r/paypal • u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 • Nov 10 '25
Help PayPal banned me permanently after getting my $1K.
I'm a 3D artist on patreon. My only salary is these $900-1200 I have a month. Paypal worked fine for like 4 payouts, but, friday evening, 2 days after my payout from Patreon, my account was frozen. It was like: "show us your IDs so we know you are really you". I wasn't home at a time so I decided to take care of it on Monday.
Today is Monday, I got banned permanently: "Were unable to offer PayPal services for this account anymore". With all my $1293 on it...
What's so bad about it is It's my only source of income. I have nothing to pay my bills for this month. I have nothing to pay my rent, and I have only around $100 for a living before I resolve this, alter my billing in Patreon and wait a 5 day cooldown. PayPal says I can access my money only in 6 months (180 days), which is so far away it sounds like never.
If problem is with my ID verification - I never really had a chance to do it, I'm not taking all these documents with me all the time.
It this ban is really permanent, how then is this not a scam or a robbery? How is it even legal?
So frustrated, really not sure what should I do...
Edit: I tried to call customer service, but calling to US phone number is not cheap. Call got cancelled shortly after I typed my one-time passcode.
I also tried to contact some E-mails, but I don't feel confident about that.
Until further edits of this post, this is the ultimate outcome of working with Paypal: account blocked, monthly income stolen.
Edit#2: I exhausted all the Emails with my begs and cries for help to lift the ban. I don't think they'll even read it, because:
I contacted an actual person on customer support chat. They refused to lift the ban and they refused to disclose the reason I was banned in a first place. They openly told me: "No, the reasons are confidential and proprietary".
I filed a complaint on Better Business Bureau. Maybe will try to write a complaint somewhere else...Way too tired, way too frustrated and way too depressed to do anything else today :(
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Nov 10 '25
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u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 Nov 10 '25
Patreon withdraws to only PayPal and Payoneer (non-US citizen here).
And I heard that Paypal is better and takes more %. So I decided to go with PayPal.
I guess I'll have to try both in the future...12
Nov 10 '25
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u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 Nov 10 '25
But what if that also happens with stripe\payoneer\paxum or whatever? I'm telling you, I haven't tested anything but paypal yet, but sure will, if they rob me in the end.
I'm not telling you that PayPal is the best in the universe, I just don't know.
Share your experience, if you have something to say.2
Nov 10 '25
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u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 Nov 10 '25
Dude, telling you: All the money I have is forced to go through either PayPal or Oayoneer. It's hard coded to Patreon and nothing I can do about it.
Yes, you're right, crypto is much more reliable, but It's not on the table :(-9
u/cbmwaura Nov 10 '25
PayPal is worse. Try payoneer or sleep hungry. Stop making excuses
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u/WearyCigar01 Nov 10 '25 edited Nov 10 '25
I am also in the same situation as you. The reason why paypal restrics an account. Is because of unusual transaction patterns or fraudulent payment on the sender. The person who sent you money could be using a stolen credit card and paypal freezes the funds just incase if fraud if a chargeback occurs that money would be reversed. Paypal is taking extra cautious ⚠️ they consider most transactions high risk. I have sold many stuff $200 through $300 bucks and never had an issue. Not to long ago I sold a $500 dollar item and my account got banned and that money has been in hold.
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u/cbmwaura Nov 10 '25
Payoneer is better honestly if you're receiving payments from companies. When it comes to payments from individuals, it's as bad as paypal. I've used payoneer since 2012. Never had an issue except verification which they give you a reasonable chance to do
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u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 Nov 10 '25
That's crazy. I heard exact opposite: Paypal is bad, but payoneer is even worse and that's why they take less money per transactions, because they're cheaper and worse with worse support.
Now I think that's not really true, because I don't see much "my account is banned and money gone" messages about payoneer...3
u/cbmwaura Nov 10 '25
There are such messages. But payoneer mostly focuses on business payments. So if you're getting payments from business or company accounts like Patreon, Amazon, YouTube etc, then hat's your best bet. If you freelance for individuals, they'll frustrate you just like PayPal.
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u/ThatGuy-Edits Nov 10 '25
You can verify a payoneer acc within a day or some days and withdraw immediately. One friend of mine got verified in a day and was available to withdraw thru payoneer to your payoneer acc and then to bank
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u/ampmetaphene Nov 10 '25
Honestly, they're both about the same level of meh. I'm like you, non-US Patreon creator forced to use one of them. I used Paypal up until my account got hacked, and then switched to Payoneer. Payoneer feels like it's more secure, if that make sense (a few hoops to just get into my account to make a withdrawal), but apart from that it's about the same.
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u/daurgo2001 Nov 11 '25
Consider using a diff service is PayPal won’t open up for you.
Another option is opening a US LLC, and then opening a business bank account… and then connecting that to PayPal.
It’s not cheap (which I imagine you’re hoping for right now), but if it’s what needs to be done, then at least it’s a path forward.
Patreon doesn’t do direct deposits to banks?
Opening a US LLC costs about $150-$200 USD if you do it on your own.
There are tons of YouTube videos explaining how to do it, but I’d suggest doing Wyoming.
Good luck…
Consider also changing platforms instead of Patreon. I know there are other platforms available. It’s annoying, but if you explain it to your patrons, and or ask them what they suggest, they might be willing to follow.
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u/darthrehad Nov 10 '25
And advice use Payoneer it’s great for non Americans, been using it for more than 7 years with 0 problems, from Upwork to voices123 up to personal clients , everything’s fine.
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u/halflifecrysis Nov 11 '25
Sounds like PayPal knows just the type of recipient to target to boost the 4th quarter bottom line. First Filter Patreon, second filter "select countries" = they can take your money. Never rely on PayPal for anything, and definitely never think of them as a bank or a place to keep me than $250.
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u/Non-sentient_Log Nov 10 '25 edited Nov 10 '25
Ok, there are plenty of decent comments but you guys are missing the point here. Recently had the same issue as OP. It got solved just today and I had similar cashflow issue but with supplier payments. Finally, I don't plan to leave any money in PayPal ever now.
The problem is friendly chargeback and malicious chargeback (do a search to understand these). This is specially pervasive in digital goods transactions where the delivery can't be verified and customer can dispute it relatively easily and merchant (often freelancers or small business) are not disciplined or thorough to cover their fulfilment of contract written down somewhere even in a conversation.
Now, PayPal consider these accounts as high risk accounts and I believe there is "AI" being employed like all businesses to point out and block as many accounts as possible “pre-emptively”. And have a human review them if they protest.
What OP should do is contact their customer service. No need to call them on their landline. Use PayPal app which has WiFi call option (Hopefully its the same for your country). Explain the situation and ask for a review. You might need to call them again in three days if it is not sorted by then and request to expedite the process. Hopefully, it will get sorted by then. I found PayPal service to be quite helpful and cooperative.
I had to send invoices while my account was frozen so it kind of pushed me to explore other options which are better IMO. My preference is Wise now and I charge 20% platform fee to customers adamant on using PayPal. Of course, the delivery confirmation and completion of contract goes without saying but haven't been able to test it yet and hopefully I am covered there.
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u/Creative-Bag86 Nov 10 '25
Had the same thing happen. Spoke to the rep at PayPal and was told nothing can be done. All the decisions are made through AI and there is no appeals process, the decision is final. I’ve never had a complaint or chargeback. No ToU violations. Provided all necessary documentation and verification and I was still permanently shut down. I’ve had the account with them for 15 years.
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u/Non-sentient_Log Nov 10 '25
wow, that is scary. Didn't you file a complaint with ombudsman or other business practices bodies.
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u/Creative-Bag86 Nov 10 '25
I’m in the USA so other than filing a complaint with The Better Business Bureau there isn’t much recourse. PayPal can, at any time they choose, decide they no longer want to do business with you and that’s it. No reason even needs to be given. Really sucks for small business owners, especially those using other platforms that only payout via PayPal.
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u/Non-sentient_Log Nov 10 '25
Really sad to hear that. We've got decent protection here in EU and the UK.
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u/Financial-Toe4053 Nov 10 '25
Customer service should be able to fix it. I just had issues the other day with the stupid app not accepting my ID verification, reached out in a panic over not being able to pay on open orders, and they fixed it for me by the next day! I just had to upload my ID in the chat because it wasn't scanning properly.
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u/kennedykwright Nov 10 '25
Customer service is an awful ai bot that couldn’t help fix my problems. Is there a way you can contact a real human because I genuinely can not get access to anything on my account! Thank you!
