paypal restricting account - consumer rights?

shaggy

I am posting this on behalf of a friend and would like some advice.

Paypal have limited my friends account with no explanation as to why they have done this.

Despite repeated correspondence asking for an explanation he is hitting a brick wall and getting no explanation and simply 'this decision is final

He has complied fully with requests of ID, bank statements etc, but Paypal still limit his account with no access to the funds.

He has gone to great lengths to prove there has been NO fraudulent activity on the account and provided all the documentation requested by Paypal.

We would like advice on where to take this from here. Paypal are being really unhelpful and not giving any reasons for restricting the account.

Does consumer law help in this at all? Can we go to the small claims court to withdraw the funds? Any other advice would be greatly appreciated.

Chickabiddybex

How long has this been going on?

How much money is in PayPal?

How did it get there? (Selling on eBay?)

techspec

Just one of many, i'm afraid.

www.paypalsucks.com
www.paypalwarning.com

Fire_Fox

Have you exhausted Paypal's formal complaints procedure (usually means writing, not phoning or e-mailing)? If so ask who they are regulated by (FSA or Financial Ombudsman perhaps) and go to them.

Activity doesn't necessarily have to be fraudulent to invoke a hold on funds, are you sure you have complied with ALL Paypal's terms and conditions/ user agreement?

shaggy

Hi. There about £300 in the account. The money was not obtained via eBay but Transferredh from another company to his PayPal account. We know the company who paid him is not dodgy because others who have been paid by fhe same company are not having the same problem

PayPal have asked for various documentation like his ID bank statements eetc ad he has complied with all of this,

The only thing which we can possibly think of which may have led PayPal to limit the account is that there are other family members in the same household (hence same IP address) with their own PayPal accounts and my friend has transferred money to them.

However he has also gone to the length of proving their ID as we'll. But PayPal still refuse to budge and limit his account with no reason given.

We believe he has now exhausted the appeals procedure. What can he do now?

SleeplessinScandinavia

Hi

I wouldn’t touch Paypal 'with a bargepole' having had serious issues with them myself.

Although Paypal is based in Luxembourg, the FSA regulates them if you are in the UK. I’m told you should:

• Complain to PayPal in writing (email or hardcopy)
• Give them 8 weeks to respond / resolve your dispute
• After that, if you’re not satisfied, download an FOS complaint form available here http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumer/complaints.htm complete it, and
• send it to them with all accompanying documentation

You can check this list (http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/Doing/Do/index.shtml) to see what areas of business are regulated by FSA – if you feel Paypal have acted outside of these guidelines, then you can bring that to the attention of the FSA in writing.

This will bring your complaint to the attention of the Financial Ombudsman, and you may well even resolve the problem (with their support )

You will also go a long way to calling PayPal to account with the Financial Services Authority if Paypal cannot explain themselves in your case.


Good luck

Fire_Fox

What do you mean by transferred, a proper payment against an invoice or a gift? If it was gifted Paypal may feel this is against their terms and conditions since it came from a company. That is only one possibility, so be sure to read through all Paypal's terms and conditions.

You haven't answered several questions put to you, if you don't people can't suggest the most appropriate course of action. Giving in various documents and asking them to reconsider is not exhausting their formal complaints procedure, is that what you have done? How long has this been going on for?

withabix

Which company?

What was the payment for?

arcon5

Are paypal regulated in the uk though? I thought paypal had found a way to boycot our FOS

shaggy

arcon5 wrote: »

Are paypal regulated in the uk though? I thought paypal had found a way to boycot our FOS

This is what I want to know. Thanks to sleeplessinscandinavia for the extremely helpful response. We will try that route to resolving the issue as PayPal have taken it upon themselves to restricting the account and will not give any explanation as to why. They replied via email that their decision is now 'final' which is very frustrating especially since they won't explain why they have restricted the account.

The money was transferred from a company for goods sold outside of eBay. My friend earns a regular daily amount from this company so money is transferred daily from company to personal PayPal account.

techspec

shaggy wrote: »

The money was transferred from a company for goods sold outside of eBay. My friend earns a regular daily amount from this company so money is transferred daily from company to personal PayPal account.

Earns money into a personal account?

You need a business account to earn money.

Look slike they suspect money laundering - in which case they are required to act.

Were the bank statements for a business account? Were the payments gifted?

Transferring money between accounts is picked up by paypals systems. Why would anyone transfer money to someone in the same household?

Don't think there is anything that can be done. It looks suspicious.