PayPal is not being completely forthcoming in the \"notice\" they are sending out addressing a \"systems failure\" Sunday Jan 2nd, between 4:40AM and 8:37AM - apparently all transactions by credit card during that period were affected. WHAT IS NOT BEING SAID IS THAT CUSTOMERS WHO MADE TRANSACTIONS DURING THAT TIME SHOULD CHECK THE BALANCES AND AVAILABLE CREDIT ON THEIR CARDS - In one instance a $100.00 payment was submitted to MBNA America Bank THIRTEEN times in less than one minute time frame.
Below is the Letters I received from PayPal, and after that is the letter I originally sent to them.
Besides not warning customers to check their available credit, they were completely unwilling to contact MBNA direct, and insisted I had to talk to the bank, but could arrange a conf. call (at my expense, just as the long distance calls to PayPal were for me, including the ones that I ended up getting a recording that they were closed) despite their web site contact information stating \"Every Day\") with them and my bank and myself, and the customer rep. at my bank indicated that they would have no way of knowing who the 3rd party on the line was. Therefore, my credit card was \"maxed out\" because of the $600.00 in approvals that had been given to PayPal (based on my requested $100.00 transaction, in spite of the $600.00 of approved funds from MBNA PayPal did not complete), and all I (and anyone else in my position) can do is wait for the approvals to \"roll off\", which is supposed to be between 24 and 48 hours (I am told it varies with the card company and the merchant agreements).
I at least know not to try to use my card in the mean time, but what about the unknown number of other PayPal customers who will not understand from the vague description in the PayPal letter that credit may have been issued against their available balance, and find out the hard way when they go to pay for their groceries or a family meal someplace?
We use this MBNA card only for online/phone transactions, and intentionally requested a $1,000.00 credit limit (much of which was used for Christmas shopping on line), an have a number of other credit cards to use in our daily activities, but this could be a real hardship to some people, and the PayPal supervisor I talked to just didn\'t seem to care, further would not give me the name or a way to contact any of his managers/or supervisors despite my repeated request for that information.
Just wanted to make someone in the industry aware of this.
FIRST PAYPAL LETTER (Note the \"This failure affected every credit/debit card transaction...\" - changed in 2nd letter)
----- Original Message -----
From: <cardproblems@paypal.com>
To: \"omitted>
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 4:22 AM
Subject: Re: UnauthorizedAccess:NA (Routing Code: C840-L001-Q-T)
Dear ----------,
Thank you for taking the time to write to us with your concerns. I am happy to assist you further.
I understand your frustration regarding this matter and apologize for any inconvenience it might have caused you. Earlier this morning (January 2nd, 2005) from 4:40 AM to 8:37 AM PST, PayPal experienced a system failure when processing credit/debit card transactions through our partner Wells Fargo.
This failure affected every credit/debit card transaction during that
period, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover Card.
This situation did not affect users of the PayPal Debit card or Switch Solo credit cards users out of the United Kingdom.
Users were not financially impacted when using their credit or debit (check) cards for transactions during this period as a result of this
issue. However, in some instances, users\' credit card issuer may still be
holding funds for earlier payment attempts. This could have an impact on
users\' credit limits, thereby possibly causing declines of future sales
transactions. We are working with Wells Fargo to resolve this issue as
quickly as possible. In the meantime, users can contact PayPal with the
card issuer on the phone with them, and PayPal can verify any transactions
successfully sent on Sunday. Based on that information, the credit card
issuer may be able to release any authorizations.
We appreciate your patience and understanding regarding this matter, and
wish you continued success on PayPal.
Sincerely,
Loretta
PayPal Community Support
PayPal, an eBay Company
Original Message Follows:
------------------------
> Form Message - customer message: I attempted to send $100.00 donation to Asian aid - in the space of 1 minute you flagged the $100.00 charge 13 times on my credit card -- the first 6 were approved by MBNA, after which they declined the next 7. Then you failed to transfer the funds and
notified me that my credit card had denied payment!!! Also this tied up
the balance of my credit on the card ----- After finding out about the
attempt to charge me $1,300 instead of $100.00, I notified the credit
card to freeze the card account and report this attempt by PayPal to
take $1,200.00 that they were not authorized to take. Please furnish me
with a complete explanation of your acts.
SECOND PAYPAL LETTER (at least they are now giving a toll free phone number.....)
----- Original Message -----
From: service@paypal.com
To: <OMITTED>
Sent: Monday, January 03, 2005 11:26 AM
Subject: Temporary Credit/Debit Card Authorization Issue
Temporary Credit/Debit Card Authorization Issue
Dear <OMITTED>,
On Sunday, January 2nd, from 4:40 to 8:37am, a number of PayPal users attempted transactions that could not be processed. This affected most credit card and debit card transactions during this time period (this excludes ACH or PayPal balance transactions), including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover card transactions. This issue was caused by a systems failure at PayPal\'s processing partner, Wells Fargo. The situation did not affect users of the PayPal debit card, or Switch/Maestro and Solo debit cards users in the United Kingdom.
Users who were not successful in completing their transactions during this period as a result of this issue did not have their account charged. However, for some of those users, the systems issue could temporarily reduce the credit limits or transaction limits on their credit/debit cards, and as a result could temporarily affect the ability of those users to make future purchases with their card. We are working closely with Wells Fargo to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
If you feel that this affects you, please contact your credit/debit card issuer. Or, for further information you can contact PayPal through our temporary help line at 866-836-1248 anytime between 6am to midnight CST, Monday through Friday, or 8am to 10pm CST Saturday and Sunday.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused, and we appreciate your patience.
Sincerely,
PayPal
This PayPal notification was sent to ----------. To unsubscribe, reply to this email and type \"unsubscribe\" in the subject line. To modify your notification preferences, log in to your PayPal account, click the Profile sub-tab, then click the Notifications link under Account Information. Changes may take up to 10 days to be reflected in our mailings. PayPal will not sell or rent any of your personally identifiable information to third parties. For more information about the security of your information, read our Privacy Policy at https://www.paypal.com/privacy. Copyright© 2004 PayPal, Inc. All rights reserved. Designated trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. PayPal is located at 2211 N. First St., San Jose, CA 95131.
MY ORIGINAL EMAIL TO PAYPAL
----- Original Message -----
From: ---------------
To: spoof@paypal.com
Sent: Sunday, January 02, 2005 8:51 AM
Subject: PayPal attempting to charge credit card 13 times amount authorized
At 7:24 PDT Jan 2, 2005, I tried to pay $100.00 to contribution to the \"Educate a Child Project\" in Sri Lanka which lost everything in the Tsunami. My paypal acct address is ----------------------, The \"Charge from credit card\" shown on computer screen was ID #-----------------.
I tried to contact you by phone (your web site says \"PayPal Customer Service Agents are available to help you from 4:00 AM PST to 10:00 PM PST every day. Call us at: 402-935-2050\" but that phone number gets a recording that says to call back during business hours (my call was about 7:45AM CST).
I attempted to send $100.00 donation - in the space of 1 minute you flagged the $100.00 charge 13 times on my credit card -- the first 6 were approved by MBNA, after which they declined the next 7. Even though the charge was approved 6 times, you did not transfer the funds, and instead notified me that my credit card had denied payment.
Also this tied up the free balance of my credit on the card -----
After finding out about the attempt to charge me $1,300 instead of $100.00, I notified the credit card company to freeze the account and report this attempt by PayPal to get authorization to charge my card $1,200.00 that they were not authorized to take.
Please furnish me with a complete explanation of what was going on, and what I need to do to get PayPal to release the \"hold\" on the $600.00 that was approved by MBNA, and how I (and anyone else) can feel safe in trying to use your service in the future.
I can be contacted by phone at -------------------, or email below.
CLICK HERE FOR OUR PAYPAL ALTERNATIVE
|
deigo75,
Happened to me as well - only they ran a $260 charge 30 times to my credit card - until the credit limit was reached. Finally, today I get the POS e-mail attached below. As much of a pain in the rear it will be, I'mg going to keep calling until someone does something to return the money to my account....
Best of luch to you. If you didn't already see the e-mail, here's a copy (with a new temporary service number for this specific issue)...
On Sunday, January 2nd, from 4:40 to 8:37am, a number of PayPal users attempted transactions that could not be processed. This affected most credit card and debit card transactions during this time period (this excludes ACH or PayPal balance transactions), including Visa, MasterCard, American Express and Discover card transactions. This issue was caused by a systems failure at PayPal's processing partner, Wells Fargo. The situation did not affect users of the PayPal debit card, or Switch/Maestro and Solo debit cards users in the United Kingdom.
Users who were not successful in completing their transactions during this period as a result of this issue did not have their account charged. However, for some of those users, the systems issue could temporarily reduce the credit limits or transaction limits on their credit/debit cards, and as a result could temporarily affect the ability of those users to make future purchases with their card. We are working closely with Wells Fargo to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.
If you feel that this affects you, please contact your credit/debit card issuer. Or, for further information you can contact PayPal through our temporary help line at 866-836-1248 anytime between 6am to midnight CST, Monday through Friday, or 8am to 10pm CST Saturday and Sunday.
We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused, and we appreciate your patience.
Sincerely,
PayPal
CLICK HERE FOR OUR PAYPAL ALTERNATIVE
|
