Consumer complaint received 2019-07-17
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
PayPal illegally holding over {$8000.00} of revenue locked for 180 days.

After having one limitation placed on my account where PayPal asked me for the following : - Proof of identity ( submitted my ID ) - Invoice from our manufacturer ( submitted a bulk invoice ) - Proof of fulfillment ( submitted all of the tracking details ) I waited for 7 days and got my limitation reviewed and  my account restored. This happened on XX/XX/XXXX and my account restored on XX/XX/XXXX. 

On XX/XX/XXXX. I receive an email that my account has been limited yet again, this time they're asking only to get " Proof of fulfillment '' - which was submitted, and my account got locked and my money put on hold on XX/XX/XXXX. 

After reaching out to support I've learned that I wasn't even given the right to appeal, and a kind customer support agent filed a complaint in my name on that same date - with it being denied by the review team without any explanation ( I've also added that I'll be happy to make any documents/contracts/information they need available upon request to help them better understand my business, and all of the information provided to them was accurate, stamped and signed as well as truthful and law-abiding ) So here I am. After being discriminated and blocked without the right to appeal even if my PayPal account has been : 1 ) In excellent standing 2 ) No chargebacks EVER 3 ) Tracking links updated for all orders, everyday 4 ) No customer complaints whatsoever Since I passed my first limitation, and I was blocked after reviewing the 2nd limitation ( just asking for tracking numbers which were correct and provided asap ) I can only imagine that this was an action on behalf of PayPal to embezzle {$9000.00} and hold it for 180 days along with all their interest rates, fees and my revenue. Without the right to appeal, I will have to turn to the relevant legal entities to get my money released. 

COMPLETE TIMELINE OF THE EVENT : XX/XX/XXXX. - Opened a Business PayPal account to be used as a payment processor for my ecommerce business.

Provided all of the information including ( but not limited to ) : - Personal ID, address, contacts - Business registration documentation - Proof of address - Tax ID 's XX/XX/XXXX. - PayPal account activated. 

Around the same date, some low revenue started going through PayPal every now and then XX/XX/XXXX. - We've opened our ecommerce store to the public and started a slow and steady climb to bring our revenue up. At the end of XX/XX/XXXX, our total revenue landed at around {$14000.00} I've kept checking in with PayPal customer support every week to make sure that they have all of the information they need, that my account is in good standing and to let them know that I will be happy to provide any docs to them upon request. 

Customer support kept assuring me that my account is in excellent standing and that everything is alright! 

XX/XX/XXXX. - I wake up to a limitation. My account has been limited and I can only receive or refund the money, without being able to withdraw. They've asked me to provide : - Proof of identity ( submitted my ID ) - Invoice from our manufacturer ( submitted a bulk invoice ) - Proof of fulfillment ( submitted all of the tracking details ) And I've also forwarded them my business model explanation ( standard ecomm - we buy, we store, we sell online and ship it from our/our partner 's warehouses ) along with some contracts and documents proving everything I've said as well as an open letter stating that I will happily provide all and any contracts, correspondence or documents regarding our company to them upon request to help them expedite and review the limitation. 

XX/XX/XXXX. - Account has been released and restored back. At this point there was around {$7000.00} that piled up over the course of the week, and I made a withdrawal to my back account.

XX/XX/XXXX. - Account has been limited AGAIN. This time they're asking me to provide them with : - Proof of fulfillment ( submitted all of the tracking details ) XX/XX/XXXX. - Account frozen and money put on hold for 180 days without explanation or the right to appeal. 

I call customer support respectfully asking them to provide me with further information, and after having a chat with the customer support agent, they've told me that ( quote ) : " This is very strange. I have your account details here and this doesn't make any sense. Your case has been reviewed and account further limited without the right to appeal. I see that you've been approved before and that everything was cleared. I will personally put in an appeal in your name to the review team. I am not saying it happened or is the case here - but we all make mistakes sometimes. Again, I'm not saying that's the case. '' I've had no word from them since and my account is frozen and money on hold for the next 180 days without the right to appeal. 


I've sent out an email to every email address listed on PayPal 's site or other sources respectfully asking them to release my money, or I will have no choice but to file a complaint with the following agencies : XX/XX/XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ( XXXX ) XX/XX/XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX  The United States Federal Reserve The XXXX XXXX XXXX   The California Office of the Attorney General The Washington State Office of the Attorney General The Florida Office of the Attorney General The Arizona Office of the Attorney General Again - I am respectfully requesting that the hold on my  funds/account be released. I am not primarily requesting that my account be re-opened or allowed to continue to use the PayPal service, as I am no longer in need of PayPals services. My request is to have {$8.00} released to my bank account linked with/to my PayPal account.

That being said I have no problem with and agree to leave a balance of {$1000.00} for credit card chargeback purposes for the duration of the 180 days. I feel that this is a fair resolution while still leaving PayPal with the means to chargeback any future credit card disputes to my account.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation