PayPal took my money!
Alex @ February 17, 2008 | | Money, Personal, Work |
Like many bloggers, I was really excited when Paypal finally had a withdraw option for Philippine banks. With a slightly higher exchange rate than Xoom and without the sending fee, it proved to be really attractive. I was supposed to get some dough from my problogging efforts two weeks ago. I usually get it via Xoom (which worked perfectly fine) but since I wanted to get a bit more extra through the exchange rate, I elected to wait until I get my monthly statement to verify my account before I had the money sent.
I finally got my account verified and I was sent the money. Charge it to first time transactions but the fellow sent me funds via credit card. One thing I just knew then was that, personal accounts has a limit on receiving funds via credit card and that there’s a charge. Since I was desperate for money, I decided to accept the funds despite the 5.4%-ish percent deduction.
So I got the funds and hastily withdrew them split to two of my bank accounts. I thought it was just a matter of waiting for the 5-7 day duration until my funds get disbursed. I went out and got back only to find a notice in my Inbox that says:
We have detected suspicious activity regarding the receipt or withdrawal of funds.
So I logged in to my account only to find Paypal asking me for a Proof of Address and that the funds I withdrew bounced back. To my shock, there were deductions coming from the currency conversion (from dollar to peso then back to dollar)! To top it off, since I’m living with family, I don’t have any utility bills to my name. And they’re asking exclusively for utility bills as proof of address!
So that’s how Paypal took nearly a $100 bucks from me (the credit card payment acceptance charge and currency conversion loses). That might not be big for the rest of you, but for me, that’s a fortune. And now, I have the rest of my money in Paypal funds that I can’t touch. And because of this delay, I wouldn’t be able to get my money in time to pay for the bills. Needless to say, I’m f*cked.
Thanks a lot Paypal, for encouraging me to try out your service. Does anyone know if they have a Philippine representative or agent I can talk to and plead my case?
Help a starving man get some money. Seriously, I’m close to tears because of this.
