1y ago

I’ve been locked out of PayPal for years because of their mistake

About 3 or 4 years ago PayPal added the option to buy cryptocurrency, which I thought I’d try. (Dumb idea 🙄)

Part of the sign up process was glitched. I retried and clicked submit one too many times, I guess. Now I’ve been unable to use PayPal for years. They blocked me because THEIR SITE was broken, but the web page essentially accuses me of being a criminal and asks for my bank records. No way in hell.

This was just for me to pay others. I can only imagine how awful PayPal is if you are a vendor.

Fuck PayPal.

152 comments

Someone in Norway has the same name as me, and they made a PayPal account. They accidentally used my email during signup and I got some weird emails in Norwegian. So I called PayPal. I asked them to change the email. "You can't, because it's not your account, you just admitted". Uh, ok. Can you close the account? "It's not your account". Can you contact the account owner and tell them to fix it? "We don't have their email". Can I use account recovery and close it? "Then you would be breaking into someone else's account".
So what should I do? PayPal put a notice on the account in case they log in, and told me to just ignore the emails. I was baffled. Just ignore the emails? Stop sending them then! But there really isn't anything I can do. I tried account recovery anyway, but it didn't work.
They never logged in I think. They probably made another account with the correct details and never thought about this one. So I've been getting the "our terms and conditions have changed" email once or twice a year and ignoring them. They're still in Norwegian.
I just looked it up, this has been going on since 2015. Maybe I should contact PayPal again and tell them how ridiculous they've been.
- Report them to the CFPB. They're forced to have an actual human review and respond.
  
  I just wanted to share the story.
- It may not be your account, but it is your email.
  Dumb of them that they didn't just remove the email address.
- Same thing happened to me. Someone created an account with an email alias i never use. After calling Paypal and getting the same answer you received. I was finally able to use the forgot password feature to log in and close the account.

What is the use case for PayPal in the US? Here in Brazil we pay everything with credit card or bank transfer with a QR code. People can transfer money to you from any bank 24/7 instantaneously with just your email or phone number without any fees. Is that different in the US?
- The banking system in the US is a legacy mess. Transfers still take business days to go through and making your bank account # and routing information available is actually a security concern, honestly I don't even know why that's still a thing.
  Products like PayPal and Plaid try to provide something that is slightly more usable, but with this underlying obsolescence their functionality is very limited.
  When paying for services, credit cards are still the way to do it. For P2P payments, people use PayPal, Venmo, Cash App, and others. Nothing even close to a unified system like Pix in Brazil.
  
  There is Zelle, which is instant bank to bank. It's fairly widely available from one's financial institution, and it doesn't cost anything, but it's not terribly well known yet for some reason
- It's used for Internet purchases, so you don't have to give your billing information some random site that might get hacked.
  
  PayPal passes most billing information to the store where you purchased from. Card info is excluded, but in most cases PCI compliance checks ensure that card info is stored securely (or not at all).
- In my experience, their consumer protection is great.
  PayPal has been absolutely instrumental for me in issuing refunds with obstinate vendors. Once or twice they've issued me a refund after being refused a return/refund when an Aliexpress vendor either sent the wrong item or nothing at all.
  I even got them to secure me a refund against the Australian government after they refused to issue a refund after directing me to apply for a tourist visa with the wrong visa process.
  
  I even got them to secure me a refund against the Australian government after they refused to issue a refund after directing me to apply for a tourist visa with the wrong visa process.
  I love this result. It's really damn hard to protect yourself from government failure, especially in cases where you are owed money. It's awesome that you not only got your money back, but also got to play the "fuck you, if you take my lunch money you can fight my big brother" card.
- 🤣🤣🤣
  Here in the US our banks are draconian. We just struggle through it I guess 🤷‍♂️
- What is the use case for PayPal in the US?
  It gives businesses a very easy to way to set up monthly payments, one-time donations, accept forms of payments other than e-transfer (which many people don't want to use), allows for international purchases without being penalized, and more.
  Other options are available, but they are neither easy/cheap/convenient for the business or any better for the customer.
  
