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Greetings 
So, at the time of typing this up, I am awaiting a response from the "back office" of Paypal after sending them a final notice and letting them know that if they do not review everything that has happened properly, I would be pursuing legal action.
I wanted to get your opinion on whether I would be successful with a small claims case. So here is an overview of what happened;
At the beginning of August 2019, Paypal requested that I send them documentation due to the fact that my ebay business was producing revenue in excess of £2000. (Or, was getting to that point). And because of that, they asked for identification and proof of address. I provided them with my British passport and a bank statement. A day later, without any explanation and out of nowhere, Paypal sent me an email titled, "Paypal Appeal Refused". This is, word for word, the email I received a day after submitting my valid documents;
"Dear xxxx",
After reviewing your PayPal account, we've determined there to be excessive risk involved in doing business with you and we'd like to begin parting ways in a manner that is least disruptive to your business.
If there is any money in your account balance, it will be held for 180 days (from the date of the last payment you received) to cover any disputes that might be opened by your buyers.
After 180 days, we may ask you to provide us with a proof of identity and a proof of address before you can withdraw any remaining balance.
If there are outstanding buyer complaints open against you, you can refund your customers via the Resolution Centre in your PayPal account.
We reserve the right to close any account reported to be involved in possible high-risk behaviour. In the event of a dispute, we'll try to recover the money from you by debiting your PayPal balance first and, if there are insufficient funds in your PayPal balance, we reserve the right to collect your debt to PayPal by any other legal means.
We appreciate your patience and understanding regarding this matter and regret any inconvenience it may cause you.
Yours sincerely,
xxxx
PayPal
I did not violate any terms of service on eBay, I had no history of cases or issues with buyers that were opened against me, and I did not sell any items that would go against both eBay and Paypal's terms of service, yet, I was told that I would be given no reason and would have to wait for 180 days. And that is what I did.
Fast forward to Wednesday 29th January 2020, I called PayPal as the 180 day limit was nearing its end. I was told that I would be receiving an email instructing me on how to have my funds transferred back to me on the coming Saturday 1st February. I waited... and no email came. I called back and the representative over the phone said that they would form a ticket" to contact the back office and asked for my identification in the form of a passport which she said was fine, they then asked for my bank statement for proof of address. I was told to wait for 24-72 hours, after which I should have the option to finally transfer my funds back to the account it was withdrawn from all those months ago.
After waiting for 72 hours, I got no response and no option to take back my funds. I called back and a male representative that told me that they accepted my bank statement as proof of address but they would not accept my passport as I had submitted it before (back in august as they asked for it as proof of identity). WHAT?
How is that even logical?. Does that make any sense?. Why can't you accept my passport and why are you even asking for proof of identity when I provided that in the form of a valid British passport back in August 2019 when you requested a valid form of identification?.
They then proceeded to ask for my birth certificate, which I provided them. After I sent that, I called back to ask why would they want a birth certificate if that's not a valid form of identification?. The representative told me we just need to prove that the name on the account and the date of birth matches your information . We already have your passport which is a form of identification, and with the birth certificate we can use that coupled with your passport to have your funds released. They then asked me to wait between 24-72 hours.
I did just that. And what happened?. I called back 48 hours later to be told, the birth certificate had been rejected because it is not a valid form of ID. This was a "note" from the back office, who I can't contact at all due to the fact that no customer has any access to communication with these people. What's crazy is they ASKED ME FOR A BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND THEY REJECT IT, THEY HAVE MY BRITISH PASSPORT AND MY BANK STATEMENTS, and all of these documents are completely VALID.*
After explaining this, they insisted I provide them with a driving license, which I told them I don't have due to not having a car and being 19 years of age only just beginning university. They then offered 2 alternatives being a "national ID", which I wouldn't have become I am a UK resident and I have a passport or a "government issued ID" (Eg. Government work identification, armed forces, police, ect ect) which i don't have because I don't work for the government, I'm not in the armed forces or the police and I don't have a national ID as I am based in the UK and was born in here and only have a passport and a birth certificate as proof of identity (passport) and proof of name and date of birth (birth certificate).
The representative, once being told all of this, stated that he could see why I am frustrated and would get back to the back office. I told him, it seems that each time you get to the back office they just give a response that implies that they have no idea of the context of the situation and only look at what's given to them against a certain standard criteria.
So I sent a pre-legal letter of notice explaining every single thing I could, the situation, what I was asked for, what responses I keep getting, everything.
They claim they won't use my passport on the basis that I submitted it before only to have my account locked straight away. Why? I have proved my identity. My date of birth, my name, my current residence.
My question is (AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING UP TO THIS POINT, YOU ARE VERY VERY APPRECIATED) can I take this to a small claims court and force them to let me transfer my funds back to my bank based on the information above?
and also
Is there a possibility to sue them for even more?. And would I be able to force them to pay for any legal fees associated with me pursuing this is the case is decided in my favour?.