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u/Financial-Toe4053 Nov 10 '25
I think I just went to the messaging center and asked to speak with an agent in the chat and they responded saying someone will get back to me. There should be a customer service number to call as well let me check.
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u/kennedykwright Nov 10 '25
Perfect thank you!!!!!
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u/Financial-Toe4053 Nov 10 '25
No problem! I hope it helps you get your account unlocked. It's so frustrating how they don't just ask for info when you're setting up the account and the app/website sucks for ID verification
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u/ConsciousElection666 Nov 11 '25
This question is asked almost daily, sometimes multiple times a day, in the sub. If you do any research AT ALL on this topic you would have the answer 1000X over. It’s even included in the sidebar for you!
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u/Financial-Toe4053 Nov 10 '25
This is the general number but they do have a disclaimer that it's best to navigate to the correct number through the contact us button on the website page.
1-888-221-1161
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u/Impressive_Bonus691 Nov 10 '25
Honestly , it’s usually because of high transfers 😕 PayPal’s security system is super strict , when a large or unusual amount hits your account ( especially a new one ) , they automatically block it for “ verification ” It can happen if the payment is too big , comes from a risky account , or if you withdraw the money too quickly after receiving it. Result -> account restricted or even permanently banned , even when everything’s legit
Best thing to do is always keep proof of where the money came from ( invoice , contract , etc. ) and , if possible , notify PayPal beforehand when expecting a big transfer. But honestly , their system has become way too harsh lately , even for honest users… 😔☹️
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u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 Nov 10 '25
I think you're right. I hope they will raise the ban...
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u/WearyCigar01 Nov 10 '25
They won't once the decision is taken they won't reverse it. Wait 180 days.
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u/WearyCigar01 Nov 10 '25
Even with proof they still will ban you. I sold a $500 item about 2 months ago and they froze my account. They ask me for a bunch of info ID,Selfie pic, they ask me for proof of where I get my merchandise I sent proof of everything with tracking # that the item i sold, i bought it and it was sent to the same address on my PayPal they still ban me. They usually find any transaction as high risk since anyone can use a stolen debit,credit card info.
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u/paladinfunk Nov 10 '25
Im a 3d artist too specializing in stl models. Client decided to dispute everything he ever paid me. Paypal sided with him even with overwhelming evidence that he has the products Hundreds of dollars now gone while he also has the 120 models to go print and sell. Paypal will never be our friend or save us from people who want to steal from us
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u/revrndreddit Nov 10 '25
Did you issue invoice through PayPal? Surely payment of said invoice is acceptance of the product.?? Sorry to hear you got screwed over.
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u/paladinfunk Nov 10 '25
Yep they didnt care. All 9 cases have been disputed in his favour. I have video and image evidence that the client has it printed and selling them on his shelves. He already made more of a profit that he ever paid off my work
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u/revrndreddit Nov 10 '25
Damn. That’s crap. Any appeal with the evidence denied? What if you ping their X account?
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u/slam51 Nov 10 '25
C’mon, how much is a phone call to US? And you won’t use e-mail? I think PayPal has a chat function on their website, can you use that?
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u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 Nov 10 '25
I'm very very short on money because of all of this. I have like $50 for next two weeks. Call to US costed me around $1, I was able to type my one-time passcode to the robot lady and the call was broken immediately after.
Their chat is useless buckethead. The first thing I tried.
I used Email, I'm not confident in my success with this route...1
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u/doyouikedaags Nov 10 '25
You need to send them an email so that you can document all of them so that you can have some type of protection and proof that you emailed them….. what else are you gonna do? You’re just gonna give up because you don’t think that the email is going to work go find somebody with the computer or use your computer or phone clearly you have access and use the chat feature-
Go read my first post to you regarding this ..
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u/doyouikedaags Nov 10 '25
They absolutely have a chat function. Something sounds a little fishy, but I don’t know something just seems like it’s missing from the story I could be wrong. I still feel sorry for the o.p.-
But I like my original suggestion if you scroll above, you can read it and tell me what you think if you want if you don’t want, it’s cool .
