An Unbelievable Paypal Story

by sbucciarel Banned
81 replies
I've had a Paypal account in good standing for 6 years selling primarily websites and graphic design services, with an occasional ebook (but rarely).

Lately I've been working 3 ecommerce sites selling physical products rather than digital products. They are all still new and being worked on and two of them have around 1,000 products in them. Since they are built on Woo Commerce, I've purchased a lot of the extensions available for Woo Commerce. While I was browsing the extensions, I noticed a Paypal Advanced extension and did some research into Paypal Advanced. It allows you to accept both Paypal and credit cards on your website and is a actual merchant solution.

I decided to apply for Paypal Advanced for one of the sites in the survival gear niche. The site sells survival food, gear, tools (such as knives), first aid kits, etc. What happened next was a real mess.

Paypal acceptable use dept. reviewed the knives on the site and didn't like 6 of them and asked me to remove them. I removed them immediately and then started reviewing the knives myself (I had imported a csv file of the wholesalers entire inventory, so didn't really review the knives myself). I ended up removing another 200 knives from the site that weren't a good fit for the survival niche, although they were completely legal knives. Only certain knives are against Paypal's acceptable use policy, but they don't define which types are or aren't.

After I removed all those knives, I get a notice that Paypal has limited my account pending acceptable use review and they declined my application for Paypal Advanced. Two days go by and I call them both days and get nothing on what I need to do to remove the limitation to my account.

Then last night I get an email saying that my account is closed. All this simply because of Paypal activity initiated by me applying for Paypal Advanced.

During this limitation, I decided to scrap the idea of Paypal Advanced and applied for some merchant accounts. Figured I would see who accepted my application and go from there. Well, all three accepted my application but what happened next is the real kicker.

I decided to write a post on my blog about the Paypal experience. I then looked up the name of the Paypal President and noted that the most accessible contact info for him was his Twitter account.

This is the fairly new President of Paypal, David Marcus. There have been numerous stories on the net about David Marcus and his intention to change some policies and corporate culture at Paypal and do things differently. You can read one of those stories here: PayPal president makes house-call (or email) to smooth over customer dispute | VentureBeat and here: Paypal President Marcus Vows Change at Payments Giant - Tricia Duryee - Commerce - AllThingsD

Sounds good right? Well, it's not just talk. After making my post, I tweeted the url to David Marcus, President of Paypal this morning. What happened next was almost immediate and stunning.

Emails started rolling in from all kinds of Paypal people ... limitation removed, account restored, knives all fine now, Paypal Advanced now approved. I received 3 phone calls from high ranking Paypal executives apologizing for the mess and doing everything they could to get me up and running on Paypal Advanced smoothly and quickly.

The second caller disclosed that my blog post "went straight to the top" to the President.

This is an amazing story, at least IMO, of a man at the top of an enormous company who actually listens and monitors customer satisfaction and vowing to make culture changes in the company, actually does exactly that.

I'm not saying that this would work for everyone who has closed accounts or limitations. There are accounts that are unrecoverable and business models that they don't support and will not support, but when they make a mistake, it's not as difficult to be heard and are not as inflexible as they appeared to be. This change in Paypal is coming from the top down, and I was very impressed after a couple of frustrating days to have the problem conclude this way.
#paypal #story #unbelievable
  • Profile picture of the author Daniel Canfield
    That is a great story! I read through the post expecting a sad ending for you...but then again sad endings are what is often expected by some people when dealing with PayPal.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Daniel Canfield View Post

      That is a great story! I read through the post expecting a sad ending for you...but then again sad endings are what is often expected by some people when dealing with PayPal.
      I expected the same, but was very pleasantly surprised.
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  • Profile picture of the author alksense
    WOW! That really is amazing!

    It's great to see that you were able to get the attention of the right people so quickly.

    I'm glad this story has a happy ending and six years of a good standing account didn't turn into another horror story.

    Good job taking action and saving your account!
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  • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
    This is an excellent example of not giving up. Even if it looks like you're screwed, there might be an alternate route. Good stuff.
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    • Profile picture of the author salmanijaz
      Thats a really great story ....

      i am also having some limitation problem with my paypal which i am using for more than 2 years now .... as i changed it to business one now ... but in my case the customer service was really great ........ i hope that this limitation stuff will be over soon and i dont have to tweet to the president .........
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    • Profile picture of the author Terry Coombes
      Good of you to take the time to share those experiences in detail Suzanne. I always have a nagging worry that they can do something irrational and devastating without warning. It's reassuring to hear such positive feedback and a good result for something that could so easily have ended badly.

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  • Profile picture of the author Harvey Segal
    Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

    I was very impressed after a couple of frustrating days to have the problem conclude this way.
    Just as you were thinking that Paypal had the knives out for you.


    .
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  • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
    Wow. I'm pleasantly surprised by the ending to this story. At least someone at Paypal cares about fixing their screwy business practices. Good for you Suzanne.
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  • Profile picture of the author cpwebsite
    I'm guessing one of the reasons about why he is at the top is because he does actually listen to people's problems and works to fix them. Congragulations man!
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
    Wow this is truly an amazing story, I thought this was going to end ugly. I always felt Twitter was not really a place to make money, but believed it was the perfect place to reach big people that you would not normally reach under normal circumstances
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    I've been busy all day with these emails, phone calls, Advanced integration, etc. but I just checked my Twitter acct. and found this

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    • Profile picture of the author heavysm
      I really wish I could remember the thread, but there is at least one guy that knows exactly how to pull the strings with paypal when things get rough.

      There is a certain certificate or something similar that paypal has with each state to allow them have their online presence there. And if a complaint is made directly with the state government office where they have that certificate (without that certificate, paypal can't do business in that state) 9 times out of 10 you'll get your account back.

      If ANYONE knows the thread I'm talking about, please post it.
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      • Profile picture of the author Steve Wells
        Originally Posted by heavysm View Post

        I really wish I could remember the thread, but there is at least one guy that knows exactly how to pull the strings with paypal when things get rough.

        There is a certain certificate or something similar that paypal has with each state to allow them have their online presence there. And if a complaint is made directly with the state government office where they have that certificate (without that certificate, paypal can't do business in that state) 9 times out of 10 you'll get your account back.

        If ANYONE knows the thread I'm talking about, please post it.
        Yep, let see it....
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  • Profile picture of the author Steve Wells
    Glad to hear that your issue turned out for the best!
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  • Profile picture of the author lastreporter
    Superb Job! Instead of coming on here and crying, you went to the top and used social media to bolster your case. Great, great work.

    Excellent result as well.

    I used to be a news reporter, so I know that going to the top works. It also works when you can amplify your grievance via Twitter.

    I had a similar experience with a much smaller company and resolved it by contacting the CEO directly.

    But after your post, I expect Marcus will be hearing from some other warriors. I hope he's ready.!
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill_Z
    This isn't the first I've heard of this. I've read at least 3 or 4 similar stories in the past few weeks in which the Pres was tweeted and account limitations or rolling reserves were lifted within 48 hours. Definitely good to hear!
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  • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
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      • Profile picture of the author RogueOne
        Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

        Well, certainly some have different opinions and experiences, but I've had a problem free Paypal account for six years until this little glitch and have been happy with an easy payment solution.
        Me too. For 5 years. The only payments they've not processed instantly were to sketchy sellers.

        I love the PP debit card. Instant access to your money 30 seconds after it hits your account.
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        • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
          Originally Posted by RogueOne View Post

          Me too. For 5 years. The only payments they've not processed instantly were to sketchy sellers.

          I love the PP debit card. Instant access to your money 30 seconds after it hits your account.
          I always had a great experience with Paypal, and they have always had friendly service on the phone. The debit card is also great. The first time I used it was years ago, when I sold a website to someone in China, and I was a little worried. I walked across the street and took the money out the ATM, and returned to skype to ask the guy for his user name, so I could push the domain

          Sometimes I call them to let them know I am going to have a wave of transactions coming in so they don't panic, and the first thing they say is "thank you for being a long time Paypal customer"

          I think the bad experiences with Paypal come from people in countries where they have strict policies.
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  • Profile picture of the author James Campbell
    Good on him for fixing a problem THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED in the first place.

    Paypal's left hand doesn't know what its right hand is doing, and this is a perfect example of this. Thankfully the new guy at the head of PP has some common sense, hopefully we'll be hearing less and less stories of these unfortunate situations happening.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ben Gordon
    It's great that David handled the situation well, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place! Hopefully David will start training and informing these employees better about account limitation, and their own policies for that matter. I want to see regular employees in PayPal having a clue about these kinds of things. It seemed to me like every time I called in I would be teaching them how their system works - until after hours of frustration when I was moved to speak with more knowledgeable staff.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Ben Gordon View Post

      It's great that David handled the situation well, but it shouldn't have happened in the first place! Hopefully David will start training and informing these employees better about account limitation, and their own policies for that matter. I want to see regular employees in PayPal having a clue about these kinds of things. It seemed to me like every time I called in I would be teaching them how their system works - until after hours of frustration when I was moved to speak with more knowledgeable staff.
      No corporation that large will operate without making mistakes, and I'm sure mistakes will continue to be made, but responding to and admitting and fixing mistakes is good enough for me.

      "There's a massive culture change happening at PayPal right now," Marcus said. "If we suck at something, we now face it, and we do something about it." David Marcus
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      • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
        What I don't understand is how you could get enough info in a tweet to suggest you might have a case. Did you send a url where you explained the problem a bit, or just something like 'my account's been closed, please look into it.'

        Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

        No corporation that large will operate without making mistakes
        Not to mention small businesses, or even tiny sole proprietorships like me.
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        • Profile picture of the author WFAlex
          Thanks for sharing your story sbucciarel.

          I've had my fair share of paypal limitations, fluffy customer service and just stupid crap (limited account, sent in all sorts of documents, got unlimited, 2 days later limited again because I logged in from a proxy by accident, had to send ALL THE SAME DOCUMENTS as before again to get it unlocked...).

          In short, I expected to read just another "Paypal sucks and their customer support is total shit" story. I'm very happy to see that this, for the first time I'm reading a customer experience with paypal, is not the case.

          Your post made me read a bit about David Marcus and wow, this guy seems to be the rescue. Someone who finally gives a you-know-what about their customers. With him aboard I finally start feeling a bit more secure again of using it as a payment processor. Let's hope he keeps up the direction.
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  • Profile picture of the author jlcs
    I am surprised with the story ending. Thanks for sharing your great paypal story.
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  • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
    Suzanne,

    You handled this all wrong. You were suppose to come on the WF and whine and cry about how big an idiot PP is and ignore any and all recommendations given. :-)

    Thank you so much for proving there is a level headed way of handling things yourself. I just love smart independent people.
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips View Post

      I just love smart independent people.

      Troy... I never realized you were an ass kisser until now...
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      • Profile picture of the author Troy_Phillips
        Originally Posted by tpw View Post

        Troy... I never realized you were an ass kisser until now...
        I am not really sure who that statement says the most about :-)
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      • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips View Post
        I just love smart independent people.
        Originally Posted by tpw View Post

        Troy... I never realized you were an ass kisser until now...
        Hey ... hey ... leave him alone. :p
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    • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
      Originally Posted by Troy_Phillips View Post

      Suzanne,

      You handled this all wrong. You were suppose to come on the WF and whine and cry about how big an idiot PP is and ignore any and all recommendations given. :-)

      Thank you so much for proving there is a level headed way of handling things yourself. I just love smart independent people.
      well, it doesn't always end like this.. and 99% of the 'recommendations" are from people who haven't actually been through the PP ringer.. well intended they may be, but more often then not the person going through it has long ago tried such 'obvious' approaches as "call and explain, be nice"

      I had PP troubles several years ago that cost me dearly, and there was not a human to be heard from.

      every time I tracked down a phone or email for a real person, i was told "we only provide support online".. which meant canned copy/paste replies, asking me to show pictures of inventory I had sold months earlier (to prove I had it)! hello??!! I sold it months ago! How am I supposed to go back into time and take those pictures and prove I had it and didn't scam the buyers? why isn't the ebay feedback for those items sufficient to show I actually delivered the product to the customer? idiots..

      it literally took over a year to clean up the mess.. and in the meantime my business collapsed, I lost my home, had my car repo'd, etc..

      I'm glad their current CEO is knocking some heads there.. it's about time.
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      • Profile picture of the author RoyChan
        Originally Posted by jasonl70 View Post

        well, it doesn't always end like this.. and 99% of the 'recommendations" are from people who haven't actually been through the PP ringer.. well intended they may be, but more often then not the person going through it has long ago tried such 'obvious' approaches as "call and explain, be nice"

        I had PP troubles several years ago that cost me dearly, and there was not a human to be heard from.

        every time I tracked down a phone or email for a real person, i was told "we only provide support online".. which meant canned copy/paste replies, asking me to show pictures of inventory I had sold months earlier (to prove I had it)! hello??!! I sold it months ago! How am I supposed to go back into time and take those pictures and prove I had it and didn't scam the buyers? why isn't the ebay feedback for those items sufficient to show I actually delivered the product to the customer? idiots..

        it literally took over a year to clean up the mess.. and in the meantime my business collapsed, I lost my home, had my car repo'd, etc..

        I'm glad their current CEO is knocking some heads there.. it's about time.
        I was having the exact issue, and was told that my account was permanently closed and they will NOT revert their decision. I think eBay/ Paypal finally losing steams and get to learn how to better their customer service.
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      • Profile picture of the author Jim Phillips
        It's good to hear a good outcome with paypal. I've heard some pretty bad stories over the years with some people.

        I've been pretty fortunate I've never had a problem that wasn't resolved quickly (or should I say in my favor) with paypal.

        Hopefully this will continue to be an ongoing trend for everyone.

        Best Regards,

        Jim
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  • Profile picture of the author Nino
    When I've started reading the story i thought: "another paypal limitation"... thing that i've seen a lot on the forum.

    But the finish left me amazed.

    Nice work sbucciarel and nice work president of paypal (if you're reading this too) )

    I will trust Paypal more now, although i never had a problem with them.
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    • Profile picture of the author wendyann
      Good result, well done.

      It's a pity another large company (who shall remain nameless!) is not as caring of it's customers.
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  • Profile picture of the author xtrapunch
    I had also received an PayPal "account closed" email possibly last year. In my case, it was the executive that failed to understand my side of the story. Maybe, they don't want to take any risks and implement their rule books by words rather than by the spirit. I wrote to their top executives and then my account was restored. You just need to tell the top guys. Their call centres won't help.
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
    Banned
    Yeah ... it worked out well in the end and I really love the Paypal Advanced check out. It's so integrated with the site that the customer appears to have a checkout experience without bouncing over to Paypal. Of course they do, but it doesn't feel that way.
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  • Profile picture of the author Paul Guilfoyle
    Well done Suzanne and well done Paypal.

    I love happy endings but like a lot of others on this thread I didn't see this one coming.
    Great initiative and thanks for sharing the story.

    All the best,
    Paul
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  • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
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    Originally Posted by Chris Kent View Post

    Nice intervention but these stories are good PR for them, but their downline processes will not change anytime soon.

    Personally, I would never use Paypal as an ecommerce solution, I'd rather use someone else.
    Well, when my account was limited I applied to 3 merchants thinking that only one would be acceptable and approve me. All 3 did so now I am awash with merchant accounts (two of which I'll probably get rid of).

    But for the site I mentioned, I wanted the Paypal Advanced, plus I like having as many options available as possible. Some of the items on my site are very expensive, so having the "Bill Me Later" option, along with Paypal and credit cards available there is a real plus.
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  • Profile picture of the author Claire Koch
    thanks for posting this and letting us know. i can't speak for everyone else but that really helps us take a deep breath. its been a lot of years of unfair terror. I hope this means all this is gonna stop and really bad people will be stopped from marketing not folks trying to be honest as they can.

    I've always thought give people a second chance and thats what paypal was refusing to do . It was always when is the axe gonna fall because I made an unintentional boo boo.

    Who in their right minds would deliberately do anything wrong if you are just doing marketing online?

    Even as I write this I still feel nervous. It really has had a negative effect on us.
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  • Profile picture of the author RabbitAnimate
    Wow ! I'm really surprised !
    for years I read bad things about paypal, how they rudely close or limit your account, hold your money (mine included, even just couple hundreds bucks), etc.

    I hope this is not the only one case, may the others follow

    thanks for sharing!
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  • Profile picture of the author Bill_Z
    This reminds me of about 6 years ago...I ordered a new cable box from my cable TV company for some additional services or something. The guy came, took the old box and gave me a new one. Next month I get a bill for $300 for the old box, and they said I didn't return it.

    No matter how many phone calls and who I spoke to they would not remove it from my bill, as if I needed an extra old cable TV box.

    So I went online and found the names of the top 10 people in the company and just did a firstname.lastname@company.com guess at their email addresses and sent off emails with my story. Next day one of them had it removed from my bill. Victory!
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  • Profile picture of the author BIG Mike
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    • Profile picture of the author cashp0wer
      Wow - I expected a super bad ending to this story but I was super surprised to hear how it ended for you. I am so glad for you and hopefully this will also help out other people. I have heard many horror stories about PayPal even though I have never had a problem with them.
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  • Profile picture of the author XanBarksdale
    Thanks for that post. That is extremely promising! I've been dealing with PayPal for about 5 years and for the most part have been extremely happy. On the rare occasion that I need customer service it had been awful...possibly the worst of any company I've ever dealt with!

    I'm glad to hear that you got this worked out and that the new Pres is taking action!
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  • Profile picture of the author Rod Cortez
    Thank you for sharing your story Suzanne. VERY eye-opening. I've had few bumps in the road with my PP account over the years, but nothing that wasn't solvable with a phone call or two.

    Your story has a very relevant point and that this is: you demonstrated the power of being proactive and also thinking outside the box. You didn't give up. Though I do agree with some others that you shouldn't have had to do all that to get your issue resolved.

    I hope the CEO did some follow and reviewed their best practices instead of just fixing this one issue. Only time will tell.

    RoD
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski View Post

      What I don't understand is how you could get enough info in a tweet to suggest you might have a case. Did you send a url where you explained the problem a bit, or just something like 'my account's been closed, please look into it.'
      I just sent my blog post url. It just stated all that occurred and suggested alternatives if this happens to you.

      Originally Posted by Rod Cortez View Post

      Though I do agree with some others that you shouldn't have had to do all that to get your issue resolved.

      I hope the CEO did some follow and reviewed their best practices instead of just fixing this one issue. Only time will tell.

      RoD
      Even the execs who called admitted that. Mistakes were made. They corrected them and I'm sure it was/is just another step in the direction of changing policy and methods for the better.
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    • Profile picture of the author seriousmny
      After reading horror story after horror story concerning Paypal here in the WF over the years, it is refreshing to read a post where someone obtained positive results.

      I am pleased that Paypal is moving towards working with account holders when they have issues in a prompt manner. I really got tired of reading about people having their accounts frozen and fighting with customer service to be heard.

      Kudos to you. Great job. I wish you much success in your business.
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  • Profile picture of the author TiffanyLambert
    Suzanne this is GREAT to hear! I know PP issues strike fear in the hearts of many. I never understood why any company would embrace and prefer a "company is always right" policy. Glad you got your account sorted out.
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  • Profile picture of the author Darrell Hagan
    Very good! I worked in the airline industry about a lifetime ago and was employed by a large and well-known regional airline. At that time, the company was owned by just one individual even though it had (then) over 800 employees.

    The man who owned the company told everyone that he was always accessible and to please call if any problem. He freely gave out his personal phone number.

    One day, I had a fairly serious problem at work and decided to see if he was serious. So I called him at 0600 and lodged my complaints. He was very patient with me and explained the reasons for doing things the way we did. Nothing changed but I came away from it with a much better understanding of certain procedures etc. and to this day I highly respect him even though it was long ago and he long since sold the company and moved on.

    Hats off to David Marcus and PayPal for a change. Its been a long time coming!
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  • Profile picture of the author lesterlim85
    Lol, but seriously I think David Marcus is doing the right things to help marketers. Many of my peers have gotten their reserves lifted after a tweet and some convo with David himself.

    Cheers,
    Lester
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    • Profile picture of the author icandi
      A truly great story - I wonder if this could become contagious? Maybe we will here stories of Mark Zuckerberg doing similar things when people have issues with their fanpage or Larry Page helping out with Adsense accounts being banned
      Although I've not been the victim of any of the above, it is a concern as too often I've read where it's happened often for unfounded reasons.
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  • Profile picture of the author TheCG
    That is awesome!

    Maybe PayPal is finally going to change some of their crazy ways.

    Suzanne, would you mind sharing your blog URL? I would really like to read the post that changed PayPal's view on the situation.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
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      Originally Posted by TheCG View Post

      That is awesome!

      Maybe PayPal is finally going to change some of their crazy ways.

      Suzanne, would you mind sharing your blog URL? I would really like to read the post that changed PayPal's view on the situation.
      To be fair, since the situation was resolved so outstandingly, I removed the post and replaced it with a duplicate of this post.

      EDIT: Just wanted to add that I didn't lose my cool or resort to screaming and shouting. Just stated the facts and alternatives. Same with my phone calls. I just sought clarification and solutions calmly. Getting all angry and yelling about it would have been counter-productive, IMO.
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      • Profile picture of the author Lloyd Buchinski
        Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

        To be fair, since the situation was resolved so outstandingly, I removed the post and replaced it with a duplicate of this post.
        That should be worth another tweet
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        • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Lloyd Buchinski View Post

          That should be worth another tweet
          Already did that. I'm sure he's aware. He even responded back. Appears to be a very nice person.
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      • Profile picture of the author Reno Van Boven
        Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post


        EDIT: Just wanted to add that I didn't lose my cool or resort to screaming and shouting. Just stated the facts and alternatives. Same with my phone calls. I just sought clarification and solutions calmly. Getting all angry and yelling about it would have been counter-productive, IMO.
        Excellent advise in here. Often staying cool and not getting all worked up and angry works best to resolve disputes.

        I learned my lesson. I once had a disagreement with Telecom in New Zealand and the person I was dealing with was really getting on my nerves. I yelled at him, calling him all sorts of names and he simply hung up and I didn't get anywhere.

        My wife decided to take over, talked to him calmly and was overly nice. It was resolved in 10 minutes.

        Cheers,

        Reno

        EDIT: And well done on bringing up such a positive story about PayPal.
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  • Profile picture of the author Elfen Lied
    Good to hear such thing. Seems like all the odds has turned out to be benefits. Best of luck.
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  • Profile picture of the author HKSEO Jonbones
    The story is somewhat appalling--you are denied acces to a different account set up, told to remove products that you sell; then, with no reason given, your account was limited, and then closed.

    YOU HAD TO NOTIFY THE CEO OF THE COMPANY THAT THERE WERE SHENANIGANS OCCURRING IN YOUR ACCOUNT, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, FROM THE TOP, YOUR ACCOUNT IS FIXED.

    That says to me that the company has truly gone down hill since I was a major paypal player.

    Clearly the new CEO and his changes are desperately needed, because if he had to initiate your account being corrected from the top, then there are shady business practices and a culture of deception and dishonesty that has clearly been accepted within the walls of paypal for some time.

    You shouldn't have to talk to someone at the top to get taken care of. If that's the case, then the person at the top is already not doing their job.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by HKSEO Jonbones View Post

      The story is somewhat appalling--you are denied acces to a different account set up, told to remove products that you sell; then, with no reason given, your account was limited, and then closed.

      YOU HAD TO NOTIFY THE CEO OF THE COMPANY THAT THERE WERE SHENANIGANS OCCURRING IN YOUR ACCOUNT, AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, FROM THE TOP, YOUR ACCOUNT IS FIXED.

      That says to me that the company has truly gone down hill since I was a major paypal player.

      Clearly the new CEO and his changes are desperately needed, because if he had to initiate your account being corrected from the top, then there are shady business practices and a culture of deception and dishonesty that has clearly been accepted within the walls of paypal for some time.

      You shouldn't have to talk to someone at the top to get taken care of. If that's the case, then the person at the top is already not doing their job.
      I don't see deception or dishonesty. It was more about snowballing miscommunication, especially between separate departments of a very large company.

      Whether or not I should not have had to go to the top doesn't matter. How many top executives do you know that are approachable? Me, not many.

      In addition, I've had 6 years of great service using Paypal prior to this, so it's easy for me to count this as a momentary glitch in a business relationship that has otherwise been beneficial to me.
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      • Profile picture of the author jasonl70
        Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

        I don't see deception or dishonesty. It was more about snowballing miscommunication, especially between separate departments of a very large company.

        Whether or not I should not have had to go to the top doesn't matter. How many top executives do you know that are approachable? Me, not many.

        In addition, I've had 6 years of great service using Paypal prior to this, so it's easy for me to count this as a momentary glitch in a business relationship that has otherwise been beneficial to me.
        a "momentary glitch" that required CEO intervention to clean up!!!

        "momentary glitch"'s that sweep up hundreds, if not thousands, of legit people each week. Who can't get an actual human to look at what's going on.

        suzanne - you were less than a fraction of an inch from being one more PP casualty, unable to get anyone at PP to apply the most basic listening skills and common sense..

        if you weren't well known here on the WF, members would have said crap like:
        "there must be something you aren't telling us",
        "you need to be nicer when communicating with them",
        "I've never had problems with pp in 6 years - they don't do this w/o a reason"..

        huge kudos to the CEO, but not for the company. he's got one huge project on is hands to turn that ship around.
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  • Profile picture of the author ExpertSEOServices
    What an amazing story. I was pretty sure once Paypal closed your account it was game over!

    The power of social media! AMAZING
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by ExpertSEOServices View Post

      What an amazing story. I was pretty sure once Paypal closed your account it was game over!

      The power of social media! AMAZING

      Social media was just the means of communicating to someone that I did not have an email address for. It was more the power of an executive who is willing to listen than the power of social media.

      I don't have a large Twitter following and am not an influential Twitter'er or even blogger, so it was more about just giving a shout out and hoping that I would at least get a review of the situation. I'm sure that my little Twitter account wouldn't be heard my many ... just one was enough.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cecil Dee
    There's been way too many Paypal (true) stories and I almost wonder how these (CEO's/Big Timers) get to where they are b/c many of the stories I've come across are common sense type issues like 2+2 everyone gets 4 except them,they get 3 or 5. I'm thinking like, these guys are heading up MEGA, mega, corporations and many are/seem to be complete Jack wagons. It's really refreshing to see a story like this one. Best wishes with your ecommerce sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author vivo
    Kudos to David Marcus.
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  • Profile picture of the author himanuzo
    Don't depend on PayPal only. Diversity few payment processor services.
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  • Profile picture of the author dragtastic
    man great story!

    I am firm believer in going to the top of the food chain (when possible) to help solve your problems - I'm glad to hear that the president is active and does keep an eye out for problems like this
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  • Profile picture of the author enterprisemind
    Great story. Sometimes you really have to put up a fight get results. Im glad this worked out for you. I very rarely hear of Top Executives handling this sort of this sort of thing themselves. Speaks volumes about his character and yours. Thanks for sharing.
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    • Profile picture of the author LilBlackDress
      Very happy you got your account fixed. It must have been a stressful experience.
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Daniel Evans View Post

      I don't think PayPal are commendable in any way shape or form.

      It's the equivalent of kicking someone in the face then being praised for slapping a bandage on them.

      This kind of thing should not come into existance in the first place.
      Whether or not it should have happened it was resolved and apologies were made. I'm good with that. I've had a 6-year long run with Paypal with zero problems prior to this.

      Originally Posted by dragtastic View Post

      man great story!

      I am firm believer in going to the top of the food chain (when possible) to help solve your problems - I'm glad to hear that the president is active and does keep an eye out for problems like this
      Originally Posted by enterprisemind View Post

      Great story. Sometimes you really have to put up a fight get results. Im glad this worked out for you. I very rarely hear of Top Executives handling this sort of this sort of thing themselves. Speaks volumes about his character and yours. Thanks for sharing.
      As an aside, there is a Twitter account for AskPayPal @ https://twitter.com/AskPayPal for these types of issues. David Marcus copies them on complaints.
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  • Profile picture of the author Gene Pimentel
    Suzanne - Outstanding. Thanks for sharing this experience. You handled the situation perfectly. Very glad you were able to break through and get it resolved!
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  • Profile picture of the author seasoned
    Suzanne,

    That IS good. But I did the same sort of thing with Roche Diagnostics and the FDA. I wish we knew if it was because the new guy is a nice guy, or he wanted you to do something like this. Roche was afraid the FDA would shut them down or something.

    Steve
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    It should be noted that those who break their TOS will still get no love from Paypal either way.

    But sure, if you have done nothing wrong then you should take it to the top. Am glad it worked out so well for you. The funny thing is because of what has happened your account is probably in much better standing than it was had none of this happened.

    This new guy seems to be a good move for Paypal. He has something a lot of people are lacking nowadays -- common sense.
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  • Profile picture of the author mervp
    The OP's story indicates the new Paypal management is sensitive to bad PR about the company going out over the Web, and its negative effect on good will generated by the company. These reversals of stupid decisions shows the company is trying to correct the poor impression the account closures/limitations give off.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joan Altz
    Amazing story, Suzanne. That certainly ups my faith in the new PayPal changes promised by David Marcus. When he gets everyone on the same page from top to bottom, things should be a lot smoother at PP. Thanks for sharing that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Joshster
    Great result...I came to this thread via a link in a Facebook group...so already knew the outcome
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  • Profile picture of the author Zoe_21
    @sbucciarel and other fellow Warriors

    I loved reading about your outcome with Paypal

    Reading it, I was amazed to learn that they now have a Twitter contact method

    Gosh!

    Where have I been?

    Only knew of their premium rate telephone number and email contact methods

    Then reading your post, especially the bit:
    Originally Posted by sbucciarel View Post

    I tweeted the url to David Marcus, President of Paypal .

    I realise that I've definitely been under a rock someplace!

    I had no idea that PayPal have gone 'social'

    Have you seen the recent PayPal news on their frozen funds policy?

    Reading that CNN post, you'll see that science fiction author Jay Lake used a tweet too, that got the attention of PayPal, who not only restored his PayPal account (under 2 hrs) but donated to his fund!

    I liked the bit where Anuj Nayar, (a PayPal rep) says: "Big changes are coming."

    I think in 2013, they have no choice

    Zoee
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  • Profile picture of the author Brains Gone Wild
    Suzanne - BEST. POST. EVER. Thanks for sharing!
    #1 - You're brilliant for tweeting him and..
    #2 - it's nice to hear about the seemingly positive changes at Paypal after all the crazy nightmare stories that we've all heard for years!
    I'm calling you if Paypal ever gives me trouble!
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  • Profile picture of the author RoyChan
    I'd like to thank the OP also. After reading it, I followed the exact step and twitted and crossed my fingers.... 48 hours later, I just received an email which reads:

    "Dear xxxx,

    Thank you for contacting PayPal via @AskPayPal Twitter account. If you did not contact us via this method, please reply to this email as soon as possible and let us know.

    I have good news! Your account was reviewed and your access has been restored on your PayPal account xxxx.

    I am sorry for any inconvenience you may have experienced. If you have any further questions regarding your PayPal account, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email or Twitter.

    Thanks for reaching out to us!

    Sincerely,

    PayPal Twitter Support"

    Thank you, Suzanne!!
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by RoyChan View Post

      I'd like to thank the OP also. After reading it, I followed the exact step and twitted and crossed my fingers.... 48 hours later, I just received an email which reads:

      "Dear xxxx,

      Thank you for contacting PayPal via @AskPayPal Twitter account. If you did not contact us via this method, please reply to this email as soon as possible and let us know.

      I have good news! Your account was reviewed and your access has been restored on your PayPal account xxxx.

      I am sorry for any inconvenience you may have experienced. If you have any further questions regarding your PayPal account, please don't hesitate to reach out to us via email or Twitter.

      Thanks for reaching out to us!

      Sincerely,

      PayPal Twitter Support"

      Thank you, Suzanne!!

      That's great news. Glad to hear it!
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