Comments on: PayPal hit by class-action suit

Disgruntled customers have filed a lawsuit over the way the company locks people's accounts if it suspects that fraud played a part in a transaction.

[baybay613]

On November 5, 2008, I ordered a work download online and paid through paypal. I never received a confirmation email for my password and username to start my work. I notified the company and after six days and filed a resolution dispute. previously I tried to notify the company with no luck. I was acknowledged by paypal and was given a date of November 19th to place my funds back into my account if there was no response from the selling party. I never receive either. I've just checked paypal and no action has been taken and no response has been issued from either parties and today is the deadline (Nov.19th) that was given to me if no response was given to transfer my money back to my account.

Baybay613

[philippis]

As a seller, I sold a laptop to a winning bidder for $1200. He payed with Paypal. I shipped the item prompty using USPS with tracking confirmed delivery and required signature. I verified the address on the EBay account matched the address on the PayPal account which it did. I corresponded with the user through email tracking information. Well, after a day I had emailed the user his tracking number, Paypal did a reversal of the $1200 from my account. Apparently, someone had fraudulently used this user's account to make a purchase. This fraudulent user supposedly took over the legit user's email, ebay account, and paypal account. The legit user emailed me (from the same email address) that he hopes they catch the person. I got a copy of the signature at the house the laptop was delivered. I filed a police report. I gave all this info to PayPal and thought I had done everything right to be protected by their seller protection policy. Well according to them the address on the PayPal account was unconfirmed and that I was SOL on the money. I called the police in the city of where the laptop was shipped and gave them the info and was told by the detective that they are not in the business of returning stolen property. So they weren't even going to go to the address of where the laptop was shipped and signed for. The police were no help. What was I supposed to do, fly out to the location and beat the laptop out of the person.

This experience has made me very weary of selling anything on ebay and I'm delaying shipping to users which makes them not so happy.

There needs to be better protection for sellers.

[dasiagud]

I have a horror story aboput Paypal and what they did to me. I would like to join this suit. My stoy is a little different. below is a letter sent to paypal: The amount is question is $3995.00

December 10, 2008

To Whom It May Concern:

RE: Auction # 220323373210 & PP-591-946-831

Please be advised that you have three days from today?s date to facilitate the return of my camera from the Dallas, TX police department or I will consider you the new owner of said camera. Please contact Sgt. Acosta of the Dallas PD at 214-671-0905 to release the camera for shipment to me. You have prevented FedEx from picking it up on three separate occasions for no good reason. Should I not receive the camera three days from today?s date, I will consider it sold to you (eBay, Paypal or both). Your complete lack of attention to detail, communication and general common sense has caused this situation. I advised you that I suspected fraud since the package was diverted in the shipping process. I alerted you and you did nothing to stop it. This could have been prevented by one phone call from you to the police to have them delay delivery. I did all the leg work to thwart this fraud and theft, and you have done nothing. Furthermore, it?s unacceptable that email is your only form of communication. I was told by one of your employees that you don?t have phones. I never heard of something so ridiculous. When this amount of money is at stake, I should be able to speak to someone. In any case, whether you purchase the camera (don?t return it in the specified amount of time) or send it back to me, you still owe me for shipping charges from FedEx $49.62 + the balance in my account before you deducted $3995 which was $237.55 for a grand total of $287.17. The $287.17 should be credited back to my account forthwith since you refused the release of the camera to FedEx from the police and the balance in my account at that time. Keep in mind this is time sensitive and I did all of the work to stop this crime from occurring. It is imperative that I hear from you as soon as possible.

Robert DeAngelo
Valerie DeAngelo
Digilab1000 (eBay account)

My phone nuber is 516-776-1615

[blacksgroup]

YES YES YES!!!
Oh my goodness halleluya!!!
I have been dying to see the day when we get our revenge. Makem bleed. Makem cry.
Ring every last friggin dime they have out of them.

[homerunking09]

Paypal is an absolute JOKE SCAM.My first disaster with this company was about 5 years ago. I had sold a 03-04 topps chrome basketball refractors set to A buyer from canada I dont know if i can say names so i will just say J LUI. Well i sent buyer his set and by accident left out a luke ridnour refractor.Anybody who collects cards would know its pretty much worthless. In the set is lebron james, dwayne wade, carmelo anthony chris bosh etc. Well since the buyer was from canada i could not get tracking numbers. However i did have personal email confirmation from the buyer that they recieved the set minus one card. Well he then decided he was just going to lie and say he did not recieve anything. I had emails and forwarded them topaypal. Howeve they refunded his full payment stating i did not have proof of sending the set. Another transactoin for over 600 dollars for a 2001 topps chrome refractor football set was refunded to fraudulent buyer and when the money was not available out of my account. They debited it for 1100 dollars. Over the past 5 years 5 or more people have had there accounts frozen and funds debited stating that they were linked to me. People such as two of my friends my mother father and sister.Stating that in some way they were connected to me.Locking up way more than even the 1100 they say i owed.Whether it be an address, phone number ebay acc, it didnt matter they woudl just freeze up the accounts. They would not even tell them who they were linked to , the customer service reps would just say you are linked to a hotmail domain.Not giving them any info other than that.The final straw with this company was when my mother in law sold 5000 dollars worth of sports cards.Paypal locked the money up stating that she had not sold items of this monetary value in the past so there fraud department has put the account on lmited. They said that the money would be available for withdrawal in 180 days.They had 5000 dollars for 6 months with no reason . Items were sent to buyer and tracking numbers were provided. So basically they could invest the 5000 dollar for 6 months at the leisure without giving a dollar when she asked to withdraw the money.My sister opened an account years ago and stopped using it. She opned another acc a year ago and then all of a sudden the acc was frozen and paypal stated that she owed 100 dollars from her old account and stated that if she paid they would unlock the account. Well she paid them and then they stated she was linked to me and kept the account locked. So they blackmailed her into paying them 100 dollars. I dont understand how they can tell 10 different people that they all owe 1100 dollars and tell them all they are linked to me. IS that legal. Thats like if i sold a card for 1000 dollars and then they froze the account saying that my grandfather owed them 1000 dollars .You are a part of his family so you owe the money also. Whats funny is when my best friend put some heat on them for locking his account they unlocked it.Since the time of Paypal stealing my money along with my families, he had become a prosector for the county and he knew what to say to them for them to leave him alone. This company is out of control and they think they can do whatever they want because they are a monopoly. Ebay has new rules in place that further monopolize the internet payment options. This company needs to be put in there place.Ebay also needs to be taken care of.

[ebayseller21]

OK! my scenario is somewhat different and I do not know what to do. I have been selling on ebay since the year 2000 and this is , in fact, how I make my daily living. recently paypal decided to put 5% of our sales on hold for 90 days, claiming that our disputes are more than normal!! ( I only have 4 disputes open which I have tracking numbers for all of them) So far they put $12000 on hold and I can not touch the money. I contacted them several times and I am being ignored. they say that after 90 days , they are going to review the account again and they are going to measure the risk. If no risk, they will then go ahead and start paying me back after 90 days . the way they are going to pay me back is even more interesting. they are going to pay 5% every day after 90 days. I am about to lose my business because of their action as I need the cash flow , so I can survive. any suggestion will be greatly appreciated.

[Alli4]

I won an auction on Ebay for a LCD 52" TV - paid for the auction through paypal. Item never
shipped and the seller closed their paypal account - as well as many others who won auctions
from this seller. Paypal agreed with resolution - but paid only $200 out of the $1,750 I paid. Claimed
that the seller had selling rating below 98% and in their fine print (which now has been changed since
July 08 when I got stung) - they were not liable for the other funds. I unfortunately paid with my Paypal balance (never do that) - as I argued that they should follow credit card policies and refund the total amount. Have filed police suit against seller (but imagine back load of internet fraud cases). One
police officer told me would probably have to file civil suit as negative feedback was due to slow shipping - not the theft of funds. Paypal won't help.....do not...I repeat do not use paypal for any means of payment with PAYPAL FUNDS....only use CREDIT CARDS.....This company assists people in fraud.
Would love to hear others and file suit against paypal for damages. Alli4

[EBAYANDPAYPALMONOPOLIZE]

I hate ebay and paypal yet I sell there I am sorry to say....I would LOVE to join a class action lawsuit they monopolize hold sellers by a noose while they let their items be stolen away and vice versa as I am sure not all sellers are saints...but buyers seem to be protected...and why can't anyone see thee over-charge that is going on and in that paypal is an ebay company and they claim affiliation they sue everyone craigslist, perfumebay.com, etc....all with the $$ sellers like you and I provide because they get $$ not 1x from you but 2x....how about this scam the hell out of ebay yourselves and bring the GIANT MONOPOLY down call your credit card companies and start doing your own chargebacks ebay gets $$ from sellers like us yet don't give 2 craps if our items become "stolen" or pull fees when the account hasn't had funds deposited yet because Paypal sits on it making interest I think so , what we actually are doing is paying ebay 3x....BURN EBAY DOWN!!! BURN EBAY DOWN!!! WE NEED A CHANGE BUT WITH THEIR SUE HAPPY ARSES CHANGE CAN'T COME. IS IT LEGAL WHAT EBAY IS DOING FORCING PAYPAL DOWN SELLERS THROATS? SO THEY MAKE SURE WITH NO MONEY ORDER THEY GET THEIR DOUBLE PAYMENT. SO THEY CAN BUY STUB TICKET SALES FOR $307 MILLION THAT WAS "OUR" $$$ BEJEEZUS...
IS EBAY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE?? HMM ASK DONAHUE OR MEG WHITMAN??? JUST HOW MUCH THEY MAKE FOR TAKING $$ FROM US.
BURN EBAY DOWN!!! BURN PAYPAL DOWN!!! CAN YOU AFFORD TO JOIN THE BOYCOTT FOR JUST 1 MONTH???? LET'S WATCH THEIR STOCKS DWINDLE SELL AT FLEA MARKETS...AMAZON...ETC....EBAY CUSTOMER SERVICE IS THE WORST!!! I WAS TOLD AND I QUOTE THAT EVEN WALMART GIVES REFUNDS WITHOUT 1ST RECEIVING THEIR ITEM BACK...CHALLENGE EBAY TO TRY THAT---THEY WON'T AS I WAS GIVEN A LINE OF B.S.
EBAY & PAYPAL=ECONOMIC GLOBAL COLLAPSE----EBAY & PAYPAL ARE KILLING THEE ECONOMY

[EBAYANDPAYPALMONOPOLIZE]

BOYCOTT EBAY AND PAYPAL SCRIMP SCRAP COUPON CLIP WHATEVER I HAVE BROUGHT MY GROCERY BILL DOWN AT TIMES FROM $209.00 TO $81.00 WITH COUPONS AND SALES WE CAN WE CAN WE CAN BURN EBAY DOWN!!!! ARE YOU READY----YES EVEN WITH INSURANCE PAYPAL RIPPED ME OFF YOU MUST HAVE DELIVERY CONFIRMATION YET INSURANCE IS THE BEST IF YOU ASK USPS....MAKE EBAY PAY MAKE PAYPAL PAY...I AM VOCAL---IF YOU ARE TOO WE WILL BE HEARD AND IF IT IS A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT WE SEEK IMAGINE EVERYONE POOLING TOGETHER AND CONTINGENCY COULD HELP...I WAS TOLD SO MANY NEGATIVE THINGS THAT I HAVE FINAL AUCTIONS RUNNING RIGHT NOW...I REALLY THINK I WILL BE QUITTING I AM A OVER 9+ YEARS EBAYER AND TIRED OF THE EGG SHELLS I HAVE HAD TO WALK ON...TIRED OF $$ BEING PULLED WHEN THE $$$ HASN'T EVEN HIT MY BANK YET....ENOUGH IS ENOUGH....

[jeangoodsprings]

Why do I sell stuff on eBay? Because I need the money! So I sell stuff, pay the eBay fees, the people pay PayPal, I pay more fees to print the postage and address label, run out and get a box, bag, whatever, run down to the post office, mail the stuff; a few days later, I get confirmation that the Items sold were received; the people are happy....... so.... umm....... where's my money? Sleeping with the enemy, that's where. It's over at PayPal "resting up a bit." That actually means in these tough times, PayPal is making money on the float. They keep your money for several weeks, earning interest. It's a rip-off. I would rather take my chances with money orders and cashier's checks. PayPal is a fraud.

[jeangoodsprings]

Why do I sell stuff on eBay? Because I need the money! So I sell stuff, pay the eBay fees, the people pay PayPal, I pay more fees to print the postage and address label, run out and get a box, bag, whatever, run down to the post office, mail the stuff; a few days later, I get confirmation that the Items sold were received; the people are happy....... so.... umm....... where's my money? Sleeping with the enemy, that's where. It's over at PayPal "resting up a bit." That actually means in these tough times, PayPal is making money on the float. They keep your money for several weeks, earning interest. It's a rip-off. I would rather take my chances with money orders and cashier's checks. PayPal is a fraud.

[dlbudgetpc]

I received a notice from paypal the other day after a payment was sent to me for an auction on Ebay. It said the payment was being held, up to 21 days, but may be 'released' if delivery of the item was verified, or I received positive feedback. All this because Ebay and Paypal wanted to protect people from fraud. What a load.

I'd like to know if they're 'legally' able to 'hold/deny access' to money that does not belong to them.

What really gets me, is that I've had a Paypal account for 9 years with no problems (on my part). I cancelled my Ebay account last year because I was really getting tired of Ebay's ambivalence toward some Ebay sellers grossly misrepresenting the items they're selling.

I decided to create another Ebay account this year and now I I find out Paypal decided to start getting all Nazi with peoples money.

I'll be switching over to Amazon and Ebay and Paypal can kiss my A*S!

[robbob999]

Hi,
NEED A LAWFIRM.
I am wondering about your search for Lawyer against Paypal. INCLUDES FRAUD AND BREACH OF CONTRACT. I have a pending suit. Thank you
[e-mail]

[LAWPBP]

Hello All,

I totaly agree with all that is said here. I have used Paypal for about a month. I signed up with ebay and I went through thier verification process through equifax and I also went through Paypal verification process. So I was off to selling my items. Well, we got off to a good start and then suddenly everything came to a screeching hault. Paypal froze my account and my ebay account. Their excuse was I needed to go through a verification process. They also stated they froze all my money.. Most of it was profit and for items that were bought outside of ebay. I started getting customer emailing us asking what happen to us, and some wanted to leave feedback and they couldn't. Paypal explanation was that because of the items that I was selling in the past they have had high fraud risk. That had nothing to do with me because all of my items were delivered with an exception of a few, that was scheduled to go out the same day all this took place. They also said this was taking place because we ask buyer to leave service feedback and once they get their items to revise it to reflect the following. So as a result I have lost a tremendious amount of business, my money is froze and all for no legit reason at all. Ebay is a Paypal company so they are big on screwing people on any transactions that take place. They really dont care about sellers and they really dont offer any protection. No offense buyer but this is the truth. Buyers can leave neg feedback but sellers cant. Buyers can file for no reason on buyers and teh items could have been sent and Paypal will still take the money away. This is awful! They are a double dipping scam. The company makes money off ebay and then they almost force you to use paypal as the payment method. And if you use anything else you are in violation of there policy.

[ebaypaypalmonopoly]

Check this information I found out - I was reading the community boards at eBay and on Seller Central there was a thread about "Ask Griff" I went into read it and on one comment there has a link to Griff's Store where I found his list of Favorite Sellers - for the heck of it I checked a few of them and most are store owners and/or Power Sellers - several of them offer MO's and Checks as payment options - That's in violation of ebay's payment policy since January 2009 - NO PAPER PAYMENTS ARE ALLOWED - Maybe the Paper Payment Policy only applies to small sellers and not to store owners or Power Sellers. Does anyone else have any information or other stories about this?? The more information we can compile against "Them" the greater chance something can be done about
"Them" I'm hoping someone starts a class action suit - I'll definitely join it. Contact me at [e-mail] if you get one started. I am still a member of ebay but am checking out other sites - I have been blocked from posting on thier boards because I put my suspicions in wirting for others to see and "They" did'n't like it one bit!! WE NEED TO STOP eBAY & PAYPAL - The Evil Empire!!

[Doug-in-Ohio]

ebay makes up there policys and rules as they suit them if things arent in there favor they will change the rule.There rules are worded so they can never be at fault if you can find fault thell change that rule.

[THANKYOUTHING]

What ebay and paypal are doing is against federal laws. By only letting you accept or pay by paypal is a monopoly. They will end your listings if you indicate you will accept a money order, cashiers check or any other form of payment other than paypal which ebay owns. They want to squeeze every cent they can out of your transactions. Is there somewhere I can sign up to be in a class action law suite. I have lost potential buyers because ebay will not let me say I accept money orders. Frank

[THANKYOUTHING]

What ebay and paypal are doing is against federal laws. By only letting you accept or pay by paypal is a monopoly. They will end your listings if you indicate you will accept a money order, cashiers check or any other form of payment other than paypal which ebay owns. They want to squeeze every cent they can out of your transactions. Is there somewhere I can sign up to be in a class action law suite. I have lost potential buyers because ebay will not let me say I accept money orders. Frank

[THANKYOUTHING]

What ebay and paypal are doing is against federal laws. By only letting you accept or pay by paypal is a monopoly. They will end your listings if you indicate you will accept a money order, cashiers check or any other form of payment other than paypal which ebay owns. They want to squeeze every cent they can out of your transactions. Is there somewhere I can sign up to be in a class action law suite. I have lost potential buyers because ebay will not let me say I accept money orders. Frank

[THANKYOUTHING]

What ebay and paypal are doing is against federal laws. By only letting you accept or pay by paypal is a monopoly. They will end your listings if you indicate you will accept a money order, cashiers check or any other form of payment other than paypal which ebay owns. They want to squeeze every cent they can out of your transactions. Is there somewhere I can sign up to be in a class action law suite. I have lost potential buyers because ebay will not let me say I accept money orders. Frank

[THANKYOUTHING]

What ebay and paypal are doing is against federal laws. By only letting you accept or pay by paypal is a monopoly. They will end your listings if you indicate you will accept a money order, cashiers check or any other form of payment other than paypal which ebay owns. They want to squeeze every cent they can out of your transactions. Is there somewhere I can sign up to be in a class action law suite. I have lost potential buyers because ebay will not let me say I accept money orders. Frank