Consumer complaint received 2023-03-27
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: NC
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
Hello, I sent money to a friend on the XXXX after having a dinner with him. I sent him 1 ( ONE ) transaction of {$30.00}. The Venmo system at that time was glitching or HACKED, and sent him {$30.00} XXXX ( XXXX ) different times. I sent an immediate chat to their online customer service agent, and I was reassured that I would only be charged for one transaction and not XXXX. I explained I did not have this type of money in my account and I would be charged overdraft fees if this money goes through. He again re-assured me the accounts specialist team would take care of these charges.

That evening two transactions were sent to my friend, meanwhile XXXX other transaction continue to pend. I then sent a help ticket in through there online help system and explained multiple times what was happening with my account. I received emails, that they assured me my compliant would be looked at. 

The next morning, I received an email stating that I violated terms of service and therefore my account was frozen. I sent a follow up email stating that this was a glitch in their system, they probably had a hacker causing issues for consumers and I needed their safety team to do a full investigation and fix this problem ASAP as I did not break US law by sending {$30.00} to my friend to pay for dinner. I still received no information from Venmo. 

XXXX hours later, I started to get money in my VENMO account for the transaction that were pending, but were not processed yet. I sent then am email confused about what their team was doing to fix the solution and if there is money in my Venmo account, I need it in my bank account so I am not having to pay overdraft fees due to their technical problems with their system. 

XXXX hours later, I checked my bank account, and I now had XXXX transactions officially pending from my bank account and these transactions affected my available balance by {$1100.00}. 

I immediately called their customer service phone number as soon as it opened on XX/XX/23 at XXXX and spoke with XXXX who told me she sees all the issues, but she could not help me. I demanded to speak with a supervisor. She sent me through to XXXX, XXXX sounded like she was outside. I explained to her the situation, snd she said she could not help me, and it was the consumers fault for not trying to reach them sooner. The call ended in the Venmo Customer Service SUPERVISOR telling me that the consumers meant nothing to Venmo and she did not care that her system glitched and unethically took over {$1000.00} from my account. I am now missing over {$1000.00} from a {$30.00} meal, Venmo is not taking responsibility for the glitch in their system, and the only person who is suffering is the consumer. 

I attached screen shots of all the transactions that came out of my account. I had to scrool down four times just to fit all the transactions into a screen. I transferred some money that Venmo refunded me, but as you can see in my account, I still don't have access to that money, but Venmo took my money out of my account. They refunded XXXX transactions directly to my account, but they should have refunded all XXXX back to my account as then I would have access to the money that was suspiciously taken from my account without authorization.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief