Consumer complaint received 2021-11-23
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account

Complaint:
on XXXX I received a small transaction of {$2.00} from XXXX XXXX to may PayPal Account. This transaction was a rebate form XXXX for an item that I purchased. That same day I tried to transfer said balance from my PayPal account to my Checking account with XXXX XXXX Bank. ( I had added this bank account back to my profile after deleting it an unknown time ago. ) Immediately after submitting a transfer I received a notice from PayPal stating my transaction was under review and would take XXXX hours but then another notice I received stated it could take XXXX hours. 

PayPal does not provide phone support and I had to engage in conversation through their virtual message through their mobile application. I inquired at XXXX PDT as to why there was a XXXX hour hold on my account. They stated " it was for security purposes. '' When I asked why and what were the security concerns? I was informed that they could not disclose them for security reasons. I then instructed the agent to provide me with the legal departments information to contact and then to close my PayPal account. He refused both. 

On XXXX I received another payment this time of {$560.00} from Sell Shark. This money was from the sell of a smartphone I owned to a XXXX party reseller. Once again PayPal immediately froze the funds when I submitted to do a standard withdrawal from my account. For yet another " security review. '' Below is the attached conversation I had with the representative on XXXX. PayPal 's website will not allow for the printing of the conversations so I had to copay and paste it. 

Hi! I'm your PayPal XXXX. To get started, simply ask me a question. 

I am still learning, so if I can't help you, I'll direct you to additional resources. 
XXXX XXXX - PayPal XXXX XXXX is there a XXXX hour hold XXXX PM Do you need help with a pending payment? 
XXXX XXXX - PayPal XXXX XXXX XXXX PM Happy to help! Can you select the transaction you're looking for from this list? 
XXXX PM - PayPal XXXX XXXX ID : XXXX Amount : {$2.00} Date : XX/XX/2021 XXXX PM Your transfer for {$2.00} USD which you began on XX/XX/2021 has been delayed. To provide XXXX of the safest online payment services, our internal security system reviews every transaction before it's released. This type of review can happen for various reasons. For example, you may have received a higher-than-usual amount of money into your account, you may be logging in from an insecure network, or you may have made changes to your account settings recently. 
This transfer is under review for XXXX hours. Once the review is complete, your transfer should be processed normally and you will receive the money in your BANK within XXXX business days. 

Is there anything else I can help you with today? 
XXXX PM - PayPal Assistant Yes XXXX PM How may I assist you? 
XXXX XXXX - PayPal XXXX Speak to someone XXXX PM Would you like to send this conversation to a customer support agent? We typically respond within a few hours. 
XXXX XXXX - PayPal XXXX XXXX XXXX PM If you haven't already, let us know why you're contacting us. Feel free to step away and we'll notify you by email or push notification when we've responded. 
XXXX PM - PayPal Assistant Transaction hold XXXX PM AA Hello there! My name is XXXX and I hope you are doing good. I appreciate your patience while waiting for my response. Please do not disconnect, and you will be notified as soon as I respond. 
XXXX XXXX - XXXX Can you tell me while there is a hold on my withdrawal, please? 
XXXX PM AA Apologies for the inconvenience caused. I understand you want to know why there is a hold on your withdrawal. Let me check and help you with this. 

XXXX, I do sense the urgency of this matter and this is really frustrating on your part, if I were on your shoes. I might feel the same way as well. As I have checked your account it seems like you're experiencing PayPal XXXX that could take up to XXXX hours. 

I do understand that you need your money right away, I also tried to expedite this for you but the system did not allow me to do so. I wish I could do more but my hands are tied. 

Feel free to reply at your convenience and XXXX of my colleagues will pick up on your conversation where we left off to provide any additional assistance that is requested. 
XXXX XXXX - XXXX XXXX I ask what caused the security hold? 
XXXX PM AA XXXX, I wish I could share a specific reason as why this attempt was kept on hold but due to security reason no one is allowed to see a specific reason or share the reason to customers. These are too confidential information which will help us to protect our customers account and privacy. 

I hope you will understand how important for us to protect your account and privacy. 

Feel free to reply at your convenience and XXXX of my colleagues will pick up on your conversation where we left off to provide any additional assistance that is requested. 
XXXX PM - Aurobinda Thats ridiculous. Close all my PayPal accounts. 
XXXX PM XXXX? Close my PayPal account. 
Also I will need the address to send legal summons to. If my money isnt in my account in XXXX hours. We will be going to small claims court. 
XXXX PM AA XXXX, I see that as there is a pending withdrawal in your PayPal account, we are unable to close your PayPal account. 

I would suggest you to wait for XXXX hours for the withdrawal to be completed and then you will be able to close this PayPal account. 

Protecting your account is our top priority. Therefore, whenever there is a transaction processed in your account, it will go under several security checkings to make sure that there are no future issues with this transaction. If our system suspects there could be some possible unauthorized activity then it will immediately block the charges to make sure that there are no unauthorized charges on our customers account. 

This is how our system is designed to protect our customers account. 

Feel free to reply at your convenience and XXXX of my colleagues will pick up on your conversation where we left off to provide any additional assistance that is requested. 
XXXX PM - Aurobinda Messages are worked in the order theyre received and well send you a notification to your app, PayPal account, and email you when we reply. Thank you.

Company response to consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief