I've been using ebay/paypal for close to 2 years now with no issues whatsoever; this whole time I've been able to make purchases with my visa debit card linked to my paypal and without having to worry about linking my actual bank account.
Earlier this week I bid on an item on ebay, and ended up winning it for a few cents over 2 dollars. When I got home that night and saw that I had won the bid, I immediately went to pay for the item, but was met with an error saying that paypal had limited my account. After some research I found out that a limit had been placed on my paypal account because I had not yet linked my bank account (I guess they have a spending limit on how much you can spend with just your debit card or something). So I thought, okay, I'll just take care of this now. I used a paycheck I had recieved and input the numbers on the check to link my account, then sent a message to the seller of the item I had won asking if it was okay if I paid for the item as soon as I was able to sort out the issue with paypal. They cheerfully said that was fine.
Three days later, I still hadn't seen any small deposite/withdrawls on my account from paypal (which is how they alert you that your bank account has successfully been linked, and you input those two amounts to finalize the bank account). I called paypal, and while they were nice they didn't seem to know how to help. The gentleman told me to wait until later that night and check again.
At that point I figured maybe I had input the wrong routing/account numbers into sections to link my bank account to paypal, so I canceled that bank account, called my bank to ask for my routing and account numbers directly, then immediately input those numbers into paypal. I was met with an error saying my routing number was too long (it's only supposed to be 9 digits long, but the number my bank had given me was 10). The first number is a 0, and after researching it someone suggested removing the first 0 and inputting the remaining numbers. I tried that, then got an error saying my routing number doesn't exist in the US. But this is the exact number that my bank gave to me.
So, again, I called paypal. A lady seemed willing to help, and when I gave her the two numbers my bank had given me so she could try to put them in herself, she said, "Oh wow...I got the same error." She then put me on hold, and when she came back she said that I need to call my bank and ask for the routing and account numbers (which, I remind you, I had already done before calling paypal). I said that I had just talked to my bank, and she suggested that I look up the routing number for wire transfers for my area. I did that, but there is no routing number for wire transfers at my bank - there is only a listed wire transfer routing number for a bank that is down the street from my bank.
Meanwhile, the ebay seller has abruptly stopped responding to my apologetic messages and opened a failure to pay case with ebay, which doesn't bother me much. I'm not concerned about getting a strike (even though it really isn't my fault that I can't pay the 2 bucks). But on top of that, I am supposed to send an out-of-state friend money on the 2nd of April, which I have always done through paypal, but now that my account is limited I am unable to do so. I NEED to send this money on the 2nd, and I'm running out of time (and patience) to get this sorted.
My question is this: Do I REALLY need to link my bank account at all? Would calling paypal and asking for them to unlimit my account be a worthless cause?
Also: Why in the world would the two numbers my bank gave DIRECTLY to me over the phone not be good for paypal
Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you.
