HORRIBLE IDEA TO HOLD FUNDS FOR 21 DAYS!!!

gearhed78
Contributor
Contributor

  Holding funds from sellers until the buyer leaves feedback is the worst idea EVER! Since when does Paypal become an authority on buyer satisfaction?? A smooth transaction is all that I wanted from Paypal. If they are going to hold funds, then they should make it very clear BEFORE you use them!  Keeping my money in their account for 21 days is a HUGE disadvantage of using Paypal. Stick to transferring funds,not trying to be a satisfaction authority!

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sm1715
Contributor
Contributor
@jjsmompsp: it is very possible that holding that one item triggered something in their system. There is not a person that actually looks at the accounts to determine if a hold should be put on or not - it is automated based on your account, and on certain criteria. Since "average delivery timeframes" is one of the reasons, I think it's very likely that is what happened. I would call PayPal if I were you, to explain that you were providing EXCELLENT customer service by shipping when the customer wanted! For anyone that does not print a shipping label right away after the sale - I suggest you "mark item as shipped" right away - you can always go back and "unmark item as shipped" whenever you want.
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jjsmompsp
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Contributor

Hi thank you for your advice.  I did ask them about the reason initially and they gave me a canned answer that I was "on the right track" and that if I did all the things that I already do and have always done, Oh yes if I worked to raise my feedback score, which is  and always has been 100%, they might remove the hold in the future. The answer I received just infuriated me and at the time, the buyer request for holding shipment did not occur to me until after I already "blew my top". Since they don't tell you why but just give you a canned answer, it doesn't give you enough information to figure it out. I have input another email question so I could copy the buyer request for delay into the text.  Also, gave them the item number so they could look at the records and see that I actually put a note on the item indicating that the buyer had requested a shipment hold because they were out of town.  It's too bad that they can't set up a system to allow you to honor buyers requests such as this, rather than just have to figure out how to beat the system that seems to be designed to punish good and honest people for doing the right thing. 

 

I do thank you again for your advice, I will let you know if it does any good to have given them the info! It is my thinking that not enough people fight when unfair practices are adopted by companies.  The fight in this case would be as a lot of people have said that they are not going to use paypal or ebay anymore or until the rules are changed to protect the innocent buyers and sellers. I for one I have worked my whole life to do the right thing, pay my bills on time, and retain high credit ratings and I have not felt more compelled to boycott a company due to poor treatment of who should be valued customers. When I googled this subject I was so surprised to see so many people who have been unfairly treated with this and other holds on thier funds. They must depend on new customers and not retaining thier loyal, long time valued customers to survive.  I just really can't believe that any company can afford to treat good and honest people this way in this economy. OK, sorry, I start and just can't stop....  It is just so super disturbing!

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Imoutofhere
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Contributor

And the answer is the first quarter for 2011 revenue is up but profits are down. They won't be making any more money on me.Smiley Surprised

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jjsmompsp
Contributor
Contributor

Got the answer, same as before, in a nice way I am told they will do as they please.  And I won't be using paypal until the hold is lifted from my account.  If never lifted, then all done. I won't buy or sell anything on ebay and I won't use paypal to pay for anything.  I was using it to pay some bills but no more.  I will use my bank's free billpay service.  The best way I know of to fight unfair treatment, is to refrain from adding to their bottom line.  They don't seem to mind at all to lose customers or revenue.  I sold more and made more money for them this year than I ever have in the past, and this is how they show their appreciation....  they say below not all funds are held and when I log into my account there is a big red ribbon across the top that says:

From now on, money you receive will be temporarily held in a pending balance. To learn more, please read our Payments Hold Policy.   So yeah, bye-bye paypal.  Here is the resposne:

 

Thank you for contacting PayPal Customer Support. My name is Jennie and I am happy to assist you with the payment hold policy applied on your account.

 

I understand that you received a notification about payment on hold. I understand that your account is in good standing. I have checked that there are no payments on hold on your account yet.

 

Please be advised that not all payments will be placed on hold. Most payments are processed immediately; however, to protect everyone's security, there are cases where we hold payment. From time to time, PayPal will hold funds while we ensure that there are no disputes or chargeback's made against the seller's account. Depending on the shipping method you use, you can have your funds available in as little as 4 days. To start the process, I recommend you ship the item today with a tracking number and enter it in (insert as appropriate). PayPal monitors the shipment, and your funds will be released 3 days after the delivery is confirmed. Keeping in communication with your buyer will also speed up the process, as the funds also become available when positive feedback is left.

 

For the payments that was placed on hold the funds can only be released based on one of the following criteria:

 

* Positive feedback from the buyer

* 3 days after the item was confirmed delivered through a tracking number

* 21 days passed without buyer disputes, chargebacks or claim Accounts are reviewed every 35 days for removal of your payment hold, and we’ll send you an email if the hold is lifted.

 

I am glad I was able to answer your questions today. Best of luck with your continued online sales! Thank You for choosing PayPal.

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liochem42
Contributor
Contributor

Hello, I too followed what you do and ship the item won as soon as paypal or ebay says it is ok to ship. Everyone of my customers has received exactly what they ordered and also I created tracking info because I use USPS on about everything I have ever shipped. I used to use USPS money orders for payments a few years ago but in the last year, paypal has deemed this unexceptable and we are no longer allowed to accept money orders as payment......just paypal. I am no longer going to be a seller on ebay because of this practice.

good night and good luck.

Bill Prieto

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me-o-my
Contributor
Contributor

DITTO

 

I guess they don't really need us anymore.

 

I am going to try ebid.net and google merchant.

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rondacity
New Community Member

PayPal is now withholding my money (and not just mine) for 21 days, for no good reason. I've never had problems buying or selling. PayPal has never lost money with me. With this kind of delay I might as well go to money orders when I sell something. I believe PayPal is holding on to our money to make interest on it.

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Laday2
Contributor
Contributor

I agree, I called and wrote them and told them the same, it's unreal that they can charge us to hold our $ against our will. They get the transaction fee for processing the payment, that is the end of their involvement.

 

Sorry to hear you are trapped in Paypals BS, hopefully a legit alternative comes up soon

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staarntrey
New Community Member

never had a problem either till this month now theres a 21 day hold on my money i have 4 items out in the customers hands and cant access my money ,just sold a jacket that i refuse to mail till the money is cleared and spendable...wonder if this is a new way for scmmers to scam ...

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mrbeatdown
New Community Member

heres my problem, im supposed to send a package for ebay the money to send that package is in my account at pay pal. pay pal will not release the money to pay for shipping like the customer intended. so paypal is using the tatics of freezing my account or temporary hold. same thing. well as soon as i get this handled i will close my accounts at both places when im done fixing this. I have a concious unlike this company im writing about, ill get them thier christmas presents. but what really irks me is pay pal took thier fee out! thats the biggest bunch of buul#$##@ ive ever heard of talk about arrogant pieces of %*&(  they can have thier deal im writing my senator about this and any of you who have had te same happen should do the same. paypal is not a bank or the irs, do not let them do this to others. thanks

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