PayPal Prepaid Mastercard scam involving "Unable to perform Paypal instant transfer"

[phreatic]

I have been unable to transfer funds out of my Paypal account onto my Paypal prepaid Mastercard.  I called the service number for the card, was told the problem is at Paypal's end.  So, I called Paypal, and was told that the transaction was being flagged, but they couldn't tell me why.  As this seemed absurd to me, I asked to be escalated to a supervisor, who explained to me that the security system that evaluates each transaction is "proprietary" (including the reasons for the flag), and further could not tell me when the flag would be lifted (if at all).  Needless to say, this nonsensical approach to customer service baffled me, so I again requested to be escalated, which resulted in a very long period on hold, followed by an angry manager who accused me of money laundering, and indignantly reiterated the Paypal policy of not telling customers why their money is inaccessible to them (even when being transferred to another Paypal product).

In a later conversation with support, I was told to let the account "cool off" for 48-72 hours, and try again.  I did so in a new browser (with no Paypal history or cookies), and despite waiting over 72 hours, still "Unable to perform Paypal instant transfer."  Throughout my communications with support, I was asked to attach my bank account to my Paypal account--which I refuse to do because I'm not about to link my account to an operation this inept--as this might alleviate the problem ("might," not "will").  The result is that I'm paying $4.95 a month for a Paypal card that I cannot transfer my Paypal balance or any portion thereof to.

The bottom line is that Paypal makes money, in part, on the interest collected on your money, which incentivizes them to devise as many hurdles as possible for the removal thereof, and I assume that moving the balance to the card must compromise their ability to collect said interest, which is why it gets flagged more readily than directly making purchases through one's Paypal account (if they flagged this at the same rate, we'd all be using something else for online transactions).

When support flatly refuses to divulge the reason you cannot access your funds, and that refusal is reiterated with increasing force (and with increased rudeness) up the escalation chain, the chances of resolution through non-litigatory channels appears slim.

Anyone manage to get this charlie-foxtrot resolved?

[MissDevine]

phreatic wrote:

I have been unable to transfer funds out of my Paypal account onto my Paypal prepaid Mastercard.  I called the service number for the card, was told the problem is at Paypal's end.  So, I called Paypal, and was told that the transaction was being flagged, but they couldn't tell me why.  As this seemed absurd to me, I asked to be escalated to a supervisor, who explained to me that the security system that evaluates each transaction is "proprietary" (including the reasons for the flag), and further could not tell me when the flag would be lifted (if at all).  Needless to say, this nonsensical approach to customer service baffled me, so I again requested to be escalated, which resulted in a very long period on hold, followed by an angry manager who accused me of money laundering, and indignantly reiterated the Paypal policy of not telling customers why their money is inaccessible to them (even when being transferred to another Paypal product).

In a later conversation with support, I was told to let the account "cool off" for 48-72 hours, and try again.  I did so in a new browser (with no Paypal history or cookies), and despite waiting over 72 hours, still "Unable to perform Paypal instant transfer."  Throughout my communications with support, I was asked to attach my bank account to my Paypal account--which I refuse to do because I'm not about to link my account to an operation this inept--as this might alleviate the problem ("might," not "will").  The result is that I'm paying $4.95 a month for a Paypal card that I cannot transfer my Paypal balance or any portion thereof to.

The bottom line is that Paypal makes money, in part, on the interest collected on your money, which incentivizes them to devise as many hurdles as possible for the removal thereof, and I assume that moving the balance to the card must compromise their ability to collect said interest, which is why it gets flagged more readily than directly making purchases through one's Paypal account (if they flagged this at the same rate, we'd all be using something else for online transactions).

When support flatly refuses to divulge the reason you cannot access your funds, and that refusal is reiterated with increasing force (and with increased rudeness) up the escalation chain, the chances of resolution through non-litigatory channels appears slim.

Anyone manage to get this charlie-foxtrot resolved?

---

I have this exact issue, but I was told the problem was on the other end by both parties. It's going to force me to cancel the prepaid card because I have zero use for a card, that I got specifically for the immediate transfer purpose, which now doesn't have the feature I want
ed it for.