Permanent Limiting account after 11 years *without any notice* with vague reasoning

[gem3]

Paypal suddenly essentially blocked *permanently* my account because I listed for sale an over the counter vitamin on ebay! Below is the communication and my reply which was dealt with a canned response (if even was read by anyone). I am a loyal customer, very respectful to the regulations since 2006. They could have warned me if something they think is not according to the rules (which even this is debatable as you can read in my reply). But permanent banning of a customer, essentially blocking him out of ebay too with no warning? This is good business practice? Does anyone have experience over this and can help? I am issuing complaints in any organization I can find and share this on facebook, twitter and all the relevant forums. I still can't believe paypal's practice of sudden death with no warning whatsoever and no previous problems of any sort.

Already filled complains:

https://www.consumeraffairs.com/account/reviews/

https://www.trustlink.org/Review/PayPal-Inc-234018

https://www.pissedconsumer.com/company/paypal/permanent-limiting-account-without-any-notice-over-vag...

http://sanjose.app.bbb.org/complaint/view/549194/c/r3mz64

Why no warning???? A loyal customer always adhering to the rules is not good enough? Closing an account without warning for something controversial is not good business practice!

My response, followed by paypal's emails

Dear Sir or Madame,

I in no way intended to violate the policy. ​This listing is for an OTC vitamin (folic acid) that ebay permits as it is mentioned in this link:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/prescriptions.html

Prescription and over-the-counter drugs

Allowed

Allowed

Most over-the-counter (OTC) products, including:

Allergy medications that don't contain pseudoephedrine

Antacids (see the restriction on non-prescription strength OTC medications below)

Nicotine gums and patches

Pain relievers

Vitamins

​​This vitamin is otc in Greece. Moreover there are literally hundreds of listings of this vitamin on ebay accepting paypal. http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xfolic+acid.TRS0&_n...

As a matter of cooperation and compliance in order to sort this matter out I ended the listing altogether awaiting for your reply.

I am a loyal, cooperative and (mostly) happy customer since 2006 and permanent banning of my account without any warning for listing an otc vitamin is incomprehensible to me.

In PayPal's  Acceptable Use Policy https://www.paypal.com/gr/webapps/mpp/ua/acceptableuse-full it is referring to "prescription drugs" only and only for pre-approval. Nowhere in the user agreement is reads for

"prescription drugs that violate applicable laws or industry regulations

or for products that present a risk to consumer safety. PayPal considers

the marketing of a product and may restrict transactions for products

marketed to act like or function the same as a prescription drug. PayPal

also may restrict transactions for recalled drugs, unapproved drugs and

dietary supplements that have been banned by governmental agencies."

that you referred to and even if it did I would not consider this vitamin to be such by any  stretch of the imagination.

Kindly get back to me asap in order to resolve this matter.

Yours Sincerely,

<removed>

Paypal's initial email

Dear xxxxxxxx,

We have recently reviewed your PayPal account activity, and determined that

you are in violation of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy regarding your sales

/ offers of Prescription Drugs such as http://www.ebay.com/sch/xxxx on ebay.com, user ID: xxxxx.

As a result, your account has been permanently limited and this cannot be

appealed.

Per the PayPal User Agreement, when we permanently limit an account due to

an Acceptable Use Policy violation, we may hold any available balance in

your PayPal account  for up to 180 days. We will review your account at 30

days from the date of this email and determine if you have any outstanding

disputes or claims.  If there is a balance remaining in your account at

this time, we will review your account every 30 days until either all your

money has been made available to you for withdrawal, or a period of 180

days from the date your account was limited is reached. Please log in to

your PayPal account and verify that your account information is accurate,

as PayPal cannot be held responsible for incorrect information provided by

the account holder.

Please remove all references to PayPal from your website/s and/or

auction/s. This includes not only removing PayPal as a payment option, but

also the PayPal logo and PayPal shopping cart.

The PayPal User Agreement states that PayPal  reserves the right to limit

an account for any violation of the PayPal User Agreement, including the

Acceptable Use Policy.

Under the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, PayPal may not be used for the sale

of prescription drugs that violate applicable laws or industry regulations

or for products that present a risk to consumer safety. PayPal considers

the marketing of a product and may restrict transactions for products

marketed to act like or function the same as a prescription drug. PayPal

also may restrict transactions for recalled drugs, unapproved drugs and

dietary supplements that have been banned by governmental agencies.

You can view the complete PayPal Acceptable Use Policy by clicking the

"Legal" link at the bottom of any PayPal page and clicking "PayPal

Acceptable Use Policy". You can also find some more information on the

PayPal Acceptable Use Policy on our Help Center.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation. If you have any questions,

please contact the PayPal Brand Risk Management Department at

xxxxxxxx

Sincerely,

Mandy

PayPal, Brand Risk Management

Paypal's canned response to my appeal

Dear xxxxxxx,

Thank you for contacting PayPal with your concern regarding the limitation on your account.

We regret to inform you that we cannot overturn the limitation on your account. Due to the violation of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy, your account has been permanently limited.

The PayPal User Agreement states that PayPal, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to limit an account for any violation of the User Agreement, including the Acceptable Use Policy.