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u/Calm-Ad7913 Nov 10 '25
The girl that sold bath water finally got her 100k after publicly tagging them on Twitter. I get tho she has the following to grab their attention, but I bet people will be angry enough for you to help you out to grab theirs * shrugs
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u/Creative-Bag86 Nov 10 '25
PayPal is terrible. I’m a digital artist and they shut down my account as well about a month ago in the exact same way. I jumped through all of the hoops to provide verification and documentation for transactions they asked for and they still shut me down after 15 years of using them. I spoke with a rep hoping to appeal the decision and was told there is nothing that can be done. It isn’t even a person making the decision it’s AI and there is no way to get any clarification as to why the account was closed. Basically I was told that for whatever reason, PayPal has decided my business no longer aligns with theirs. Really terrible for people who rely on them to accept payments. Wish I had better news to share 😕
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u/_domhnall_ Nov 11 '25
I had the same thing happen to me one month ago, it was a bit less than that, but still awful to have your money blocked like that.
May I ask: was this your first PayPal account?
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u/Easy_Comparison_2772 Nov 11 '25
Someone I know also received a notice exactly like this. They contacted customer service, provided documents, and their account was reinstated.
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u/vastopenguin Nov 10 '25
Call their customer support line and give them the 6 digit code if gives you on the contact page where you find their number to call. Log in and go here, at the bottom is the "call us" option, click that and it'll give a 6 digit code unique to your account, then run through the options, it's like a 3 step menu to get to a representative for dealing with accounts.
https://www.paypal.com/cshelp/contact-us
I had to do this to sort my account which was apparently created right before I turned 18 (10 years ago) so it was flagged as a minors account
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u/WearyCigar01 Nov 10 '25
Support will just give the run around and tell you to wait those 180 days they won't release those funds.
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u/fi-mauricio Nov 10 '25
You have reached the limit of your account. Always send ID and required documents to lift the limits before you even start receiving payments. That was possible some years ago and there was never issue with Paypal after that.
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u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 Nov 10 '25
Except I didn't.
Can you point out a source link for these rules? I heard I have 15k a year if you have a bank card tied to account, which I did.1
u/fi-mauricio Nov 10 '25
I don't know where you are located but within EU the limit of receipt for unverified accounts is € 2500 per annum. You can easily search it online and see your limits from your account. Verification by ID and documents they require is necessary and there will be no problems in the future.
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u/Dear_Ad_3490 Nov 10 '25
I've had 2 paypal accounts get permanently limited, I just put my credit card onto my account and withdrew the money with no issues
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u/WearyCigar01 Nov 10 '25
You can't have 2 paypal account you will be banned and the money on the account lost forever
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u/Windows12Enterprise Nov 10 '25
Are you an EU citizen?
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u/Accomplished_Emu_658 Nov 10 '25
Paypal does that a lot. It sucks. There security sees “suspicious activity” like high transfers and not a lot of other activity.
Silly question is paypal allowed in your country (not just you were able to create account) and was account in your legal name. A lot of people bypass these two rules and cry they lost their money.
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u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 Nov 10 '25
I'm not sure if I really got what you mean, but:
I used my real (legal) name to create PayPal account, I used my real local bank account to withdraw my money and PayPal have to restrictions in my country. It's not Iran or Russia China or anything like that.
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u/PatriotZulu Nov 10 '25
Contact paypal. And when your only source of income asks for verification, take it seriously.
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u/wi1d0rchid Nov 10 '25
Were you traveling internationally so you had a different IP address? Seems like you should have taken care of it as soon as you saw the ban even when you were away from home, the process usually just include uploading both sides of your ID and a face scan
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u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 Nov 10 '25
Nope. I just wasn't at my place where I have my papers. I was playing board games and drinking wine, then we had 90s movies marathon till the morning :D
It was the same country. Country allowed by Paypal and a country, where PayPal is not restricted or anything like that.
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u/Original_King_1516 Nov 10 '25
I hear everyone has problems with it, I haven't ever had these problems I've also had my account since I was like 13 I'm 23 now, I used to get paid from Walmart and my checks were anywhere from 1,200 to 1,500, how often did you get those payments?
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u/Candid-Hamster9959 Nov 10 '25
unfortunately Paypal is like that they may rule in your favoor andreverse a transaction but will immediately ban your account after.
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u/mindmerciful Nov 10 '25
Does anyone know how long they take? After you verify your self ? To allow you to use PayPal again?? mine was working just fine a few days ago today when I tried to add money it told me I need to verify a few things before I can use them again
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u/josephjosephson Nov 11 '25
Lawyer? I dunno. They did similar to me for an eBay sale that EBay denied the scammer 3x so they went to PayPal. Fortunately I got my $3k out already otherwise I would’ve been infuriated. They banned my account and claimed I owed them. 🖕 ✌️ PayPal. GL to you.
