Seems impossible to confirm business identity with correct documents and Paypal won't help

Michael169
Contributor
Contributor

Hi,

Months ago, I received some emails about confirming our business identity. I submitted all requested documents and my account was never confirmed.

I have since called and talked to 16 separate agents, for a total so far of 10 hours dealing with it. Many of them said, "Oh, you need to submit this document, change your business name, change your address, etc." but after doing all of those things the problem persisted. The last several times, I have asked to talk to security and to supervisors and I have been assured that I submitted the correct documents and more, that the problem has been corrected, and that everything is great with my account. BUT the issue persists. I have even received an email confirmation indicating that my account has been "restored" but the problem persists.

I am unable to use my Paypal balance to send money to anyone and Paypal agents insist all is well and everything is peachy, but I can't use my account balance to send money. If I ask to talk to the security department that evaluate the documents, I am told I am not allowed to speak with them directly.

Every time I call, I have to spend 30 minutes to an hour and nothing that the agents and supervisors assure me will correct the problem has helped, even though they assure me everything is finally fixed this time.

Additionally, I CANNOT upload any more documents. I still receive a message in my Paypal account that says "Help confirm your business identity
To help keep your account secure, please provide documents that confirm your business identity." but when I click on the link, there is a message that says "We’re reviewing your documents. Thanks for providing your documents. You should hear back from us pretty quickly, but in some cases, it could take up to 2-3 business days." BUT this message has been stuck in this position for over 2 months.

 

What do you recommend I do? Does anyone have a direct line or mailing address for someone who can actually help?

I would like to re-send the documents by snail mail to an administrative office, because the automated system seems to be stuck or to talk to anyone who would actually help and be able to help, but I feel like I've hit a massive corporate brick wall and nobody will help despite overwhelming effort on my part to get this problem solved.

 

I've been a Paypal customer for 15 years.

 

PLEASE HELP!

 

Thanks! Michael

 

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Michael169
Contributor
Contributor

I'm not sure if there is an easier way, but after everything I documented above, I finally wrote a letter to Paypal's legal department at this address:

PayPal Corporate

Attn: Legal Dept/Civil

2211 North First Street

San Jose, CA 95131

 

I explained the problem in detail, sharing how many agents I spoke with, how much time I spent chasing the issue and what the agents said. I indicated that I was unable to upload any more documents and that I was frustrated at the apparent lack of interest in helping after all I tried to do to resolve the issue. I also expressed that this was causing financial harm to our company and significant customer service issues and that I would like to speak to an actual person with the authority to help. Lastly, I said I would happily submit hard copies of the documents they requested.

 

I sent the letter to the legal department by certified mail with a return receipt so I could document that it was received.

 

I never received any response from Paypal, but after a few weeks, the problem was suddenly resolved and has not resurfaced. I'm not sure if this was the solution, but I *believe*, after receiving the letter, someone from legal contacted a supervisor and asked them to intervene and correct the problem, which is what I had been asking for all along.

 

Hopefully, this helps someone else having the same frustrating experience.

 

-Mike

 

 

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11 REPLIES 11

aklu
Contributor
Contributor

We are having the same problem. I've uploaded all of the documents required as far as I know, and the message has been stuck on "we are reviewing and it will be 2-3 days." for about a month or so. I have confirmed my phone number, etc a bunch of times. I haven't tried calling yet, got on the forum to see if there is a solution already. I'll try it and see what comes of that. 

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Daniellepassey9
Contributor
Contributor
Glad it’s not just me who is having this issue!
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Michael169
Contributor
Contributor

Since Paypal is unwilling to help, I have been investigating if it is possible to report this to an oversight agency and I am planning to file a complaint with our state's banking commission and better business bureau, both of which said they have the ability to directly contact someone higher up at Paypal and both of which claim to have good success getting someone from Paypal to actually handle their cases.

 

It sounds like you haven't been dealing with this as long as I have but I've had enough... I wish you success in getting it corrected.

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rpeters
Contributor
Contributor

I am currently in the middle of the same frustrating circles and am not getting anywhere. You send them the documents they ask for and it still isn't good enough. The people answering the phone have zero useful information and you can't talk to the compliance department to find out why they are rejecting perfectly acceptable documents.

 

Did you (or anyone) ever have success in resolving this? Any tips?

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Solved

Michael169
Contributor
Contributor

I'm not sure if there is an easier way, but after everything I documented above, I finally wrote a letter to Paypal's legal department at this address:

PayPal Corporate

Attn: Legal Dept/Civil

2211 North First Street

San Jose, CA 95131

 

I explained the problem in detail, sharing how many agents I spoke with, how much time I spent chasing the issue and what the agents said. I indicated that I was unable to upload any more documents and that I was frustrated at the apparent lack of interest in helping after all I tried to do to resolve the issue. I also expressed that this was causing financial harm to our company and significant customer service issues and that I would like to speak to an actual person with the authority to help. Lastly, I said I would happily submit hard copies of the documents they requested.

 

I sent the letter to the legal department by certified mail with a return receipt so I could document that it was received.

 

I never received any response from Paypal, but after a few weeks, the problem was suddenly resolved and has not resurfaced. I'm not sure if this was the solution, but I *believe*, after receiving the letter, someone from legal contacted a supervisor and asked them to intervene and correct the problem, which is what I had been asking for all along.

 

Hopefully, this helps someone else having the same frustrating experience.

 

-Mike

 

 

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cooleo888
Contributor
Contributor

This solution isn't helpful if you still had to wait weeks after sending the letter, especially if you're not sure if the letter even helped. Many of us are still going through the same experience that you had. 

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cooleo888
Contributor
Contributor

This is still happening to my organization, and a colleague's organization. It has been days and weeks, and both of our donation pages are still down. Meanwhile we are not able to accept any payments. It's unacceptable and harmful to our operations. 

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rpeters
Contributor
Contributor

I did try the letter, but it definitely didn't help. I am still working through this as we are a non-profit with multiple paypal accounts as we have multiple locations, so I have to do the dance with each one. What I have found is that persistence eventually gets results (my longest fight was 6 weeks, I am now down to an average of 2-3 weeks), I keep uploading documents with a cover letter explaining the documents letter until I get through to the right person and then the account is unlocked (assuming you are providing what they are asking for - in our case it is a CRA registration document). We have business accounts so the request is coming through the Identity Confirmation Dashboard which doesn't work at least 70% of the time, so when document upload through that does not work, I upload documents through www.paypal.com/il/uploaddoc (need to cut and past this for it to work properly, not click on the link) and then once uploaded, I email them to let them know it is there (respond to the compliance verifications email they provide you, the forum will not let me type it here). I have found that a straight email to them does not get read, but the uploaded documents sometimes do.

 

Hopefully this helps someone, I know first hand the frustration as I have gone through it successfully (but with much pain) on 30 accounts, and am still working on 8 more.

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Bazz27
Member
Member

So ridiculous!

 

I have been trying to get this sorted for months now and they keep rejecting the supplied documents. They keep saying I need to upload my personal, not business docs. No **bleep**! I have uploaded them 5 times for you and called, being on hold numerous times and even speaking to a manager who couldn't help either

 

I always loved the Paypal system, but have found way better support with Stripe and Square.

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