  I see. From that list the international purchases is a good reason to use PayPal in Brazil. I only have an account there because like 6 years ago I needed to pay for a TOEFL certification and without an international card the only way was PayPal so it worked pretty nicely. Never had to use it after that tho. Hope you guys get a better alternative so PayPal can die a horrible death.
- Yes its different. Sending money electronically is a mess of apps and limits and fees.
- Brazil is younger

Aren't they regulated in some way or other? I had problems with them in Europe (travel a lot for work, including some African and Central Asian countries) and they blocked me when I tried to buy something while in Nigeria. Fair play, common scam hotspot.
But no matter what I did to prove my identity after returning, they wouldn't unblock my account. So instead I sent a complaint to the CSSF (the FED of Luxembourg, where they got their European banking license) and within days I had the head of compliance from their HQ in Ireland on the phone telling me that my account was open again and practically begging me to drop the complaint.
- Not in the US. The number of people who trust PayPal absolutely amazes me.
  PayPal is not a bank. Regardless of what they write on their site, they aren't regulated as a bank or insured as a bank.
  They have the legal authority to close your account and take your money for any reason. There are countless horror stories of people trying to get PayPal to release their funds only to find out they have no legal recourse.
  
  I only got my $500 back from them because I knew someone who knew someone who used to be a PayPal exec lol. Fuck those scummy bastards.

I haven't used PayPal in over 10 years. Why don't you just leave the service?
- Because it’s convenient for paying online (one login instead of having to search my debit card and also, if I got scammed, there’d be another layer of protection for me) and it’s convenient for sending money to friends when we order pizza together or sth like that. What’s the alternative?
  
  Venmo, Google pay, apple pay
  
  Ever heard about chargeback? Credit card is supreme in terms of protection against scams.
  
  Bitcoin? Ether?

the web page essentially accuses me of being a criminal and asks for my bank records. No way in hell.
Yeah don't bother doing that. All that will accomplish is them gathering even more information on you, they rarely/never actually unlock your account & let you use it again. You've been permanently blacklisted on their service, just move on. And honestly you don't need Paypal anyway.
Similar stupid thing happened to me too I think about 10-15 years ago, I was using virtual credit card numbers that my credit card company was generating for me & Paypal thought that was suspicious enough to close my account & permanently blacklist me LOL.
Fun fact: I did learn over the years that I can temporarily create new Paypal account(s) as long as I don't use the same mailing/billing addresses or credit cards/bank accounts. But then it's just a waiting game, they usually figure it out eventually and close the Paypal account yet again.

Got locked out of my PayPal account but I apparently can't close it.
A couple of years ago I was running a growing loans business on r/loans and the other one. One day, I got scammed. Loaned someone money and when it came to pay day, they reported me to welch out of the deal.
It took 180 days to get the money I had on my account. I tried closing the account and PayPal would not let me. It's been years and all I get are notices of terms and marketing stuff. I try to unsubscribe and it keeps coming so I mark it as spam but Gmail does not care.

Does anyone know of an alternative to paypal other than stripe ( same shenanigans) , for getting paid for freelance work that is available in Europe or Asia ??
- getting paid for freelance work that is available in Europe
  Banktransfers are free...
  
  Oh, I wasn't very specific what I was referring to is selling stuff online, like private store selling pdfs or royalty free music and stuff, cause the only two platforms that I know of are paypal and stripe
  
  Not really. They have a minuscule fee of around 40cents if I remember right
- I've heard of Revolut.
- Maybe Wise? I suppose it depends on your needs as not a whole lot of people use Wise.
- No problem, just buy crypto with PayPal.

Amazon blocked my account while trying to purchase a gift card and are now demanding proof of ownership of the gift card they just refused to sell to me????

PayPal sent me an email telling me I couldn't use their service because I had a VPN. No big deal, I'll just start using my credit card. A few weeks later PayPal emails me to say we're all good and I can use them again

Paypal locked my account after years of use for absolutely no reason. I never had a invalid charge, dispute, or any other kind of problem with it, just one day they decided to shut it down. They flatly refused to explain what was going on. With all the decent alternatives out there now there is no longer a reason to use their crappy service.
Love that they believe they're the only game in town and can demand your bank statement.

Don't use their services they are a liability to deal with.

Same thing happened to me when I tried to update my phone number and address at the same time.
- I never even provided my phone number to Paypal, then one day they started requiring me to use it to verify logins.
  