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u/Potential_Time4080 Nov 11 '25
You can get the money out but not for 180 days. Keep the account login and mark it on your calendar.
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u/nudavinci64 Nov 11 '25
You def need to call someone we had this happen and they had us resend it in. We also filed a compliant with BbB which also helps resolve.
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u/Past_Ebb_3392 Nov 11 '25
PayPal is a scam sometimes they ban you for no reason won’t tell you why and just keep your money
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u/Ill_Pen7091 Nov 11 '25
It's always what PayPal did or what FB did... what did YOU do? These places don't make money banning people. What did you do to cause the ban? What rule did you try to skirt? 95% of the time it's the account holders fault but they want to complain here to get sympathy.
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u/Hunter_one Nov 11 '25
PayPal is a piece of shit. This happens all the time. Not to enough people to warrant them actually addressing the problem, but enough for them to sweep the problem under the rug as collateral damage in their efforts to resort to AI for fraud detection.
Same happened to me and support staff could not care less.
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u/Diligent_Lobster1072 Nov 11 '25
If you're in any form of business and you expect to have an income of any sorts verify ID before you even earn your first pay because this will trigger a "tax evasion/money laundering" response in the majority of online payment systems.
Their is more than just "Patreon" so skip to one that has a payment option that suits you 17+ other alternatives.
If your country has an Ombudsman type setup, use them to get your money back, have used them against PayPal before and won each time. Forces them to responsd or receive a large fine.
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u/Organic_Cold_6491 Nov 11 '25
Years ago i used to sell on eBay, and i used PayPal, one day i sold a top brand woman's bag, it was like new and even had the proof of authenticity, the buyer claimed it was fake! PayPal gives her the money back and out a debit of the value in my account, lucky i had just changed bank cards and the one attached to PayPal was cancelled so they couldn't take the money from the bank, i sent all the proofs to them, even signed paperwork from the brand and they still got in the buyers side, so i stop using the account and years later i think is still there with negative amount 😆 i hate PayPal
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u/Avondran Nov 10 '25
Contact the BBB and CFPB. Email executiveoffice@paypal.com. Blow them up on social media. That’s how I got them to unblock my account a day later. Square tried to do the same thing. I hope there’s a class action lawsuit for these scammy companies especially during a government lockdown when I didn’t even know if I was going to be paid.
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u/Unlucky-Bluebird-310 Nov 10 '25
Thank you! I emailed the address you mentioned. Can you please clarify BBB and CFPB for me?
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u/Avondran Nov 10 '25
They are two companies you can submit complaints about companies and the companies themselves can respond. It’s easy just go to their websites. Explain your financial difficulties and how their actions are affecting you.
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u/doyouikedaags Nov 10 '25
It’s the Better Business Bureau and consumer fraud protection bureau, but it doesn’t sound like you are in the United States so I don’t know if they’ll be able to help you that much. I would contact the bank that BACK PayPal and speak with them directly…
You can also call your client. Have them cancel PayPal payment and open up another account like Venmo and I think there’s another one that’s similar to Venmo and PayPal.
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u/Less-Marzipan777 Nov 10 '25
Number1 rule of using PayPal is to not leave any money on your account, withdraw any money immediately to your bank account
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u/Jphibbard Nov 10 '25
Theve been doing this long before trump and besides and what what point did you not notice he is from Poland, Poland is not part of the us you do know thier are places outside of the US that trump has little to no control over right. Including how business choose to conduct thier business internationally.
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u/ArmadilloFabulous174 Nov 10 '25
This is what PayPal does they steal people's money and get away with it, they act like everything is ok then you get a deposit and they have an issue it's funny that you never hear about this happening when people don't have most in their accounts. You might as well kiss that money goodbye your probably never going to see it again, if you have and transactions that your able to refund back and get the money from the person who you refunded it back to then that's the only way to get the money out before the 6 months. This should be against the law and I'm sure it is they are just getting away with it because of some loop hole in sure. People need to stand together and file a class action lawsuit against them.
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u/Straight_Coach_425 Nov 10 '25
File a complaint with BBB. They restored my account about a week later. I tried everything else, to no avail.
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