By Heather McLean, 14 March 2002 16:37
NEWS Online payment company PayPal has been sued for restricting, freezing and closing ecommerce customer accounts without reason. The lawsuit - lodged on Tuesday on behalf of three customers - also claims the service has purposely made it difficult for users to conclude disagreements with the company. The suit against PayPal is seeking nationwide class action status. PayPal claims the suit is without merit, and intends to launch a "vigorous" defence. PayPal claims to be attracting 25,000 new users each day to its existing 14 million-strong customer base, and processed £3.5bn worth of online payments during 2001.
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1. Marty R. Milette
I have accounts with PayPal, and if I so much as try to check the balance from any of the 'restricted' countries -- they lock the account instantly -- and it can take MONTHS to get UNLOCKED. Makes doing business when travelling rather unpleasant and difficult.
2. anonymous
I also have accounts with paypal for years and they have been nothing but courtious.
Any problems I have had,like un recieved goods,or my account was over charged has been dealt with speedily and in a friendly manner.As a buyer and a seller,they have been nothing less than helpful...just my opinion!!!
3. mrs klare coles
i have a paypal account and as soon as i can recoup the money stolen from my account i will be closing and never returning!
in the last 3 weeks i have found large amounts of (seems to be) money being laundered through my paypal account i reported it state away and now im out of pocket by £540,00 the others names on my account (whom ihave never met or know) have all been remberssed i am still waiting! very unhappy with the service i will never pay with paypal again
4. anonymous
The nightmare scenarios are precisely why I use a prepaid debit card (VISA/MC/whatever) - it means that hopefully I won't have my savings account frozen by someone who's NOT EVEN A BANK! Ebay knows that if enough people get nervous about this that something has to be done with PayPal's policies. Already, I've heard many people say that they'de order online but NEVER on an auction site as they're afraid of fraud and even worse the chance that a small fruad (<$50) could cost them several months of headaches and legal fees because of bank account problems.
I love to use PayPal as it makes it possible to instantly pay sellers but they need to improve consumer confidence. They should not allow themselves to be thought of negatively in the public eye. The way to help this is to be more responsive to people and do it in a visual way so as to get the most political advantage amoung potential costumers - a small investment can be made to have a great effect by advertising it!
5. anonymous
I became a buyer member of PayPal when someone else used my credit card info to sign up without my knowledge. I immediately alerted PayPal. Result? 3 automated email replies. If you have a credit card or bank account, this could happen to you. Then you can kiss your savings goodbye. PayPal facilitates credit card fraud. Avoid it.