Account permanently limited out of NOWHERE - 2000$ being held!

[Rilynnsmamaxo1]

So I've had my PayPal for awhile, always kept 200$ or so in my balance, never had any issues. I would go to Wal-Mart to withdraw money from my PayPal, but I would only withdraw whatever was over 200$ (ex. I had 500$ in my account, I withdrew 300$ and left 200$). Well the past few weeks or so, I decided to just leave the money in my balance. My balance got to $1800 and I withdrew $200 and some from Wal-Mart and left 1500$ and some in my balance. Okay well a few hours later I get a notification saying I can no longer do business with PayPal. So I start freaking out and contact customer service and of course they give me the same <removed> response. The decision is final. They can't give any details. I can't appeal. Which is pure <removed>. Plenty of people appeal and get their accounts back. Anyways, later that night I got an email saying my account was limited and to log into my account and go to resolution center to resolve limitation. Log in and try to go to resolution center but it says I cant use PayPal anymore. Now these idiots wanna keep MYYYYYYY money for 180 days. What a crock of <removed>. Thats absurd! Nobody should have to wait 6 months to access THEIR MONEY. And yes its absolutely MY MONEY because I worked my <removed> off for it just for these worthless <removed> to keep it! Smh. Seems real damn shady tho that they never messed with my account when it was only a couple hundred but now that its 1500$ they all of a sudden have an issue and I'm going against their terms and all that other <removed> they spew. Smh. Don't trust these crooks with your money!!! They'll **bleep** you over and avoid giving you any answers until you give up. And you cant even understand their CSRs because none of them speak proper english. SMFH. Cash app or fb pay or square are MUCH BETTET alternatives! Ohhh and 99% of my payments were FRIENDS AND FAMILY ! No disputes, NOTHING. Yet they still claim they have to hold my money. Im contacting the BBB and attorney general of my state. They could at least keep 500$ or so and let me withdraw the rest!

[kernowlass]

@Rilynnsmamaxo1 

Ohhh and 99% of my payments were FRIENDS AND FAMILY ! No disputes, NOTHING.

'If' you were accepting f/f payments for selling goods or services then that could be why your paypal account was limited as that is strictly against paypal rules as you are negating paying your seller fees.

You are also negating any buyer protection your buyers should have had by using the goods / services option.

If not then paypal may 'suspect' that you were selling and using that option as that is a high amount of transactions just from family / friends.

Also...

Paypal holds your funds for 180 days as that is the same timeframe that buyers have to open paypal disputes.
So if no disputes are opened against you in 180 days then you are allowed to withdraw the funds.

[Klique2]

So wouldn't it make sense to contact said person and inquire within rather than just banning them and holding their money for 6 months.

[kernowlass]

@Klique2 

I post information on how things work at the moment.

What should or should not be done is irrelavent to post if its not going to help at all.

[Klique2]

It's not irrelevant, because it can be used to start pushing things in the right direction instead of pushing people around like chess pieces.

[xtekkit]

If you are a USA resident then there is a good chance you can get your funds unlocked relatively fast. PayPal has been taken to court a number of times for holding user funds as if they were a bank and this is illegal. Sadly the money they make for doing this massively offsets the legal fines.

Your best course of action is to spend some time hunting for as many email addresses of PayPal managers and directors as possible. Then every single day, email them. Eventually someone will break and give you what you want.

Have a search online and you will find details about the various class action suites against PayPal. Include those details in your emails.

If you live outside of the USA, you have to wait 180 days.

[Manjuvr]

Hi there, 

Did you get your money restored again? I am in the EXACT same situation... $500 held for 180 days for NO apparent reason and with NO explanation. Incredibly frustrating.... Now 188 days have passed and they haven't contacted me. Please let me know what happened to you after the 180 days. 

[Koozie]

Yeah, I got my money back about a week after 180 days and not a day sooner. They even lied to me around the 120 day mark and told me that they would release since I didn't have any charge backs. Gave me instructions and everything, just to find out it was BS.. and I still had to wait. But I did get it in full after 180.. I had to contact them

[kachi1]

Hello, I am very very **bleep** and sad. This morning i got an email from paypal saying after review on my account, It will be closed and i have to wait for 180 days before i can withdraw my payment, Okay i am trying to go to the resolution center to submit whatever information i am asked, But there's no opened cases. I am so sad. I need my money. this will affect my business. Please what can i do?

[kernowlass]

@kachi1 

If you have been told your Paypal account has been permanently limited then Paypal holds any funds for 180 days as that is the same time frame that buyers have to open paypal disputes.

If no disputes are opened against you in 180 days then you are allowed to withdraw the funds as long as you are over 18, the account is in your legal name and registered in the country where you reside.

Sometimes they confiscate funds under this policy.
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full?locale.x=en_US#actions

Sometimes Paypal request further documentation from you before you can withdraw those funds.

Your best bet is to wait until the phones are back up and running and then phone customer services so that you can speak to an agent.
Then they can help advise on how you can withdraw the funds if and when you are allowed to do so.