Date Received: 2021-09-09
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/2021 I placed a {$170.00} online order from XXXX XXXX for a t-shirt and pair of shorts. I paid through PayPal with {$100.00} being charged to my personal credit card, and {$63.00} being charged to my PayPal cash balance. I received tracking information for the items, but when the package arrived on XX/XX/2021 it did not contain the items I ordered, but just a small string. I immediately filed a dispute with PayPal. I requested a full refund, but PayPal claims I typed XXXX instead of XXXX. I received a refund for {$17.00}, and immediately contacted PayPal to correct the mistake. They initially told me they could not reopen the case, but after further investigation they said they could give me a full refund. I did receive the refund for the full amount charged to my credit card ( {$100.00} ), but never received the refund to my PayPal cash balance ( {$63.00} ). I contacted PayPal again and explained that I was still waiting on the {$63.00} refund. The agent told me he saw where the previous agent said I would receive a full refund, but claimed this was an error. I asked to speak to a supervisor, XXXX, who told me the same thing. I requested recordings, transcripts, and notes from my calls to customer support, and asked XXXX to escalate the situation to her superiors.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 949XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-09-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-09-09
Issue: Problem with a lender or other company charging your account
Subissue: Transaction was not authorized
Consumer Complaint: SUBJECT : UPDATE TO ORIGINAL COMPLAINT -- THEY ARE STILL ALLOWING THE MERCHANT TO TAKE MY MONEY IN SPITE OF RECEIVING MY REPEATED INSTRUCTIONS NOT TO AND RELATED WRITTEN DOCUMENTATION FROM THE MERCHANT. ___________________ After I submitted a complaint earlier today, I discovered I'm forced to add this addendum to it. ___________________ COMPLAINT ID XXXX SUBMITTED ON XX/XX/XXXX ___________________ As I was working on the complaint I submitted earlier today, number XXXX, I received additional email messages from XXXX that shows that they STILL CAN and ARE TAKING MONEY OUT OF MY PAYPAL ACCOUNT. ___________________ This is in spite of my long text-chat directly with XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX, in which they promised to both stop doing this and to refund previous unauthorized charges. ___________________ And this is also in spite of my long telephone conversation with PayPal on XX/XX/XXXX, in which I told PayPal that the charges were not authorized, and that I did not want XXXX 's services, and that XXXX did not and does not have my permission to take my money. In that conversation, I drew the PayPal rep 's attention to PayPal 's responsibility for XXXX 's ability to take my money without my permission by means of the automatic-billing permission-setting that PAYPAL created in my account independently of me and without my permission or knowledge. ___________________ In my ongoing efforts to get these thefts to permanently stop, I have disconnected my bank account from PayPal. But the past unauthorized charges -- which XXXX promised IN WRITING via text-chat to refund -- and the additional charge that XXXX made after promising to both refund past charges and to never make another charge again -- have not been refunded. ___________________ Thank you in advance very much for your help with solving this very frightening problem! ___________________ I forgot to mention in the text of my CFPB complaint XXXX that the setting in XXXX for automatic recurring billing in my XXXX account WAS NEVER ENABLED. I informed XXXX and PayPal of this, and provided a screenshot of the page with the ENABLE button that had never been activated. I didn't know about it, or where it was, until XX/XX/XXXX. ___________________ I AM GOING TO PASTE BELOW THE TEXT OF THE COMPLAINT XXXX THAT I SUBMITTED EARLIER TODAY. ___________________ I recently discovered the hard, expensive way that -- without my knowledge or permission -- PayPal had set my account settings so that XXXX merchants I had made SINGLE transactions with years ago -- subsequently had the ability to pull money out of my account on a recurring basis without my authorization. PayPal refers to this as a " billing agreement '' with these merchants. Two merchants took money this way. The first was the billing service for a radio-show archive, and PayPal was helpful in getting this money refunded. ____________________ The other one was XXXX. Although I had been a customer of XXXX since XXXX, I knew that XXXX had cancelled the only phone number I'd ever used with XXXX because I had not paid for a renewal. I didn't renew because I stopped using XXXX around XXXX and didn't need the number. On that basis, I knew XXXX services XXXX when payment is not made. ( The phone number was XXXX. ) ____________________ But I didn't know until XX/XX/XXXX, that PayPal gives merchants the ability to automatically take money out of accounts, even if you didn't authorize a payment, and even if you have cancelled a subscription directly with the merchant exactly according to the merchant 's rules. Since I didn't yet know PayPal was allowing merchants to take money out of my account without my permission, I had a long text-chat with XXXX about the unauthorized payments XXXX had received from my PayPal account XXXX In that text-chat, XXXX promised XXXX refund one of the " annual fee '' charges as well as " monthly fee '' charges going back just six months. This was only a partial solution, but I accepted it and I thought the problem was solved. ____________________ But when yet another payment was taken by XXXX out of my account about a month later, I discovered the promised refunds were never made. This led me to the discovery of the list in my PayPal account that PAYPAL created that gave merchants I'd made transactions with in the past the ongoing ability to withdraw money automatically. This setting is some automatic procedure that PAYPAL did independently of me and without my knowledge. I didn't participate in setting this up. I didn't want it. I didn't know about it until XX/XX/XXXX. ____________________ For an example that fortunately did NOT lead to unauthorized taking of my money, such as happened with XXXX, I paid XXXX for a background check in XXXX. So that they wouldn't ever bill me again, I followed XXXX 's rules for cancelling the ongoing monthly subscription they force you to sign up for in order to get a single report. XXXX processed my cancellation and, unlike XXXX, the company was honorable thereafter. I didn't think about XXXX again. But, to my astonishment, I found on XX/XX/XXXX, that XXXX had permission from PayPal to take money out of my account because PayPal had added them to this list in my PayPal account. ____________________ Some merchants in this list, such as XXXX and XXXX, had been listed numerous times. ( And I don't remember ever making even one purchase directly from XXXX. ) On the day I discovered that XXXX not only had not honored their written promise to refund the unauthorized charges but had also removed money from my account yet again AFTER also promising in writing not to, I also discovered for the first time the existence of the list in PayPal that made the additional unauthorized payment possible. I immediately removed all the merchants from the PayPal list. ____________________ I also opened a dispute over the XXXX charges via PayPal, rather than go back to XXXX again, because my effort to solve the problem with XXXX had failed, and because PayPal had solved a similar problem earlier in the year with the radio-archive company. ____________________ In the dispute via PayPal, I provided PayPal with a copy of the text-chat that includes XXXX 's XXXX promises to refund and to never make the unauthorized charges again. My conversation with PayPal 's dispute department was extremely, extremely frustrating and went on for about an hour and a half. And a day later, I was informed that my dispute has been denied. This is even though XXXX themselves promised in writing to make the refund and didn't. And even though PayPal received a copy of the written statements XXXX made in the text-chat. And even though it was PAYPAL -- without my knowledge or permission -- who was responsible for XXXX having the ability to take money out of my account -- also without my knowledge or permission. ( By the way, I've been a PayPal customer since the XXXX. I don't have a history of being a problem customer. And I have excellent credit. And I'm going to the extensive time and trouble of correcting these problems because it's honorable and needs to be investigated by people with the ability to hold those we trust with money services to be honorable. ) ____________________ Other consumers might be as surprised as I was to find merchants they made ONE SINGLE transaction with -- years prior -- may have been given permission BY PAYPAL to continue to take money out of your account automatically. EVEN IF YOU CANCEL A SUBSCRIPTION BY INFORMING THE MERCHANT DIRECTLY AND ABIDE ENTIRELY BY THE MERCHANT 'S CANCELLATION RULES, PAYPAL PRESERVES THE MERCHANT 'S -- -ABILITY -- - TO TAKE MONEY OUT OF YOUR ACCOUNT. XXXX is one company that's an example of this, in my case. I had no idea PayPal does this. Until I had to figure out how XXXX was able to keep taking my money without my permission. ____________________ It isn't easy to find the list of merchants PayPal has given permission to automatically take money. So I hope this helps somebody out there : Go to the Help section in PayPal and do a search for " What is an automatic payment and how do I cancel or update one? '' Here are PayPal 's instructions about that, so you can stop merchants from being able to take money out of your account automatically : ____________________ ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ..... Finding your automatic payments on the app : ____________________ Tap Settings. Tap Automatic Payments. Tap the merchant. On this page, you can Remove PayPal as your payment method and select a backup funding source. ____________________ Finding your automatic payments on the website : Go to Account Settings. Click Money, Banks and Cards. Click Set Automatic Payments. Select the merchant. On this page, you can Cancel the automatic payment and Change the backup funding source. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .... ____________________ On this same Help page, PayPal also has instructions for merchants who need to cancel a subscription for a customer. I mention this because in the text-chat I provided a copy of to PayPal, XXXX promised XXXX they would make sure I was never billed again. But they did bill me again. Even though, according to these PayPal instructions, it appears XXXX had the ability to cancel the recurring taking of my money not just on their end, but also within PayPal. ____________________
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 941XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-09-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-09-09
Issue: Money was not available when promised
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I have had a lot of transactions with XXXX over the years but lately, for no reason, it takes a tremendous amount of time to transfer money to an account that has been used many times before with an acceptable transfer time of 2 - 3 days but out of nowhere, it takes forever. Just finished talking to a customer representative and their partner claims to do maintenance on their system- for 4 days- is that believable?
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 76148
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-09-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-09-10
Issue: Other service problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: These venmo people are ridiculous. So basically I got one payment last year from someone, then boom Im banned for so called violating something? No sort of violated occurred it was a {$20.00} payment and then boom I get an email Im banned well my account is frozen from even using the app, and I even tried to make another and I linked my card to that one, and that one became locked with {$200.00} dollars on it! I need both of my accounts unlocked! This is robbery without a gun basically and they want me to wait 180 days to get my money? And honestly its not even much about the money. Its how they locked me from using their app ever again! Violated terms of service how? No sort of customer service or ANYTHING. I provided my ID, I provided the info they asked to unlock and nope no help or anything. This is absolutely disgusting and absurd. I actually thought venmo was a really good app to use instead of unsecured payment apps like cashapp etc, but no they seem really sketchy for doing this to me. I would like my accounts back. Or at least of of them since I didnt violate any rules in the first place!
Company Response:
State: FL
Zip: 33169
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-09-10
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-09-09
Issue: Problem adding money
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Paypal deducts money from your bank account promising it to be deposited into your PayPal account on a certain day. After taking the money from your bank account, the money does not arrive in your account on the day PayPal says it will arrive. On XX/XX/XXXX I transferred {$1000.00} from my bank account to go into my PayPal account. The PayPal app claims that my funds will be in my PayPal account on XX/XX/XXXX. Once seeing that funds were not in my PayPal account at the end of the banking day of XX/XX/XXXX, I called PayPal. PayPal 's customer service first said that funds should be in my account by XXXX. After not seeing funds in my account after XXXX, I called again. Customer service then said that funds will be in my account at midnight or even on XX/XX/XXXX. Six business days later. In a day and age when payments are processed instantaneously and normal banks reliably transfer funds, PayPal 's slow processes are unacceptable and risky. Furthermore, payments that are supposed to be made with PayPal deposited funds are delayed causing concerns, lost business, as well as other risks.
Company Response:
State: NV
Zip: 891XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-09-09
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-09-08
Issue: Confusing or missing disclosures
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I was injured by a product I purchased online at XXXX by a third party seller in XXXX. This seller kindly agreed to cover my out of pocket medical expenses because I am a senior citizen on a fixed income and need these funds quickly and PayPal was the only way a XXXX citizen could send the funds quickly to the United States so I opened an account with PayPal. Immediately PayPal froze the funds and suggested they had seen " suspicious '' activity on the debit card I had placed in the walled payment section of the app. No evidence was given as to what exactly they meant. Then had the nerve to send me another email, which I have uploaded, suggesting I 'had not responded fast enough to the previous email? '' At first I just sat at my desk trying to process what I had just read, then I because angry and offended because they are suggesting they will hold these funds from me for as much as 21 days till they decide I can have it. This can not possibly be legal. Trying to speak to an actual person is impossible as you have to deal with a chat bot that has no idea what you are trying to tell it. I need those funds now and it is very important due to the medical condition I am having due to this injury and for me to have to somehow prove I am not a criminal is beyond anything I have ever seen. The fees PayPal charges are literally highway robbery. They took out almost {$10.00} from these funds right off the bat and will take another {$10.00} if I ever am allowed to transfer my own money to my bank to the tune of some {$20.00}. PayPal needs to be investigated for not only charging these ridiculous fees but slandering their own customers in the process.
Company Response:
State: LA
Zip: 712XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-09-08
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-09-08
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Hi, I've been a loyal PayPal user for about 4 years plus now. The other day at approximately XXXX on XX/XX/2021 I received an email from PayPal , stating that I was no longer able to conduct business with them and that my account was permanently limited along with the holding of my personal funds ( {$13000.00} ) for up to an 180 day waiting period. Now, If I was in the wrong or did anything that I wasn't supposed to or wasn't aware about, then I apologize. I simply did not know nor was I conducting any fraudulent or malicious activity with the company 's services. I am 100 % legit and have made all of my money legally and the correct and honest way. I'm a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX for music producers and I sell my services along with digital products as you can see within my account ranging from $ XXXX {$590.00}. The smaller digital products in the $ XXXX range and my XXXX services that you can see in transactions almost everyday for {$590.00} and you can also see {$290.00} which is a payment plan that most of students join in on. Also, I have a very clean seller history with them as well, my duration of time spent doing business with PayPal, I've NEVER had a single chargeback or any disputes opened on me with that account or with any customer, and if a problem DID arise, then I respectfully solved it by immediately issuing a refund to them clearing up any mishaps also which you can see on my transaction history as well. I simply just want to provide a great service and customer support to people. I've filed a complaint with the XXXX along with calling PayPal 's customer service line, and emailing PayPal 's VP 's, Execs, & even the CEO XXXX XXXX. I've also made a consumer protection complaint with the state of California where they're based out of, but still have yet to hear back from any of them. I do understand fully that PayPal would no longer like to do business with me and I rightfully respect their decision by all means. What I'm requesting from PayPal personally is that the holding of my funds can at least be lifted, so that I may gain access over my money that's been accumulated within the time period of conducting business with them. I am simply seeking a resolution that is fair and in the best interest of both parties and I hope that this problem can be resolved.
Company Response:
State: MS
Zip: 39501
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-09-08
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-09-08
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I was scammed by people who pretend to be pay pal members, They let me transfer them XXXX $ through XXXX I really need your help.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 93313
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-01
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-09-07
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/2021, I received {$50.00} via PayPal from one XXXX XXXX. XXXX notified me that " money was waiting '' via email so I knew the transfer was complete. I did nothing with the money until, on XX/XX/2021, I made an XXXX purchase in the amount of {$22.00}. I paid with PayPal, expecting that the {$50.00} that was on deposit would be decremented by the amount of the purchase. I checked my PayPal summary page only to discover that such was not the case. The {$50.00} was still there and still " waiting ''. I called PayPal about this and the agent told me that I couldn't access the money unless I supplied a bank account number. I told her that wasn't OK and that I wanted the money either applied to future purchases, applied as a credit to one of the two credit cards I had on file, or sent to me in the form of a check. She said no and advised that she would refund the money to the sender, XXXX XXXX, and that XXXX could send me the money some other way. Following this call, I contacted XXXX and explained the situation and asked that, if she were to get the promised refund, could she please just send me a check. A week or so went by and I heard nothing, so I checked my PayPal summary page again to see if the refund took place. It had not- {$50.00} still " waiting ''. I called PayPal again, reiterating my prior complaint and voicing my displeasure with the preceding experience, and the agent who helped me assured me that the situation was resolved and that my next purchase would " tap '' the {$50.00}. So, on XX/XX/2021, I made another XXXX purchase in the amount of {$22.00}, expecting to see the {$50.00} decremented. Again, this did not happen. So, again, I called PayPal and yet another agent told me that, in order to have access to my money, I needed to set up the " cash account '' or " link a bank account ''. There was, he said, no way to send a check ( even though the website had a " send a paper check instead '' button ) or put the money against my existing credit cards. I told him that I did not want to give out my bank account number and/or my complete identity ( full legal name, address, social security number, last four of the social security number, and date of birth ) just to access money someone else had sent me. I indicated that my money was basically a XXXX to PayPal 's XXXX for personal information and that I didn't like that and would communicate this to the regulatory authorities ( that being you ). Just around the first of XXXX, XXXX, I was contemplating writing to you about this issue, but I decided to give PayPal another call because each time I had called previously, there was a new twist from the agent on the phone. So I called again, and this fourth time, the agent seemed much more sympathetic to my complaint, indicating that he had heard this many times before. After considerable back and forth, he said that the option to choose how to pay was displayed when I entered the " Pay with PayPal '' screen at the time of purchase- that this would be visible as " Source of Funds ''. He implored my to try that on the next purchase and said that, if access to the {$50.00} was not successful after that, I should call again and they would " cut me a check ''. So yesterday, I went on XXXX and attempted to purchase some literature for {$18.00} plus shipping. When I went to pay with PayPal, I attempted to located the " Source of Funds '' choice to which this agent had eluded. It wasn't there. I cancelled the purchase and called PayPal again today with this whole story, asking this time to speak with a supervisor. I was told that the {$50.00} I had available could only be had if I provided the personal information they wanted, otherwise they would just keep it. After this, I went back on XXXX and bought my literature and paid directly with my credit card, thus bypassing PayPal altogether. Following the purchase, I attempted to locate a number for the PayPal Corporate offices to voice my complaint higher up the food chain, but the number supplied online eventually took me back to the same " customer service '' place I had been to so many times before, where the agent again said the the {$50.00} would be held pending the disclosure of the information they wanted. I again repeated that I wanted the money applied to future purchases, put back on the credit card ( s ) I had already on file, or sent via check. She refused. It was at this point that I contacted your office to request assistance and was told to submit this complaint. Your representative mentioned that there were " thousands '' of complaints against PayPal but that she didn't know if any were exactly my issue. What I want is my {$50.00}. They can apply it to future purchases ( the preferred method ), credit it to the credit card I have on file, or send me a check for the money. What I want for everybody is for this practice to be disclosed up front. Had I known that the money that I was offered via PayPal would be held XXXX for personal information, I would not have agreed to accept payment via PayPal. I suspect that had the sender known this, she might have offered to pay a different way. PayPal needs to get agreement from all parties BEFORE the money changes hands. I think that if all parties are aware of this crazy policy, fewer will be likely to offer payment via or accept payment from PayPal. One final note : I am willing to supply to you any necessary information, including my login information so that you can see the trail for yourself. Please simply let me know if I can assist in any way. Please note that PayPal states that all calls are recorded and that " notes '' are kept by their representatives when customer service calls are received, so PayPal will be the repository of all related documentation and conversation regarding this matter. Regards, XXXX XXXX
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 931XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-09-08
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-09-07
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I sent my friend {$100.00} on Venmo on XX/XX/21. After I already made the transaction, he told me his account was " suspended '' by Venmo. However, Venmo still let the transaction go through and when I asked Venmo what happened, they said the {$100.00} is in my friend 's Venmo balance. However, he has a {$0.00} in his Venmo account ( and showed me proof ) so it appears Venmo has stolen {$100.00} from me.
Company Response:
State: OH
Zip: 441XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-09-07
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A