Consumer complaint received 2017-09-14
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: IL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
A house photography service that I used sent me an electronic invoice to be paid via Paypal. Not having or wanting a Paypal account, on XXXX XXXX and XXXX, XXXX I chose the guest option and I entered my data approximately six times over two days because Paypal repeatedly showed a screen that basically said it could not accept my payment. At that point, I checked with my credit card issuing bank about the status of my XXXX account and confirmed that there were no holds or any other issues that would prevent my transaction. 

I tried calling Paypal but going through the laborious automated system was twice met ( hours apart, mind you ) with a message that they were having technical issues and automatically disconnected my calls. I was finally able to reach a customer service rep who flat out told me that I had to create a Paypal account for him to help me pay the invoice. I told him that I did not want a Paypal account but he insisted that I had to establish one, basically ignoring my factual statements that Paypal 's online system allows a party to pay as a guest. When he refused to provide any other option, I asked to speak with a manager. After being on hold for more than five minutes, to my surprise, the customer service rep came back on and said that he had a manager with whom I could speak. 

The manager acknowledged the problem and asked that I hold while he attempted to look into my attempts. He said that my transaction attempts were basically cleared but something else was rejecting them -- which he would not explain -- but we could perhaps get through it if I correctly answered a variety of security questions and asked if I wanted to proceed. I replied that we can try but it would depend on the security questions [ for instance, I would not be willing to provide my social security number ( SSN ) ]. 

The questions that the manager asked were of the nature one answers when running their own credit report, e.g. streets lived on, cars own, etc. By successfully answering these questions and then re-attempting to pay the invoice through the Paypal system for about the 15th time by then, the transaction did go through. 

Although I did not provide my SSN, did this manager have enough data to then run my credit report? Does he and Paypal now have my credit info and other personal info? If so, how will this data be used, especially considering that I specifically did not want to establish a Paypal account? 

Also, what were the undisclosed factors that kept me from paying the invoice as a guest on Paypal per the vendor billing? What was the manager able to do after I provided personal information? I was not applying for credit, I was attempting to pay an invoice through a service with a credit card that had already vetted my credit. Did a Paypal representative open an account in my name/likeness without my authorization? 

The inexplicable denial of transaction attempts by Paypal is suspicious, the insistence by a Paypal representative that I open a Paypal account to proceed despite their own online information to the contrary, along with what appears to be an unauthorized credit check demand that I request the CFPB to investigate Paypal practices.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation