PayPal Users Hit by Double ATM Accounting Problems
David M. Bresnahan
September 14, 2005
OMAHA, Neb. – PayPal customers who have used their ATM debit card during the first part of September have suddenly found that their account was debited two or more times for the same transaction, taking many accounts deeply into the negative.
Customer service representatives admit that the problem is widespread and that they are working around the clock to manually review accounts as complaints come in. The problem first came to light on the Labor Day weekend with customers complaining that they could not access money they counted on for the Holiday.
The problem is not yet over. ATM debit card transactions are still causing problems. For the 78 million users of PayPal the problem could take a significant time to straighten out.
Getting through to a customer service representative takes a lot of patience, button pushing to get past the computerized answering system, and about 30 to 60 minutes of listening to PayPal recorded advertising while on hold.
Fortunately the customer service representatives who take the calls do not have to be convinced that customers have been double charged for ATM withdrawals. However, getting the problem fixed takes a bit more effort.
Customers are passed from one representative to another, requiring multiple times on hold. In fact, it is possible that calls to customer service can be dropped requiring a call back and starting all over again. Once the problem gets to the person who can actually do something about it, the correction may still take days.
The unfortunate thing is that customers may need to repeat the process more than once as transactions continue to be effected. Old transactions that are more than a week old could suddenly cause an account to get hit with another unexpected deduction.
Why? The only explanation from the customer service representatives is that a vendor handling the ATM transactions had a glitch. There is a long chain of complaints on the eBay message board about this problem at http://digbig.com/4embx.
This “glitch” results in a complicated set of transactions that require a CPA to decipher. ATM withdrawals, expired withdrawals, reversals, and duplicate withdrawals all need to be sorted out before PayPal will rectify the correct balance in the account.
Meanwhile, many PayPal users are discovering that their account is suddenly deep into negative territory, even though they did not spend money from the account. It is not unusual for a customer to check their balance on-line before going to bed, then check it again in the morning to find the balance is negative and an incorrect ATM transaction is the cause.
PayPal and eBay make a strong marketing effort to tell customers and prospective customers how safe and secure the service is. There are many warnings given to customers on who to avoid fraud and phishing schemes. Now the biggest problem appears to be PayPal itself.
Customer service representatives are quick to admit that PayPal is at fault and that the entire situation is “inexcusable.” However, the damage to the confidence level of PayPal users may be significant, however they are still the only show in town.
Customer service representatives admit that the problem is widespread and that they are working around the clock to manually review accounts as complaints come in. The problem first came to light on the Labor Day weekend with customers complaining that they could not access money they counted on for the Holiday.
The problem is not yet over. ATM debit card transactions are still causing problems. For the 78 million users of PayPal the problem could take a significant time to straighten out.
Getting through to a customer service representative takes a lot of patience, button pushing to get past the computerized answering system, and about 30 to 60 minutes of listening to PayPal recorded advertising while on hold.
Fortunately the customer service representatives who take the calls do not have to be convinced that customers have been double charged for ATM withdrawals. However, getting the problem fixed takes a bit more effort.
Customers are passed from one representative to another, requiring multiple times on hold. In fact, it is possible that calls to customer service can be dropped requiring a call back and starting all over again. Once the problem gets to the person who can actually do something about it, the correction may still take days.
The unfortunate thing is that customers may need to repeat the process more than once as transactions continue to be effected. Old transactions that are more than a week old could suddenly cause an account to get hit with another unexpected deduction.
Why? The only explanation from the customer service representatives is that a vendor handling the ATM transactions had a glitch. There is a long chain of complaints on the eBay message board about this problem at http://digbig.com/4embx.
This “glitch” results in a complicated set of transactions that require a CPA to decipher. ATM withdrawals, expired withdrawals, reversals, and duplicate withdrawals all need to be sorted out before PayPal will rectify the correct balance in the account.
Meanwhile, many PayPal users are discovering that their account is suddenly deep into negative territory, even though they did not spend money from the account. It is not unusual for a customer to check their balance on-line before going to bed, then check it again in the morning to find the balance is negative and an incorrect ATM transaction is the cause.
PayPal and eBay make a strong marketing effort to tell customers and prospective customers how safe and secure the service is. There are many warnings given to customers on who to avoid fraud and phishing schemes. Now the biggest problem appears to be PayPal itself.
Customer service representatives are quick to admit that PayPal is at fault and that the entire situation is “inexcusable.” However, the damage to the confidence level of PayPal users may be significant, however they are still the only show in town.
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