Graham's Story:

Hi

i have my own horror story with paypal. I run an ebay business and a few months ago I decided to open a paypal account as it was a popular choice with most buyers. So I decided to open a business paypal account instead as I was going to be running a business and getting a lot of payments from customers.

Ii then started using my paypal account and at first it seemed like an efficient way to receive customer payments. 3 weeks after opening the account i got an email from paypal saying my account had been frozen due to unusual account activity and I had to complete a number of steps to get the limitation removed. So I complied and completed all the steps and I got my account reinstated.

A week later I got another email saying my account had been limited due to an unauthorised person accessing my account and was told to change my password and security questions in order to get my account reinstated which I did. I then started selling on ebay again and 3 days later I got another email saying my account had been suspended due to unusual account activity and I had to provide proofs of id and address as well as proof of inventory and invoices for the purchase of my stock. I then called them up and asked why my account had been suspended for the same reason twice in less than 2 weeks and they said it's because there was a lot of sales on my account and that was potentially suspicious activity. I then told them that I registered for a business account with them and if I have a business account that means I will be getting a lot of sales on my account because it's a business and that's what business is all about.

Tthe guy would have none of it and said I had to complete the steps otherwise they are not going to reinstate my account. I have now completed the steps but I'm still to hear from them and now I am worried that they are going to hold my money for over 6 months. I have a lot of angry customers as I can't ship the items because the money for shipping is in my paypal account and I usually print postage labels off paypal.

The worst thing about this is that they don't tell you all this when you sign up. They should at least say that if you are expecting a high volume of payments through paypal, then you should provide us with such and such information to avoid a disruption to your business. Now i have lost a lot of money for the week I haven't been trading and it seems like I will be getting negative feedback on my ebay account as a result and my ebay account may be closed because of this. Can you help me with this as I feel powerless.

NoPaypal says: Hi Graham, fraudsters who use Paypal are usually here today gone tomorrow and make large sums of money in a short space of time so I can understand why paypal would have picked up on this unusual activity on your account. However, if you have sent them everything they asked you for and completed all the steps, then there's no reason why they should be still holding back your account. Forward your complaint to Yanna (email address at the top of the front page) for more help...