Consumer complaint received 2023-05-14
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: GA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Wrong amount charged or received

Complaint:
XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX Consumer Financial Protection Bureau XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  XXXX, XXXX  XXXX Subject : Complaint Regarding PayPal Business Virtual Terminal Dear Sir/Madam, I am writing this letter to bring to your attention a significant issue I have encountered with PayPal Business Virtual Terminal. I believe that my recent experience with their service has been unfair and detrimental to my business operations, and I hope that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) can assist in addressing this matter. 

I opened an account with PayPal in XX/XX/XXXX, and prior to the XXXX pandemic, I had successfully utilized PayPal for numerous transactions without any complications. However, since setting up my company post-XXXX, I have encountered a series of problems that have severely impacted my ability to conduct business smoothly. 

As a seasonal company, we experience high transaction volumes during a specific period, spanning XXXX  days from XXXX to XXXX each year. In order to accommodate this seasonality, I set my monthly transaction limit to {$50000.00}. To my dismay, after the first successful transaction in XX/XX/XXXX, my account has been repeatedly frozen for the past XXXX transactions. Despite providing all the necessary corporate credentials, including my XXXX number and banking information, I was informed by PayPal on XX/XX/XXXX, that " Once a client pays through Virtual Terminal, the merchant 's money would be held for up to XXXX business days. '' This sudden change in policy has placed an immense burden on my business operations. I have been unable to pay my drivers, and I currently have a line of clients eagerly awaiting my services for upcoming weddings and proms. The lack of a reliable payment processor has caused substantial inconvenience and financial loss to my business. 

What is particularly concerning is the lack of transparency on the Virtual Terminal itself regarding this policy change. Nowhere in the platform did I find any mention of each transaction being held for XXXX business days. Furthermore, PayPal continues to freeze transactions even when they are significantly below my designated monthly limit of {$50000.00}. In fact, the frozen transactions have amounted to less than 10 % of my maximum monthly transactions, which further highlights the arbitrary nature of their actions. 

I kindly request that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau thoroughly investigates this matter and takes appropriate action against PayPal. It is crucial to make other businesses aware of these unfair practices and the potential risks associated with using PayPal Business Virtual Terminal. I strongly urge the CFPB to publish my complaint to ensure that other merchants are informed about the hidden policies and potential disruptions that they may face when using PayPal. 

Moreover, I intend to report this issue to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency ( OCC ) to ensure that this matter is investigated from multiple angles and appropriate measures are taken to rectify the situation. 

There are no evidence as the transactions were either held and show completed, and a XXXX time courtesy release was granted. I kindly request that you acknowledge the receipt of this complaint and provide me with updates on the progress of your investigation. 

Thank you for your attention to this matter. I trust that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will take the necessary actions to address this issue and protect the interests of small businesses like mine. 

Yours sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX [

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief