Attn: Daniel H. Schulman
President of PayPal
Dear Mr. Schulman,
My name is Brian Heiler, I am writing to you today as the owner of a small start-up business who is in need of your help.
During the Pandemic shut down, I like a lot of other people found myself without employment and I decided that this would be the time to launch my dream business, creating niche publications.
Over the next few months, I and several collaborators created a publication I was very proud of, so much so that I threw caution to the wind and spent my much-needed funds to create it.
The dream became a nightmare when, on my launch date, I discovered PayPal was allowing me to take orders but not allowing me access funds to pay for postage or to pay for the other services involved.
I could not access my funds until I provided some proof that my business was real.
My business FYI has had a PayPal account for almost a decade.
I have sent document after document on that list and they've all been rejected with no explanation.
Your customer service has been nearly impossible to speak to, one person just coldly told me to "Just go buy stamps" another person reminded me "they're busy" and it would be a ten-day wait.
I have sent the requested documents several times and spent over $200 (that I don't have) getting the documentation PayPal demanded and woke up today to find it was again rejected for no explanation and again, the email asked for the document I already provided.
This dream project is now a nightmare, I can't ship the orders yet people keep ordering (giving PayPal my money), I can't do my press release campaign because I don't know if PayPal will keep my money indefinitely. No one will speak to me or answer my questions.
The stress has now caused negative effects on my health and I have taken a leave of absence from my job.
All I want is to speak to someone at your financial institution today to advise as to how I resolve this manner in a reasonable time.
I hope that your financial institution can honour this reasonable request from a small start-up business that cannot survive to wait.
Yours Sincerely,
Brian Heiler
18 comments:
Oh gosh, I can understand your frustration. I use Paypay but I have my issues with the company.
I know I don't speak for everyone but I can wait- take the time you need to work though the issues here. And if there's anything we can do to help don't hesitate to let us know.
Good luck and God bless you Brian.
Having a similar problem. They've been sitting on over $200 of mine for MONTHS.
This is the 2nd time I've gone through this with them. Also, I'm just a guy selling his own property, not a business. I've been asked SO many times to provide invoices of where I purchased my items from. WHAT?! These are just items I own, some of which I bought over 30 years ago! Beyond frustrating!!!
Again, I can't speak for everyone, but I echo Gamera sentiments. Don't stress on our behalf.
And PayPal... what the heck?!?! Get your act together.
Come to think of it, i think i paid for an event that was canceled due to the pandemic. The person sent me a refund, but i can't figure out how to get the money out or reuse it.
I'm not sure who the authorities in charge of such a thing as this are in Canada, but it might be time to explore that avenue of approach. Sounds like fraud or theft to me if they're witholding funds they do not own from the person who does own them, with no explanation and no real way to address the issue.
Grrrrrr, PayPAL, sorry my brain is already off for the weekend.
If you need a little additional funding to hire an attorney please just let us know.
It seems they're business plan is to collect money and never give it to the people that it belongs to.
Maybe they're hoping they're too big to have to obey the law.
I hope they are not but, I'm not very hopeful.
Had my share of troubles with paypal over the years too. Not a customer friendly operation. Ebay for that matter also. Had a nice little business too, but the aggrevation of trying to get my money and the constantly increasing fees made me say to heck with it. Hope you fair better. I'm a big fan of your site and blog.
It's going out this afternoon. Will get you a tracking number as soon as I have it.
Sorry to hear about this crap you are going through Brian. I hope it gets worked out in your favor.
👍👍
I was wondering what happened. I placed an order back on the 13th and had no heard anything. should i just email paypal to cancel order?
I'll refrain from going on a rant about big business screwing the little guy (but rest assured it's one of my major peeves). Praying everything works out well, and quickly, for you Brian!
Ugh, that sucks, eventually it'll all work itself out, but that blows.
I'm a longtime ebay top seller with 100% feedback. A few weeks back, I started selling some small plastic dolls of Kpop singers Blackpink for my neice. Paypal immediately put a hold on ALL my funds because I was selling a "risk" item. Plastic dolls made in Korea, but sold exclusively through Target! No warning that the items were considered risky, just a hold on all my incoming payments after years being a Top Seller with 100% feedback.
Brian, most of us understand. We can wait.
@ Rick Dunn
What does Paypal consider a "risk item," and why would they put a hold on your funds for that?
@Brian
Hope the PayPal situation gets resolved soon. You should post your letter on social media too, might get more traction that way.
@ YesterdayIsNOw
ebay does not provide a comprehensive list of "risk items," but the "risk" usually refers to items that could require authentication, such as designer handbags, etc. Risk items can be digital goods, signed collectibles, Chinese knock-offs of new Disney toys/dolls. The most random part: if a seller typically posts books, DVDs and CDs, but then posts an a outlier item, such as a wedding dress, ebay might declare that a "risk" item. One would assume that if an item was considered a "risk" sellers would receive a notification while creating the listing. There is no system in place. I read posts by many outraged sellers.
The moment I removed the listing for "BlackPink micro pop stars Target exclusive doll," ebay lifted the two-week hold it had place on all my sales. Everything is back to normal.
@ Rick Dunn
Thanks for the background details. That does sound like a random and frustrating system. I wonder if there is a competing marketplace site where anything goes.
Post a Comment