Under the Acceptable Use Policy, PayPal may not be used for the sale of prescription drugs that violate applicable laws or industry regulations or for products that present a risk to consumer safety. PayPal considers the marketing of a product and may restrict transactions for products marketed to act like or function the same as a prescription drug. PayPal also may restrict transactions for recalled drugs, unapproved drugs and dietary supplements that have been banned by governmental agencies.

If you have any questions, please contact the PayPal Brand Risk Management Department at xxxxxx

Sincerely,

Ruslan

PayPal, Brand Risk Management

[DPCreations]

In order for PayPal to protect it's own business against govenment regulations where a violation is perceived PayPal must take swift action against any member.  PayPal needs to show to regulators that it has taken immediate corrective action.  Not acting was not an option.

As for other listings by other members; they are not relevant to your case.

If you see listings elsewhere which appear to violate rules and regulations just report them.

[gem3]

Thank you for your reply. Swift action is permanently disabling the account with no warning? Over something that is not clear in the terms and with 11 years perfect record? 

I still do not get this. I immediately took down the listing and was willing to cooperate as always. The treat "my mistake" like  I am a criminal!

[kasage00]

the same happened to me with some anti-virus software I've been selling on ebay. It's legitimate software and I've been getting good feedback. Many other people sell this too and they accept paypal. I don't know if it was someone trying to knock out competition by reporting me or if I had the misfortune of being chosen for a random account review. I got permanently limited with no chance to appeal. Now paypal is holding $3000 hostage.

While paypal states they can limit your account if you're in violation, however, I do not see anywhere where it says *without warning* or *without appeal*.  I agree that doing this without warning or with no chance to appeal is an unfair business practice. Many people who end up in this had no intention of violating the policy or simply did not know they were violating the policy until they find out the hard way. It would have been more professional of paypal to state what exactly determined how i was in violation or if they gave me a heads-up first. If i was informed first I would have removed the listing and got documentation that the software is legal.

[supspot]

Were you ever able to restore your paypal account.  This just happened to us.  We've had the same account since 1999! 

[thodwris]

Same here,

Permanent termination of my account due to vage limitation on selling otc supplement.

Keep in mind that i am a registered pharmacist in greece and operate pharmacy related e-shop.

Also the otc in question is being reguraly sold by every pharmacy related eshop.

I have no intention on keeping paypal payments on my eshop and ofcourse i will advise anyone i know against it.

It is not only about this incident,but rather a combination of things.

To be more specific,paypal charges rediculus fees here in Greece for every exchange,it is extremely client oriented meaning that if a customer has the slitest problem with a purchase the transaction gets held hostage and the merchant has to provide proof that he is not an elephant in order to get paid.

And ofcourse,since the implementation of capital controls here in Greece we are unable to add a bank account to our paypal profil limiting its use only to credit cards.

I am among the fortunate ones  that had this problem as my paypal account had at the moment 6 euros so they can use them to buy a mokka choka or whatever latte they want from the local starbucks,my treat!

[tinyfrockshop]

Just happened to me too....no warning. I sold a perfume bottle (really a piece of 1/2" plastic in the shape of a perfume bottle, with a nail sticker on it that said Chanel. It is for Barbies and not real perfume or a knockoff. It was a handmade $2.75 item. I have also been a customer for almost 20 years! No appeal? Just done? So wrong!  Anyone have any luck reversing it or actually speaking to a human being? Did anyone contact them by phone to explain?

[Whac-A-Mole]

---

@tinyfrockshop wrote:

Just happened to me too....no warning. I sold a perfume bottle (really a piece of 1/2" plastic in the shape of a perfume bottle, with a nail sticker on it that said Chanel. It is for Barbies and not real perfume or a knockoff. It was a handmade $2.75 item. I have also been a customer for almost 20 years! No appeal? Just done? So wrong!  Anyone have any luck reversing it or actually speaking to a human being? Did anyone contact them by phone to explain?

---

do you think the word Chanel get you into trouble>

[atrichards]

My account was Permanently Limited and I spoke with someone on the phone. It didn't go well. She made it very clear they wouldn't even consider reversing the decision, and even jumped behind the decision by telling me she would have done the same thing. When I asked specifically why it was limited she said they review accounts from time to time. That's not a specific reason so I asked several more times. The final answer? All of my account looks suspicious. All of it. From the day I opened it to the day it was blocked EVER SINGLE TRANSACTION was considered suspicious. Really? Every transaction? To be honest, I only had $23 in the account they banned so it wouldn't make me so mad if they would have been honest and transparent. THATS NOT THE PAYPAL WAY. Good luck on the appeal, they have proven to me they don't care about the people keeping them in business. I would never recommend PayPal to anyone under any circumstances. They cannot be trusted.

[craiova1979]

Hi,

i have the same problem, a week ago paypal limited my account and of course I do not know about what items they relate this limitation (I have over 100 items for sale in my ebay account). I try to contact them, but they only have an email, I guess in that department they do not have phones :d.

Anyway I have more that 1200$ blocked there- these money I ve been keep them to pay my invoice from ebay ... after this ebay will limit and block my account. That's how Paypal understand to treat his contributors.

At least I want to know what was my wrong businness... anyone could help me/us???