Consumer complaint received 2021-11-11
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: NC
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
I opened a Venmo account on XX/XX/XXXX to make a {$540.00} payment to a friend for four XXXX football tickets. The Venmo app setup required that I log into the mobile app for my bank account to complete this transaction by automatically synching with the Venmo app, which I did. I was notified soon after that the payment transaction to my friend was successfully completed, however, when I checked my bank account activity over the next few days, there were no signs of this transaction. On XXXX I received the following notice from Venmo customer support : XXXX XXXX  ( Venmo ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX AM XXXX Hello, Im so sorry to hear that your account is frozen and I understand the urgency of being able to use the account to the fullest! My name is XXXX from Venmo support. Rest assured that I will check where this issue is coming from. 

Your account is frozen because we couldn't recover funds for the payment of {$540.00} to XXXX XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. Venmo successfully sent the funds to the intended recipient, but couldn't debit the funding source selected, which was your bank ending in XXXX. 

Before the account can be unfrozen, you'll need to pay Venmo back {$540.00}. 

You can find more information and settle this unrecovered payment by following the prompts in the app. Tap Restore your account to get the process started. Alternatively, you can settle the payment by using a computers browser to visit venmo.com/recover. 

You can use either a debit card or bank account to add money to Venmo and unfreeze your account. A debit card payment ( if successful ) will unfreeze immediately. A bank account payment may take up to 5 business days to process ( if successful ) before your account is unfrozen. It is also worth noting that you'll receive an email when your account unfreezes. 

Please note : Any payments you receive before initiating repayment to Venmo will be applied to the money owed. If the payment is equal to or more than the money owed, your account will automatically unfreeze. If you receive a payment after you have initiated repayment, the repayment transaction will have to complete before any money is recovered from your Venmo account. 

If you have any questions regarding this process, please let me know. 

If you have any additional questions, please let me know! 

Best, XXXX XXXX | Venmo Support # 1. I did not request to have my account to be unfrozen, nor at this point do I wish to trust my bank account details to this risky service. I want to pay off this debt, but I refuse to use this unreliable service to do it! 
# 2. I do not have any bank accounts, nor debit or credit cards, ending in XXXX as indicated in the letter above. That account number was acquired in error by their process, not mine! 
# 3. Venmo unsuccessfully synched with my actual bank account but transferred funds to my friend anyway. 
# 4. I have offered to pay this legitimate debt with cash, check, money order or credit card ( which Venmo has on file ). All of those payment means have been rejected by Venmo customer support. 
# 5. Venmo refuses to accept payment through any means except an active Venmo account, which under the circumstances, I refuse to activate ( they are essentially trying to force me to use a service which has already failed me once before! ). 
# 6. The most recent solution offered by their customer support team is the ridiculous proposal below ( basically borrow money from a friend and drag that same friend into this mess created by Venmo! ). 
# 7. At this point, I feel like Venmo is simply trying to extort this situation to force a former customer to reactivate their Venmo accountI want to pay my debt, but I refuse to become a Venmo customer to do it! 

XXXX XXXX ( Venmo ) XX/XX/XXXX, XXXX AM XXXX Hi XXXX, Thank you for reaching us, I'm XXXX from Venmo Support and I will be glad to assist you regarding your account. 

We are really sorry you are passing through this situation with the bank account tied to your Venmo, we know how concerning it can be! 

XXXX, we appreciate for letting us know about your experience and we apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. Since you don't want to add your bank account, which is understandable in this situation, and we can not recover a debt using a credit card or a check, I personally recommend you receive a payment from a friend with the same amount. This will recover this payment and unfreeze your account. I know you don't want to unfreeze it but that will be the solution for this issue. 

Again, we truly apologize for this experience and the inconvenience this has caused you. Please, let us know if you need anything else! 

Kind regards, XXXX P | Venmo Support

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation