Paypal forcing me to have a cellphone to access my account?

[DiceandPaper]

I do not own a cell phone, nor do i wish to. I have a land line phone. I use to be able to click pass adding a mobile number to access my account. But now I am locked out unless i enter a phone number. I tried to enter my land line number, and it doesnt support it.

SOOoooo em i to believe im no longer allowed access or to have an account because i choose not to do the cell phone thing? Whats next i need to own a game console too? drive a certain car?

[Rickt1962_]

AGREED ! 

[Writer11]

Fione, I will close my account.  How do I do that since I am unable to log on?

[Reveready]

Exactly, I would close my account but of course not having a mobile phone I cannot log in, can’t pay bills due this coming week, looks like going the legal course is my only option, but then I suppose the cost of lawyers will outweigh the money locked in my account, it’s a pity, have been loyal to PayPal for many years, no more.

[Temp20210815]

Same problem here. I have a VoiP phone# that accepts text messages (Google Voice, etc.) and it is already linked to my paypal account.  However the paypal system does not allow this phone# since is not owned by a mobile carrier. I don't understand why a carrier phone# is acceptable while a VoIP# is not. People can get pre-paid mobile phone# without any identification. I live in an area without mobile service. So even if I had a valid mobile number, I could not use it with paypal since I can't receive calls or mobile messages.

I called support and asked to escalate the issue. The agent tried to restore access though asking personal information, but that did not help. I would encourage others to call as well. If enough people call, perhaps they will change the policy.

The easiest way to find the phone number is to google paypal support phone number. They redact any reference to the actual number.

[Maineman1]

I'm in the same situation, I only have a land line because there is no cellphone service where I live.

That said I have recently got a cellphone that's "talk only" (to save money) but have when I'm out on the road away from home and I can not use this type of phone to get a code from Paypal with, even if I could use it to obtain a code it does not work in my home.

It seems to me that Paypal is really shooting themselves in the foot here by blocking people who have been good customers for years just because they do not have a cellphone capable of receiving a verification code.

I managed to pay off my Paypal Credit balance after spending almost an hour with a Paypal support guy fighting with jim just so I could pay my due balance, he finally gave me a phone number for the "Paypal Automatic Payment" which is ([Removed. Phone #s not permitted] and following the menu allowed me to pay off my balance, otherwise I would still be stuck owing my Paypal balance with no way to pay it.

Thankfully for me I'm done with Paypal, I don't need them as I can work with my credit card and live with it, Paypal has lost another long time user through no fault of mine !

All I can say to everyone else who is suffering at the hands of clueless, thoughtless Paypal executives is GOOD LUCK !

[GeriAnn]

I'm having the same problem - cannot log in unless I have a cellphone that can receive a code for verification.  I was able to call the number on the back of my credit card and pay my account, but I cannot get into Paypal because my cellphone is a Consumer Cellular flip phone that does not have texting or Internet, I can only make and receive phone calls on it.  So now I cannot get into my account at all.  And it's Friday evening so I can't even call their customer service for assistance.  Why did they do this?  Do they think EVERYONE has a smartphone?

[jmilby]

When it asked for a cellphone I put in my landline number and I received an automated call back with the code and was able to login.  My landline number is connected to my account in the settings on my account.

[Temp20210815]

I called PayPal on Friday. Today I received a survey on my call. I filled out the survey and re-iterated my issues with this new policy and how it was rolled out. 

I encourage others to call PayPal and fill out any subsequent survey. Perhaps PayPal will change the policy if enough people raise a concern.

[jmilby]

When it asked for a cellphone I put in my landline number and I received an automated call back with the code and was able to login.  My landline number is connected to my account in the settings on my account. 

[Reveready]

I’ve had my PayPal account for well over a decade and always found them good, but I draw the line at this stand over tactic. It is nothing about security, whenever there was a problem they either rang me on my landline or emailed me, this mobile phone thing is about on selling our information to advertisers and that is the end for me. i

I had a few hu dried dollars in my account but have managed to spend them through businesses which take the money directly from my account thereby avoiding the need to log in, now if there’s a dollar or two left PayPal can have that as a going away present.

I have found another vehicle through which to pay bills or purchase goods so this account can sit and rot.

The world has gone mad with corruption and greed by Governments and big business in their need to control ‘the little people’ and it isn’t going to end in a good way. Good luck., everything is about power and money and who gets squashed along the way is incidental to them.