Blessings and many thanks
A Paypal Hater
*
So, at the time of typing this up, I am awaiting a response from the "back office" of Paypal after sending them a final notice and letting them know that if they do not review everything that has happened properly, I would be pursuing legal action.
I wanted to get your opinion on whether I would be successful with a small claims case. So here is an overview of what happened;
At the beginning of August 2019, Paypal requested that I send them documentation due to the fact that my ebay business was producing revenue in excess of £2000. (Or, was getting to that point). And because of that, they asked for identification and proof of address. I provided them with my British passport and a bank statement. A day later, without any explanation and out of nowhere, Paypal sent me an email titled, "Paypal Appeal Refused". This is, word for word, the email I received a day after submitting my valid documents;
"Dear xxxx",
After reviewing your PayPal account, we've determined there to be excessive risk involved in doing business with you and we'd like to begin parting ways in a manner that is least disruptive to your business.
If there is any money in your account balance, it will be held for 180 days (from the date of the last payment you received) to cover any disputes that might be opened by your buyers.
After 180 days, we may ask you to provide us with a proof of identity and a proof of address before you can withdraw any remaining balance.
If there are outstanding buyer complaints open against you, you can refund your customers via the Resolution Centre in your PayPal account.
We reserve the right to close any account reported to be involved in possible high-risk behaviour. In the event of a dispute, we'll try to recover the money from you by debiting your PayPal balance first and, if there are insufficient funds in your PayPal balance, we reserve the right to collect your debt to PayPal by any other legal means.
We appreciate your patience and understanding regarding this matter and regret any inconvenience it may cause you.
Yours sincerely,
xxxx
PayPal
I did not violate any terms of service on eBay, I had no history of cases or issues with buyers that were opened against me, and I did not sell any items that would go against both eBay and Paypal's terms of service, yet, I was told that I would be given no reason and would have to wait for 180 days. And that is what I did.
Fast forward to Wednesday 29th January 2020, I called PayPal as the 180 day limit was nearing its end. I was told that I would be receiving an email instructing me on how to have my funds transferred back to me on the coming Saturday 1st February. I waited... and no email came. I called back and the representative over the phone said that they would form a ticket" to contact the back office and asked for my identification in the form of a passport which she said was fine, they then asked for my bank statement for proof of address. I was told to wait for 24-72 hours, after which I should have the option to finally transfer my funds back to the account it was withdrawn from all those months ago.
After waiting for 72 hours, I got no response and no option to take back my funds. I called back and a male representative that told me that they accepted my bank statement as proof of address but they would not accept my passport as I had submitted it before (back in august as they asked for it as proof of identity). WHAT?
How is that even logical?. Does that make any sense?. Why can't you accept my passport and why are you even asking for proof of identity when I provided that in the form of a valid British passport back in August 2019 when you requested a valid form of identification?.
They then proceeded to ask for my birth certificate, which I provided them. After I sent that, I called back to ask why would they want a birth certificate if that's not a valid form of identification?. The representative told me we just need to prove that the name on the account and the date of birth matches your information . We already have your passport which is a form of identification, and with the birth certificate we can use that coupled with your passport to have your funds released. They then asked me to wait between 24-72 hours.
I did just that. And what happened?. I called back 48 hours later to be told, the birth certificate had been rejected because it is not a valid form of ID. This was a "note" from the back office, who I can't contact at all due to the fact that no customer has any access to communication with these people. What's crazy is they ASKED ME FOR A BIRTH CERTIFICATE AND THEY REJECT IT, THEY HAVE MY BRITISH PASSPORT AND MY BANK STATEMENTS, and all of these documents are completely VALID.*
After explaining this, they insisted I provide them with a driving license, which I told them I don't have due to not having a car and being 19 years of age only just beginning university. They then offered 2 alternatives being a "national ID", which I wouldn't have become I am a UK resident and I have a passport or a "government issued ID" (Eg. Government work identification, armed forces, police, ect ect) which i don't have because I don't work for the government, I'm not in the armed forces or the police and I don't have a national ID as I am based in the UK and was born in here and only have a passport and a birth certificate as proof of identity (passport) and proof of name and date of birth (birth certificate).
The representative, once being told all of this, stated that he could see why I am frustrated and would get back to the back office. I told him, it seems that each time you get to the back office they just give a response that implies that they have no idea of the context of the situation and only look at what's given to them against a certain standard criteria.
So I sent a pre-legal letter of notice explaining every single thing I could, the situation, what I was asked for, what responses I keep getting, everything.
They claim they won't use my passport on the basis that I submitted it before only to have my account locked straight away. Why? I have proved my identity. My date of birth, my name, my current residence.
My question is (AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING UP TO THIS POINT, YOU ARE VERY VERY APPRECIATED) can I take this to a small claims court and force them to let me transfer my funds back to my bank based on the information above?
and also
Is there a possibility to sue them for even more?. And would I be able to force them to pay for any legal fees associated with me pursuing this is the case is decided in my favour?.
Blessings and many thanks
A Paypal Hater
*
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