Consumer complaint received 2022-04-06
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Complaint:
Venmo is a peer-to-peer ( P2P ) payment app available on XXXX and XXXX phones that allows for the quick and easy exchange of money directly between individuals. Founded in XXXX, Venmo began as a text-message-based payment delivery system. 

My name is XXXX XXXX and venmo has created quite a hardship on myself by freezing my account and not promptly resolving the issue. 

XX/XX/XXXX transfer {$2800.00} from XXXX to my venmo because XXXX doesn't work with my checking account and Venmo has for the past year. 

XX/XX/XXXX I bought gas with the venmo card XX/XX/XXXX I sent money from venmo card through XXXX XXXX  because my daughter doesn't use venmo 20 minutes later I received an email from venmo my account has been frozen because they need more proper identification after a year of using venmo I submitted ID California driver 's license and followed up by calling customer support which their automated message says " if you speak to a live agent we will not be able to resolve your situation today " Talk to agent and they told me to wait 4 to 5 days for ID verification email representative to contact me. 

Day XXXX XX/XX/XXXX I follow up through chat support and a phone call again with the response of the attach saying we can't tell you when will respond but it'll be as soon as possible. 

XXXX PM ) Team Venmo : Thanks, an agent will be with you shortly. The QueuXXXX position shows how many people are in line ahead of you. 
( XXXX PM ) Team Venmo : To make sure you see our response when an agent is available, please enable your push notifications for Venmo. On XXXXd, you can enable your notifications by opening your phones Settings > Apps & notifications > Notifications XXXX Venmo. 
( XXXX PM ) *** ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX joined the chat *** ( XXXX PM ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Hi there! Thank you for contacting Venmo Support, my name is XXXX and I will be assisting you for today! 
( XXXX PM ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Appreciate you bringing this to our attention! I'm sorry to hear about this frozen account but I'm glad you reached out to us. Don't worry, let me go ahead and take a look to see what had happened. Please give me a moment to pull up and review your records. 
( XXXX PM ) XXXX XXXX : Good Morning. My account was frozen 5 days ago and I was requested to submit ID which I did and my account is still frozen ( XXXX PM ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Hi there, thank you for patiently waiting! I can see that the ID you submitted to our Account Specialist, and one of our agents already escalated your reference # XXXX to them. You may need to wait for them to reach out to you via email once it is reviewed. 
( XXXX PM ) XXXX XXXX : when can I expect a response it's been 5 days already. {$2400.00} is locked up. my rent and bills are overdue ( XXXX PM ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Thanks for letting me know! Sorry for the delay in this process. They are currently experiencing a high volume of support requests and appreciate your patience as they work to provide the highest level of support to each customer. We hope you waiting for them as soon as possible. 
( XXXX PM ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Are you there? 
( XXXX PM ) XXXX XXXX : yes ( XXXX PM ) XXXX XXXX : I'm waiting for a response to my question ( XXXX PM ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Alright. You'll hear back from them # XXXX. 
( XXXX PM ) XXXX XXXX : When? 
( XXXX PM ) XXXX XXXX : I need a time, not the statement asap ( XXXX PM ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Sure. I'll need to close this chat so that I can forward your information to them via email. They will follow up with you directly! 
( XXXX PM ) ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX : Please keep an eye on your reference # XXXX that they will reach out. Thanks again for reaching out! 
( XXXX PM ) *** ( XXXX ) XXXX XXXX left the chat *** XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX did some research and see the are others out there in same situation who are told to wait 180 days for investigation to be processed and even after that they're not getting their money released or a reason why. 

Day XXXX XXXX XXXX I received this email from Venmo... 
*** You have a new message from Venmo regarding request # XXXX. To respond, simply reply to this email. 

Hi XXXX, Due to several concerns regarding your account activity, we made the decision to permanently restrict your account. 

We have systems in place that monitor activity on Venmo, but please note that we don't reveal information about our internal systems in order to keep these systems robust. However, I'd recommend looking over our User Agreement for information on our policies surrounding acceptable use and high-risk activity. You can find our User Agreement here : https : //venmo.com/legal/us-user-agreement/. 

I apologize that we're no longer able to assist you. 


Best regards, *** Please Help Me Thank You XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief