Date Received: 2021-10-05
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I've recently started up a Venmo account for my business ( it's a business Venmo Account ). They've allowed me to create the account by way of answering questions about my business upfront. After the account was created, I had access to accept payments from my customers which are held on my Venmo account, but they flagged the payment as " suspicious '' and froze my account to where I can't transfer MY money to MY bank account. If the activity was " suspicious '' and needed to be verified, the transaction should've been blocked BEFOREHAND before allowing the money to come thru the Venmo platform and before taking their fee for accepting payments. They got their cut of my money to add to their capital, but I'm left trying to figure out how to access my money. Venmo is asking for documents to verify my business, and I've done this to an extent when I signed up. If they needed more information, they should've asked for it upfront with the questionnaire I completed to start up the account initially. The person who I got in touch with is XXXX XXXX XXXX they don't provide last names in the emails ) who did very little to help. She said that she was the highest up that could assist with my situation and that I had to continue to wait for her team to verify my account even after telling her I'd use XXXX and close my account with Venmo so they could release my funds to my bank. This part was pretty frustrating because if I'm telling you I do not want your services and you have my money, you need not verify documents ( which I've already provided ) or hold me/my money up in your process as if I would continue to be a Venmo customer. Simply release my money to my bank so that I can used the funds for business related bills and operating expenses. They're doing this to other people, I'm quite sure of it, and it needs to stop.
Company Response:
State: MI
Zip: 48326
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-10-05
Issue: Confusing or missing disclosures
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On Tuesday XX/XX/XXXX I received the following notice from Paypal : You can't use PayPal anymore After a review of your account activity, weve determined that youre in violation of PayPal 's Acceptable Use Policy. Specifically, the sale of XXXX oriented materials or services. As a result, your account has been permanently limited and you wont be able to conduct any further business using PayPal. This is permitted under the PayPal User Agreement sections Restricted Activities and Actions We May Take. You must remove all references to PayPal from your website ( s ) and/or auction ( s ), including removing PayPal as a payment option, the PayPal logo , and the PayPal shopping cart. Any bank or credit card information linked to your PayPal account can not be removed nor can it be used to create a new account. You can still log in and see your account information but you cant send or receive funds.If you have funds in a PayPal balance, well hold it for up to 180 days. These funds may be used to satisfy any obligations you may have under the User Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy, including potential liabilities to third parties and to PayPal for each violation of the Acceptable Use Policy, including liquidated damages. After that period, well email you with information on how to access any remaining funds. If there are chargebacks that result in your account balance falling below XXXX, you will need to settle the amount owed to PayPal to avoid further action. Customers who are permanently limited for violating the Acceptable Use Policy are not permitted to use PayPal services and are not permitted to open new or additional PayPal accounts Reference ID : XXXX I had slightly around {$530.00} that became instantly frozen. I kept checking the account and a few automatic payments I had coming through that account came out before I changed them. That left my account balance at {$450.00} I called them on XX/XX/2021 asking when the funds would be released. They assured me that at the 180 days mark ( XX/XX/2021 the funds will be available. I log in on XX/XX/2021 to transfer my funds out and see that on XX/XX/2021 they had already transferred the remaining balance of {$450.00} to themselves ... Paypal. When they called on them they simply told me it was considered damages and I had no right to my money. When I asked them to release the recording of them telling me it would be available on the XX/XX/2021 they said I would need this : Dear XXXX XXXX, Thank you for contacting PayPal Customer Support. To request information about a customers PayPal account, an attorney or law enforcement officer must submit a legal subpoena. If you want to serve PayPal with a lawsuit or subpoena, you have to follow the applicable rules under state or federal law governing service of process. It is your responsibility to determine which rules apply to your particular circumstance. Please note that PayPal 's registered agent is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX. If you have a Subpoena/Court Order/Letterhead/Asset Freeze/Asset Seizure related to a criminal matter, please submit it to our Global Investigations team via the Safety Hub PayPal Law Enforcement Tool here : XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX To get instructions on how to submit a subpoena, you can also visit our Safety Center : XXXX XXXX XXXX It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing PayPal. Sincerely, XXXX PayPal Resolution Services They affectively lied to me then simply stole my money. Thank you so much for your help in this matter.
Company Response:
State: NM
Zip: 87114
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-10-05
Issue: Other service problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: Good day! My name is XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX and I always use my paypal account whenever my fiance sends me money from XXXX and I also use it whenever I also send money to my friends and because I have also linked my paypal to my XXXX account so that I can withdraw money in pesos but my paypal account is now in limitation and i can't get my balance money in my paypal account and Paypal sent a message to my email saying I can't use my paypal account and I have to wait another 180 days to get my money because my paypal account is in limitation so I can't send money or receive money from in my paypal account. What should I do? can you help me get my balance money on paypal without having to wait 180 days? Email : XXXX Address : XXXX XXXX, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX Number : XXXX
Company Response:
State:
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-10-05
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX, I received a XXXX message that the buyer ( scammer ) would buy my wedding dress on XXXX XXXX. She said she already sent me {$450.00} ( item amount ) to paypal on holding. On that night, I got message that I need to upgrade to business account and called me to asked buyer to send {$500.00} and refund her through XXXX pay. The next morning XX/XX/XXXX, she said that she accidentally sent twice, so {$1000.00}. So I need to refund total {$1000.00} to her and she already sent total {$1400.00} in paypal account. Afterward, I found that the Paypal confirmation email is fake and her shipping address is fake. She didn't give the transaction ID on paypal to track and the Real Paypal said I didn't have the transaction.
Company Response:
State: CA
Zip: 94577
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-10-05
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Subissue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card
Consumer Complaint: PayPal is withholding {$190.00} that were meant to be used as payment for a service. PayPal has not transferred the funds to the owed party and is withholding the funds. PayPal is NOT owed any funds or money from this transaction. PayPal is NOT entitled to any money from the transaction and should release the funds IMMEDIATELY. The Amount owed by PayPal is {$190.00}. The Amount pulled from my Credit Card is {$190.00}. When contacted, PayPal stated " They can not provide a refund for the funds ''
Company Response:
State: TX
Zip: 761XX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with non-monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-10-05
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I am filling a complaint against PayPal. I sold a few sneakers last year around XXXX on XXXX, and suddenly my PayPal account got permanently restricted for no reason. I had around {$6100.00} balance right before the restriction. I shipped all the orders out and they were all delivered and verified thru XXXX. I was told by PayPal to wait 6 months in order to withdrawal the balance to my bank account, but PayPal took the money ( full amount ) from my account automatically when the 6 month ended. The only reason they give me is that I violated their term of service, but I have properly shipped each product and they were verified by XXXX before even reaching the customer. As you can see in the XXXX emails, all for my sneakers were successfully authenticated by XXXX. I have called and emailed PayPal, but I have never received any response from them in months.
Company Response:
State: NY
Zip: 11801
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-10-05
Issue: Fraud or scam
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: My full name matching my id XXXX XXXX XXXX, Im from XXXX and I want to complain about a very concerning problem related to the payment service PayPal offered at paypal.com PayPal limited my account without prior notice and held my money for 180 days to cover any disputes. Their customer service always promised that they will release my funds after 180 days. I logged in to my account after the 180 days passed to discover that PayPal stole my money and transferred all my balance to themselves under the false claim of nonexistent damages. There was no damage to PayPal and I believe their claims are false. All disputes related to my account was settled. PayPal acted in bad faith and debited random arbitrary amounts to empty my balance to XXXX enriching themselves from my hard earned money. PayPal transferred my whole balance and took my hard earned money under the Transaction ID : XXXX. Under the common law, liquidated damages may not be set so high that they are penalty clauses rather than fair compensation. I believe PayPal acted in bad faith as a payment company, they have failed to offer the promised service. I believe that I was deceived and scammed by PayPal and I want to complain about this corrupt acts done by the payment company PayPal. I have tried to resolve this issue friendly with them many times but they always reply with canned and useless responses done by bots. PayPal failed to provide the advertised payment service. Looking forward for your reply. Thank you
Company Response:
State:
Zip: XXXXX
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-10-05
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: I am a fXXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX. I created an account with PayPal in order to allow a client to pay me who had no other means of payment. When the money arrived in my PayPal account, I was given the option to withdraw to my bank account or pay a small fee to have it instantly transferred to my debit card. I opted for the instant transfer option. I am now being told it is withheld " pending review ''. I reached out via chat and got a robot who gave me the exact same information I already knew. I tried calling but the wait time is measured in hours. PayPal should not be withholding money for " review '' after agreeing to be the intermediary between my client and I. After examining their XXXX complaint history this is a pattern with over XXXX complaints with substantially similar facts. Apparently they play some sort game where they randomly freeze accounts and withhold customer funds with no recourse. https : XXXX This needs to be reported to someone with regulatory authority so corrective action can be taken. Paypal is being abusive, that's why I'm reaching out to you. Not just for myself per se, but for the XXXX complainants at the XXXX and likely hundreds of thousands of others. There is literally no valid explanation for my funds to be frozen pending a review only at the stage where I'm expecting it to land in my account. If they had suspicions or they needed more documentation or information, they should have requested that at sign up or when the transfer from my client to me was initiated. But once they received the money on my behalf, they are required to timely forward it to me. Transaction ID : XXXX Amount : {$240.00} Date : XX/XX/2021 Any help you can give would be great. I'll update this case if they ever release my funds, but judging from the XXXX XXXX complaints against them, I'm not holding out hope.
Company Response:
State: UT
Zip: 84062
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-10-05
Issue: Managing an account
Subissue: Deposits and withdrawals
Consumer Complaint: XXXX XXXX XXXX successfully deposited a payment to my PayPal direct deposit on XX/XX/21. Door dash deposited another payment for {$340.00} on XX/XX/21 and have confirmation it was successfully deposited XX/XX/21. PayPal states they have no record of this deposit and I have not received the funds. XXXX XXXX confirmed the direct deposit account information was correct. They provided trace id XXXX. I had a 3 way call with door dash and PayPal. According to PayPal, even with the trace id they can not locate the deposit. They said it was XXXX XXXX responsibility to take corrective action with the missing payment. XXXX XXXX stated the money was already withdrawn and the transfer was completed. They can not reverse the payment without withdrawing the payment from the direct deposit account. They could then reissue the payment but that would only bring me to a XXXX balance since the funds were never deposited. PayPal said it is not their responsibility and I would have to speak to the bank that services the direct deposit transfers. I spoke with XXXX XXXX fdic and they informed me that PayPal provided incorrect information and they are responsible for resolving the missing payment issue. PayPal told me there is nothing they can do about the situation.
Company Response:
State: IL
Zip: 60504
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with monetary relief
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A
Date Received: 2021-10-05
Issue: Managing, opening, or closing your mobile wallet account
Subissue:
Consumer Complaint: On XX/XX/2021, Venmo permanently deactivated my account due to unspecified " violation ( s ) of the User Agreement. '' At the time, my Venmo account had a {$310.00} balance. In the email notifying me about my account deactivation, Venmo also told me that they would hold my {$310.00} balance for up to 6 months, and potentially never return them to me. I appealed this decision via email on XX/XX/XXXX, and again on XX/XX/XXXX, but each time Venmo refused to return my money or cite any reason for Venmo 's actions. Venmo claims that their terms allow them to seize users ' account balances, keep them indefinitely, and never offer any explanation, appeals process, or recourse of any kind. If this practice is legal, hiding a provision of this magnitude in the T & C ( which users don't read ), is intentionally deceptive. If users knew of this policy, most people would not use Venmo. Under this policy, users funds are not safe on Venmo. Venmo offers debit cards, and clearly intends for consumers to use their app just as they would a checking account. I am not aware of any bank that is allowed to arbitrarily seize account holders ' funds, and Venmo clearly wishes to reap the monetary benefits of banking services while avoiding all of the consumer protections associated with conventional bank accounts. A cursory XXXX search shows that many other Venmo users have faced the same unexplained account closure and balance theft that I am currently dealing with. I am a graduate student with no regular income ; losing {$310.00} is a big deal for me, as it would be for most other people. In short, I am asking that the CFPB take steps to compel Venmo to give me my money back, and prevent them from doing this to others in the future.
Company Response:
State: NJ
Zip: 07470
Submitted Via: Web
Date Sent: 2021-10-05
Company Response to Consumer: Closed with explanation
Timely Response: Yes
Consumer Disputed: N/A