Hi all, not sure if this is in the right section but here goes, a while ago i had a paypal account, and used it regularly, then i stopped using it(for no particular reason, just stopped buying and selling stuff on ebay) anyway a couple of months ago i decided to sell a few bits on ebay, i couldn't for the life of me remember my paypal details as it had benn ages since using the account, so i opened another one, anyway everything has been running fine on the account, and then a few days ago i sold a couple of phones, no probs there all buyers perfectly happy!!!

Basically i owed my wife a couple of hundred quid, so istead of making her wait until my payday in the middle of next month i decided to send her the money through paypal so she could put it straight into her bank account, no probs there, however she logged in to her account last night and found that it had been limited due to suspicious behavior, she called paypal and they said as it was a newish account they just wanted to verify that she was who she said she was, so she sent all the relevant information, then she gets an email back saying that they will not let het withdraw her money as her account has been linked to an account with a negative balance, they sent her an email which clearly showed both of my email addresses, the old one and the new one, and it stated that the account was in arrears! i called paypal and found out that my old paypal account had gone into arrears due to unpaid ebay fees!

Do they have the right to hold the money!

Do they have the right to link the accounts?

My wife is the inoccent party in all this, how can they do this through my negligence?

Do they have the right to tell a third party about my financial situation?

(they basically told my wife that i am in debt to them)

What can i do here this whole thing stinks!

thank you for any help you can give

By agreeing to their terms when you sign up, yes they can hold onto your money!

Basically, I found out that they can do whatever they want with your money. They are dangerous control freaks of the highest order. They have slapped a hold on my account - thankfully it's empty - because I refuse to assign a credit card to it. I can't close the account down because of this so the whole thing is in limbo. I don't trust them one bit.

The best thing I can advise you to do is to stop paying ebay fees by paypal and pay them direct from your bank account. I guess you will somehow have to pay off the arrears in the old paypal account; once you've done that, shut it down and remove any bank/card details associated to it. These people will ruin you if you are not careful. Go here for some scary stories: PayPal Alternative - Pay Pal Lawsuits, PayPal Complaints & Fraud

(Read this in the voice of Jeremey Clarkson)

Some people say: Paypal are the biggest bunch of bankers you will ever deal with. The people running it should be sent to Afganistan naked with 'Anti Taliban' messages tattood on their backs and forced to run through minefileds whilst dribbling a medicine ball and balancing a tacticle nuclear missile on their heads.

They should then be taken to Burger King and put through their flame machine before having a chainsaw enema follwed by a pint of broken glass and rusty nails to drink.

Then and only then should they be thrown from the top of Canary wharf whilst Zulu warriors throw spears from every floor as they plummet to the razor wire'd tamploine below so they can get severely cut before being hurled back for a second dose.

I have no partricular opinion myself of course.

Rearrange the follwoing letters to make an interesting and popular phrase:

PalPay are sreknaw

If you drill down the story - we see you owe money to eBay for services provided but not paid for?

And you complain? Do you noth think they are entitled to their money, as everyone else is expected to pay.

As for paying your wife via PP - you'd do this, rather than find another method that does;t take commission of the funds as part of their service fees? Why not give her a cheque and save on those fees? As for linking the accounts - it is an anti-fraud measure, and a pretty basic one at that, but it certainly works as it was swinging into action to prevent what it was set up to do.

i owe ebay 70quid, which i was completely unaware of until i transferred the money to my wife!

As it happens no i don't have a problem with paying ebay! what i do have a problem with is the deceitfull unhanded way paypal go about getting the money back, i have not had one letter or email telling me that i owe any money and i have been buying and selling on ebay using my ebay account so tell how can i still sell on ebay if i owe them fees for selling!!!

And as to your final comment, if i was in a position where i could have given my wife the money any other way don't you think i would have!!!

And who has committed fraud here??? are you trying to tell me that i've committed fraud by giving my wife what i owe her, just because i did it through paypal!!!

My financial position is not the greatest in the world and there was know other way to give her the money i owed!!!

You;ve opened a second PayPal account. That is against their rules, as you can only operate one at one time.

Paypal is only a cash processor, not a bank in the traditional sense. Any money you pay to someone will have a heavy overhead, especially if you were using it as a sort of cash-advance from a credit card. I can;t think of a more expensive way to pay anyone!

it was not a cash advanced, i sold 2 phones, for 230 quid, i then transferred it to my wifes account, it cost me £1.90, i didn't think that was to bad, i was unaware that you could only have 1 paypal account at atime, iknow a few people with 2 or three accounts.

But none of this answers my original questions

By transferring the money to your wife;s PayPal account - you pay fees again (to to be precise, she does as she will not get the full amount). In answer to your questions, just because folk you know have more than one account doesn't legitimise it, the T&C's are quire clear if you want to read them.

(1) Yes. If their T&Cs are broken they can withhold, either for non-payment of a debt or in the case of suspected improper activity.

(2) They usually link the accounts when the same CC is used, or similar BACS details provided.

(3) Unttil the matter is resolved, everything is frozen.

(4) They see the accounts as linked. If she provided the same details as you - which provided the linkage, it is difficult for you to argue disclosure concerns.

(5) It's their ball. Do what they ask to prove or ensure compliance and you can get on with things again.

For anyone who is interested in contacting the eBay or Paypal Fraud department in Dublin direct, here is the number: +353 1 243 2573. They also have a re-directed London number: 0208 605 3234.

buzby

with regard to paypal your wrong you can have a personal and an business account, but what shocks me is that you try an justify paypal's actions, the guys is asking for advice, not to be berated by someone, he is trying to solve the problem and you accuse him of fraud! Paypal have on numerous occasions destroyed peoples businesses to the point of most american companies have lost faith in them and they have moved to the uk, since people think there 100% secure, there will always be people signing up, so they dont care if they loose other customers, as some poor gullible person will replace there losses. In the meantime all the "held" funds in limited accounts is accruing interest and paypal /ebay benefit from this. So buzby I have to ask do you work for ebay / paypal? as your very pro-ebay / paypal...............

They are banksters and do what they all do, sit on your money and take their cut in interest etc.

having said that they have protected me from some fraudulant sellers and refused to release my funds to them until I was satisfied with the item or forced them to refund costs. All this takes time of course.

You can pay or transfer funds to some body elase without incurring any cost to you by just clicking on the gift button when you send money.