Request for Photo ID and proof of address

[RED666S]

I have been asked to provide photo ID and proof of address for my account restrictions to be lifted. However no-one at PayPal is prepared to answer my questions:

Why all of a sudden do you need this - you are not asking anyone else in my family?

My account is verified - does this mean nothing?

Can I hide my passport number when I send it over? If not why not?

Why can't I use my driving license as both - it fits the criteria for both!

Why can your call centre not answer the simple question of why you need this information*?

* called today and was rudely told to just send it as they need it and he cannot tell me why and if I dont send it I cant use PayPal.

If my bank asked for this information they would at least have the decency to tell me why.

[Dan17]

I just got my account limited for making a several thousand $ purchase on Paypal, requiring photo ID and proof of address. It's a bridge too far. All of you should be privacy conscious and ASSUME that all those internet companies will some day be looted and user account data sold on the black market. Companies are as slippery as they can be when customers want something back from them. I'm in Australia and our ability to chase down a FOREIGN company when it drops the bundle is difficult. There's no Paypal branch I can go to in person, there's no Australian call centre and I doubt an ombudsman could help. Forget it, Paypal. I am happy with my local bank and the 'convenience' of using Paypal is not worth the risk of giving you my passport or driver's license. Get lost!

[stellak]

I opened my uk paypal account while i was in the uk and i finished uni and left the country but i've kept it open cause i still use it as its connected to a uk bank account thats still valid and buy items cause my sibiling lives in the uk so items often sent to her, and now my account has been limited and they want proof of residency and ID and i can proof the id obviously but not the residency, and i can't put my non-uk address on it. 

my bank allowed me to put my non-uk address on there dont get why paypal doesnt. and now i dont know what to do i dont know if i should put my siblings address but then i dont know what to do with the proof part.. can anyone help please! 

thanks

[Talan2]

Got an e-mail this morning advising my account had been limited and I needed to provide scan of my passport, drivers licence and a utility bill to remove the restriction. WTH? This is precisely the info that an ID thief will need. Why on earth would I load that sort of info up to an organisation that has been hacked in the past, an organisation that doesn't have a shop front in Australia? Even my bank/credit card company doesn't need this info

[PaulSmith69]

Paypal have now limited me, I sent what they asked for several days ago now.

ID was approved straight away but proof of address just says 'in progress'. I rang paypal only to be told it will take as long as it takes!?!

In the meantime paypal won't let me touch nearly £1000 of my own money that is now stuck in my account.

How long will this take to sort? 

I really do need to be able to get to my money asap, I certainly won't ever leave cash in my account again, I thought it was convenient, but it's turning out to be a Big Mistake!

[kernowlass]

@PaulSmith69

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PaulSmith69 wrote:How long will this take to sort? 

I really do need to be able to get to my money asap, I certainly won't ever leave cash in my account again, I thought it was convenient, but it's turning out to be a Big Mistake!

Thought they have already told you that it would take as long as it takes ??

[PaulSmith69]

Well that was a very unhelpful and pointless reply,

I was actually asking anybody who had been in this situation how long it took for them, not looking for a smart **bleep** reply, have youreally nothing better to do with your time?

So what compensation do I get for them holding onto my money without my permission?

[PaulSmith69]

& why does one bit of info provided get accepted immediately and the other is put on hold for days?

Surely they could've both been sorted at once, seems odd.

[kernowlass]

@PaulSmith69

Well as the time it takes paypal to get around to sorting limitations varies from days to weeks how would it help if someone posted that it was xxx days for them?

It would depend on how many staff paypal have at that time, when they got around to it, how many limitations or other business they have ongoing at that time.

So no answer would be helpful as no one here can possible know how long customer services are going to take.

And they don't provide compensation, you use the service on their terms which are outlined in their user agreement.

You need to just wait it out and phone every now and then for an update.

[PaulSmith69]

Days to weeks.... Well that shows how much you know, Paypal themselves state "We aim to complete our review within 48 hours" on the help page "the steps to remove, an account limitation"

& I figure it's always good to get info from others real experiences, rather than a load of waffle from someone trying to show off how little they know.

Anyway, some good advice on phoning evey now and then, that did the job! Thanks for that, much appreciated.

Though not for any updates but just to get through to someone who knows what they are doing and get it all sorted.

Two days ago I was told by the lady in Customer support that she couldn't do anything and she had no real idea how long it would take.

Most unhelpful.

Today I got through to a nice Irish chap who looked at the details and said there seemed to be a lot of these at the moment.

He looked at what I had previously provided and agreed it was taking longer than necessary, so he escalated it for a quick result and estimated it would be clear in a matter of hours. Sure enough two hours later it is now all sorted, well done that man!

Quite a change from the first lady's response that nothing could be done, it's nice when you get someone who knows how to do their job!

So I'd suggest to anyone with this problem in the future:-

Once you've sent in your details and haven't got a result within a day or two then ring up on a daily basis. If you get someone who says nothing can be done then just ignore everything they say and call again the next day, chances are you'll get someone different then who actually knows what they are doing and wants to help.

[kernowlass]

@PaulSmith69

Hi Mr Rude,

yes paypal state 48 hours but I have known many folks wait days or weeks and as I said NO ONE ON HERE is going to know are they?

As for not knowing my ''job'' err I do not work for paypal, this is a ''user to user'' help forum which again is why i said no one here was going to know and to phone customer services.