Warning - avoid using skrill / moneybookers

lauraashton

EVERYONE PLEASE AVOID USING SKRILL / MONEYBOOKERS AT ALL COSTS.

I signed up to accept payments with them in February and it tooks several weeks of sending documents back and forth to get my account verified. They imposed a high reserve and insisted on even MORE documents and proof of identity being sent back and forth - all were completed and in July 2013 I asked them to lower the reserve and they agreed that verification had been successfully completed and the reserve would be lowered.

In October I realised it had not and asked them again. They asked be again for various forms and verification that had already been completed and accepted and for information that was already on my website. Then I lost my patience and asked to close my account.

They wrote to me to say that they would be holding my money for 180 days! To cover themselves for any reversals or complaints - 6 MONTHS! In all the time I've had the account I have not had a single complaint.

I wrote back and said that was not acceptable and they lowered the reserve to 45 days - still an unreasonably long amount of time in my view. Under their T&C I saw I had the right to object to any changes so I did this as part of my complaint.

WARNING 1 - IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM WITH SKRILL YOU NEED TO USE THE WORDS OFFICIAL COMPLAINT IN YOUR EMAIL TO THEM OTHERWISE THEY WILL CLASS YOUR PROBLEM ONLY AS A "QUERY" AND IT TAKES DAYS OR EVEN WEEKS TO GET A RESPONSE.

SKRILL DO NOT WANT YOU TO KNOW THIS!
They have deleted this piece of advice which I posted to the hundreds of other people complaining on their Facebook page - TAKE A LOOK! You won't believe how many unhappy customers there are.

I consider that they are in breach of contract and I am entitled to terminate my account without any notice and withdraw all my funds immediately. They flatly refuse to hand over my money so I have now had to make a complaint to the Financial Ombudsman and I am taking action with a Money Claim to recover my funds with compensation and interest.

PLEASE WARN EVERYONE YOU KNOW NOT TO USE SKRILL TO ACCEPT PAYMENTS - MARTIN LEWIS YOU NEED TO INVESTIGATE THIS COMPANY PLEASE!

jaydeeuk1

I've had over 50k of gambling transactions in the last 7 years through moneybookers and never had a problem (and the one time I had a problem with a tranaction which wasn't even their fault, they refunded). When I did the verification process I found it pretty straight forward, certainly no worse than paypal.

keyser666

I am the same as jaydee. I have had 30-40k go through them (haven't checked) as move my trading bankroll around from betfair to other sites to keep a float in and also to transfer my poker bankroll which is totally seperate. Never had an issue at all and trust them complicitly. Far better than paypal too imho

lauraashton

You may very well have had a great experience gambling with Skrill, however my experience (as a small business accepting payments) and that of hundreds of others who have complained on their Facebook page is as follows:

1. They are extremely slow and have an unnecessarily long-winded process for verifying your account, often demanding information which has already been provided.

2. Their charges are HUGE. Skrill charge around £20 a month (compared to other merchants who don't charge a monthly fee) they also charge you a fee if you refund a payment, they also charge you a fee to withdraw money, they also charge you a huge fee and a terrible exchange rate to withdraw money in different currencies.

3. Worst of all - THEY HANG ON TO PEOPLE'S MONEY ILLEGALLY AND IN BREACH OF THEIR OWN TERMS & CONDITIONS.

These are FACTS.

The Financial Ombudsman is not in the habit of pursuing complaints that it feels are "juvenile rants".

lauraashton

Take a look at the hundreds of other people who have had to resort to publicly complaining on their Facebook page and compare that the the few messages of praise.

lauraashton

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

I've had over 50k of gambling transactions in the last 7 years through moneybookers and never had a problem (and the one time I had a problem with a tranaction which wasn't even their fault, they refunded). When I did the verification process I found it pretty straight forward, certainly no worse than paypal.

Could you restrict yourself to commenting when it's appropriate please? If you bothered to read my post first before running off at the mouth you would have realised that my warning was about using Skrill to ACCEPT PAYMENTS AS A BUSINESS.

lauraashton

sidney666 wrote: »

I have transacted over £100 000 with Skrill and never had one problem. Always quick to respond to e-mails.

Looks like you are in the minority Laura your post is basically just a juvenile rant.

Suggest you take a look at their Facebook page and also could you restrict yourself to commenting when it's appropriate please? If you bothered to read my post first before running off at the mouth you would have realised that my warning was about using Skrill to ACCEPT PAYMENTS AS A BUSINESS. The Financial Ombudsman do not pursue complaints they feel are juvenile rants.

robatwork

When you stop using Skrill do you become Skrillex?

wealdroam

lauraashton wrote: »

Their charges are HUGE. Skrill charge around £20 a month (compared to other merchants who don't charge a monthly fee) they also charge you a fee if you refund a payment, they also charge you a fee to withdraw money, they also charge you a huge fee and a terrible exchange rate to withdraw money in different currencies.

Surely you were aware of their fees before you decided to use them, weren't you?

Having signed up with them, if your were then suddenly surprised by their huge fees, then there is only one person to blame.

lauraashton wrote: »

The Financial Ombudsman is not in the habit of pursuing complaints that it feels are "juvenile rants".

The Financial Ombudsman Service is in the habit of investigating every complaint it receives... at least until they find out whether they are 'juvenile rants' or not.

MothballsWallet

robatwork wrote: »

When you stop using Skrill do you become Skrillex?

And make some decent music? (X Factor, I'm looking squarely in your direction.)

theforumking

Blue Square Premier League is now the Skrill Premier League - I dont think Skrill would have been awarded such a title if they were unethical or scammers in anyway