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Rant alert – I hate you, PayPal.

I have been using Paypal for years. I am an online business owner, and this is how I make my living. Reliable access to, and transfer of, funds is crucial to me, and my livelihood. Paypal apparently doesn’t give a hoot about it.

Last week I transferred a large sum from PayPal to my bank. A sum that would be responsible for payroll, for buying yarn, for paying my mortgage. The funds arrived in my bank, but also remained in my PayPal account. I called Paypal – they said it was a glitch, that they would call back, and in the meantime not to touch the funds in either my bank account, or my Paypal account.

It’s been 5 days, no contact, so I call Paypal back and asked to be elevated to a manager.

He basically throws his arms in the air and says:

“It’s not our responsibility. Must be your bank”.

I say:

“Ok, but shouldn’t someone from PayPal have contacted me about this? What if I tried to withdraw the funds again? What about recent transfers? What if I didn’t, on my own recognizance, contact you before I made this worse?”

He responds, like some horrible automaton:

“It’s not our responsibility. Must be your bank”.

The manager I requested to elevate this kept repeating that one sentence, basically hoping I’ll go away.

I think we can all rest assured that, had I done something dishonest, like pull the funds again, Paypal would have been knocking on my door with a good deal more efficiency. If my bank reverses the funds it will be catastrophic. If Paypal continues to not allow me access to my funds, including new, incoming purchases, it will be catastrophic.

I’m not sure what my alternatives are. Roughly 50% of our business comes through PayPal so it’s not as though I can ask my customers to charge their credit cards instead. Informing Paypal that I will take my business elsewhere elicited no response except “that’s your prerogative ma’am”. They are so confident in their monopoly that they don’t care if I stay or leave. It’s a horrible feeling from the agency that holds your livelihood.

A small business is feast and famine, and the consistent, reliable flow of funds is crucial. They have demonstrated that they don’t care one whit about this. I’m open to your thoughts, or even just commiseration at this point. I feel so powerless.

I hate using my beautiful blog as a rant space, and for that I apologize, I just had to get this off my chest!

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14 responses to “Rant alert – I hate you, PayPal.”

  1. Ashley H Avatar
    Ashley H

    I’m sorry to hear that and I hope it’s sorted quickly. I know it’s frustrating, but maybe try calling PayPal again later and see if you can get a different manager? We deal with them for work too, and I’ve found that while some are useless, some can be friendly and helpful.

    Reply
  2. Erika Malveaux Avatar
    Erika Malveaux

    Have you looked into using Stripe? I’m not sure if they can take care of all your needs, but I use them thru my Facebook shop.

    Reply
  3. Kelly Harms Avatar
    Kelly Harms

    So sorry you’ve had to deal with this. Sometimes it’s just the person you’re dealing with that is the problem – not the whole company. If you haven’t tried again, I would give them another call and see if you can find someone who understands customer service.

    Kelly

    Sent from my iPhone

    >

    Reply
  4. Mary Jane George Avatar
    Mary Jane George

    I know you know you have to go to your bank and talk to a real person, also know we all hate to do that, its so much easier to do stuff online. The funds are probably fine and in your bank account and they will be able to take a look at the transfer and see if it was something that was not clicked on their end. Ranting is fine also a good thing about the internet, its better than screaming at someone. Good luck, it will all work out.

    Reply
  5. JanHanPhoto Avatar
    JanHanPhoto

    Fair point! Good to state your grievance it alerts other people to potential problems they could have with PayPal. I hope you get a resolution soon.

    Reply
  6. lin Avatar
    lin

    My son also is an online business owner who consistently has issues with PayPal- they are an evil bunch- my heart goes out to you and I hope you are able to find a way out of your predicament.Going only credit card and not paypay may be something worth considering.

    Reply
  7. Erin Kitzman Avatar
    Erin Kitzman

    My husband HATES Paypal because they can freeze your account for no reason and there is no recourse. His recommendation is to research “credit card processing companies” to see if you can find any others you like. Square is one such company: https://squareup.com/ I’m sure there are lots of others as well.

    Reply
  8. Erin Avatar
    Erin

    My husband HATES Paypal because they can freeze your account for no reason and there is no recourse. His recommendation is to research “credit card processing companies” to see if you can find any others you like. Square is one such company: https://squareup.com/ I’m sure there are lots of others as well.

    Reply
  9. sharon SCHUYLER Avatar
    sharon SCHUYLER

    I am sorry to hear that. I don’t use PayPal even though I have been told it is easier. However, if things like this occur and the management just throws up their hands it shows me even more I am not going to use it. Hopefully you will get things straightened out so you can proceed with your business as well as other matters you need the money for. That is ludicrous!

    Reply
  10. Lindsay Avatar
    Lindsay

    there seems to be a great deal of chatter about this very problem… unfortunately if they are cornering the market on the payment platform it makes things very difficult for small business owners… we need more options…

    Reply
  11. Marie C Avatar
    Marie C

    My I’ve just started using Paypal for my budding pattern design creations. Thank you for bringing this practice to light. I wish you courage.

    Reply
  12. Yvonne Avatar
    Yvonne

    Hang in there! 🦋🦋🦋

    Reply
  13. Donna Cornax Avatar
    Donna Cornax

    Beautiful yarn – ghastly paypal -I hope it gets resolved – quickly and with some chagrin and compensation on their part. On a positive and exciting note for me, my lys, Valley Yarn in cloverdale, bc is going to be carrying your yarn, and I am really thrilled about it. On a negative note, i hope their payment to you isn’t part of the funds that paypal won’t help you get access to. Also, I would pay with a credit card or any other way that works well for you. Finally, try to keep your creative, passionate spirit from being crushed by this horrible situation.

    Reply
  14. Sherry Pollock Avatar
    Sherry Pollock

    I have both PayPal and Square, and use each for different reasons. Shipped orders are done thru PayPal because it helps customers feel more secure about placing orders with me and allows me to keep a small balance aside for my own purchases from vendors who only accept PayPal.

    However, the majority of my business is done on-site at events and for those, I rely on Square. No brainer since I already have both card readers and an itemized catalog created through Square’s store option. My favorite thing about Square is having funds from credit card sales automatically deposited to my checking account (less a per-transaction fee). Although Square offers an “instant deposit” option for an additional fee, I haven’t bothered with it because I get my money in 1-2 business days. (For comparison, the traditional card processor used by a former employer charged her $75/mo for “equipment rental” AND per-transaction fees. The basic magstripe reader is available from Square for FREE.)

    Reply

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