging me an extra $25 for the overdraft. Furthermore, PayPal has permanently frozen my account and I had $240 worth of credit in there.
I'm contacting my lawyer. I'm suing you for all the money I've lost on this deal!
As the years went by, I received the occasional request to pay or be paid by PayPal. I tell them that I can't. Some don't believe me and try anyway. My PayPal account has at many times shown positive and negative balances due to this activity, but every time I try to take money out or put money in, I'm told my account is frozen pending the outcome of an investigation.
From: (Paypal Customer Service)
To: (Troy)
Subj: your accountDear Mrs Cheek,
Your credit card number (number of card I cancelled after signing up with PayPal) will expire soon (actually, it did last year). To avoid any interruption to your service, please update your credit card expiration date by following the steps below. (snip)
Also, due to complaints by (An Obvious Idiot), your account has been temporarily frozen pending the results of an investigation.
Thank you,
PayPal Customer Service