  Two factor authentication for a financial website sounds like a good idea to me.

I remember during the GPU shortage I managed to get a new graphics card from waiting outside a best buy for it to open. So I tried to sell my old one on eBay. Gave good pictures and followed all the rules as far as I could tell but because I had never sold anything on their platform before I was instantly banned with no way to appeal. I get they were probably having to deal with lots of scammers but if I could appeal or talk to support I could literally prove I had the GPU I was selling but as far as I could tell there was no option for that. So now I can't sell anything on eBay unless I get someone else to sell it for me.
- Same happened to me when I tried to sell my old powerline network adapters. Sign up, put them up for sale, 2 minutes later I get a mail that I'm banned without a reason given.
  I still have those adapters lying around somewhere...

I used PayPal for a little while in the mid 2000's to pay for stuff online until I found out they could freeze my bank account.
I immediately removed my bank account from PayPal and over time I got a credit card and it was easier to use. I kept it with only my credit card in my account to sometimes but stuff on eBay and that's the only time I use it

Same, cant use half of online services because I can't have PayPal (and don't want a credit card for security concerns)
- What about virtual prepaid debit cards for online purchases?
  
  Yeah, maybe a good idea to look into stuff like this. Do you know privacy friendly ones (who don't sell or record your purchase history)?

Amazon blocked my account when I was buying a gift for an American friend. I made the account years prior thinking I'd buy something, but didn't end up using it. In other words, this was the first purchase on the account. It got blocked for suspicious activity, and to unblock it, I have to provide an account statement with an Amazon transaction in it... THERE IS NONE!!! THIS IS THE FIRST ONE AND IT DIDN'T HAPPEN CUS I'M BLOCKED!!! I was only buying some bloody markers and a plushy!

Me too, for receiving a $5 refund from Digital Ocean.

Did you try giving them the data they want? They ask for bank records to see if the account belongs to you, you can black most stuff. From my knowledge they take this info at sign up nowadays.
If not maybe write a support ticket, their support is usually very friendly and helpful regarding such things.
- I haven’t. Maybe someday I’ll be willing to, but not today. It’s a hassle and extremely intrusive to provide my bank statement and photo ID to a company whose security I don’t trust.
  
  If you don't trust their security why would you even want to use them and trust them with your money?
  
  I wouldn't give them a photo ID, but I do give them my bank account details. I just give them the number of an account that I use only for PayPal.
  
  Yes its giving them a few things you wouldn't give anyone else, you can btw also black out many things not necessary on your ID, they are also not storing the data for longer than necessary for the verification, at least in EU idk how they do it outside.
  But tbh, i trust them regarding these things, not deeply but enough to give it to them within the given lines.
  I think they might even be required to do this due to money laundering and bank safety regulations. But I'm not entirely shure about it. I just had my account locked once i transferred 10k€ to someone else (the transaction was locked for some time as well as the receivers account) i had a talk to their support obviously and they said they need to do some stuff due to these regulations (in my case money laundering laws)

I got banned from the Kraken crypto exchange after waiting a year for them to approve me and after providing all my IRL credentials.
Told me I was banned, never to come back, and that they were going to report my fraud attempt to the authorities. Of course they refused to tell me what they thought I did, which didn't make any sense because all I had been able to do was make an account and make a verification request.
Never really even looked at crypto again beyond mining dogecoin for fun.

Paying anything bought through PayPal credit. Wow.

When Paypal was inflicting financial penalties for, "misinformation" according to them, that's when I closed my account. Never again utilizing Paypal.

I got locked out of paypal for no reason I could discern from like 2007 to 2015. Can’t remember the exact dates but for years it was “I can’t use paypal any more because my account broke” and then finally after years if that one day it was “oh shit it work look at that”.

I wonder if you could sign up again with a different email. Seems like they would immediately know you're the same person. But, it is glitchy AF. So maybe it will glitch in your favor
- I thought about that, but they ask for enough info that they’d be able to identify me. And then they’d probably ban me. At least right now I have the option of restoring my account, even though I have no intention of doing so.
  
  Woops, I should have considered that. I certainly don't blame you for not wanting to play their little game of sending them all that bullshit. There's Venmo and other options anyway.

152 comments