How "paypal" steals money from their clients... And why they are the biggest thieves in history of banks.

By Bernd Schneider

I assume that there are thousands, or ten thousands, or hundred thousands, or millions of dollars on PayPal's pooled accounts, to which PayPal has restricted access, and on which PayPal earns interest.

The smart thing (from PayPal's perspective) is that this money does not belong to a few rich people. It belongs to thousands, or ten thousands, or hundred thousands, or millions of ordinary small people, with some of them feeling . disappointed, taken advantage of, cheated, defrauded.

PayPal hides behind a legalistic Terms of Use to which everybody who accesses their services automatically agrees, a Terms of Use which is a world-class document on how operating according to the letter of the law can still be in contrast to what we would consider good old-fashioned business morale.

PayPal is so well protected by its lawyers. Even their customer service replies sound as if they were drafted by lawyers, the most arrogant ones among them. Replies as the one I received totally lack intuition, as one would expect it from a bank costumer service employee entrusted with answering clients' mails. For the record, and because it's so short, I just repeat again the reply I refer to:

"Dear Daniel,

Thank you for contacting PayPal.

Following an investigation, this account has been permanently locked due to violations of our Terms of Use. This decision may not be appealed.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review"

Obviously, I'd love to bring them down from their high horses. But I am realistic. My chances aren't very good.

On various bulletin boards, I have seen many copies of mails which threatened PayPal with lawsuits. Unfortunately, most of them I can't take serious. Who would spend hundreds or thousands of dollars suing a company that has confiscated (temporarily or permanently) funds of just tens or hundreds of dollars.

Actually, those who do send letters to PayPal threatening police or court action may hinder their own chances of recovering their money, as has been pointed out in an enlightening bulletin board posting:

"For the record, the moment you mention in a letter to a corporation the words 'Law', 'Legal' or 'Lawsuit' you have guaranteed that you will receive no more contact from that agency, company or corporation. Most, not just a few, but far closer to most than to many legal departments of corporations follow company policy that once the words listed above are communicated either by voice or electronic means, all communication must stop and the account and all correspondence is then turned over to the legal department. Likely forgotten unless your threats are backed up with a 'Letter of Intent' drafted by a licensed attorney. So those who threaten to sue a company have all but shot themselves in the foot regarding any expedient resolve through email and phone calls except in the most exceptional and unusual cases."

Enlightening message, indeed.

But I do have a short linguistic afterthought: the metaphor of "shooting oneself in the foot" is used wrongly in this context. It originated in World War I when soldiers avoided the certain death of being sent to the front by shooting themselves in the foot and getting evacuated to a field hospital. Therefore, shooting oneself in the foot initially was meant as a smart move, not one that hinders one's cause.

Remember, we are dealing with very smart people at PayPal's.

Flaming, and threatening law suits, is not the way to go. Victories are much more likely to be achieved with a cool mind, rather than when enraged.

Still, the most promising strategy when dealing with PayPal is through the legal system. But this should be a coordinated effort, or one that doesn't drain the resources of an individual who has sustained harm at the hands of PayPal.

The subscriber section of this website gives advice on how to proceed. The subscriber section also provides the addresses of lawyers or attorneys who have filed cases against PayPal, or plan to do so. For those who want to take court action without being represented by a lawyer, the subscriber section of this website shows the way, and gives samples of others who have been successful.

On the other hand, lawyers who are preparing for class action suits, or are proceeding against PayPal in any other form, are invited to make their intention known through this website. We offer to publish appropriate information at full length, and free of charge.

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