Paypal Blues

I had heard bout it. I never thought that one day I would've to face it. But the day came eventually. On Monday, I opened my email and found this message from PayPal: Notification of Limited Account Access RXIxxx.

I was like "WTF?! Dude! This can't be happening!" And all that kinda stuff. Probably some of you think I'm over reacting. I bet none of you who think so have used PayPal before. Just google the words "PayPal horror stories". You'd be getting a lot of web pages with, what else, detailed horror stories of PayPal users. Some have managed to solve their problems. Most are stuck without a solution for months.

Anyway, lets get back to MY problem. Apparently my account was frozen because of unauthorized third party access. That's what PayPal does if they see someone has logged into your account from a foreign location. In my case, I think it had something to do with me logging in using Opera Mini from my phone. Opera Mini reroutes all your web browsing from a server in Norway. Oops. (Note to self: never do that again!!!) Luckily, I had just emptied my account and they did not put my electronic withdrawal on hold. If they did, I would've been in major trouble! The email they sent didn't have a Case ID. They just told me to log on to my account and get my butt to the resolution center to solve my problem. And when I logged on to my account, guess what? It wasn't limited at all!

Seriously dude, WTF was that all about? I had complete access to my account. The resolution center didn't show any problems. I was like, oh joy. I'm spared of the misery of calling and emailing and faxing documents and all that crap.

Three days later, when I log on, PayPal wants to do a security check on me. They tell me to enter some details, change my password and security questions. Fine with me, I go through with it. The very next minute I get an email saying my account has been restored. I don't get it. My access was never limited in the first place!

Now I can continue to receive payments and make electronic withdrawals without any problems. Even though PayPal didn't give me any serious problems and my ordeal was quite placid when compared to what others have been through, it was still a nightmare for me. If that is how PayPal is handling these kinds of problems nowadays, then I must say that it is major improvement from what they used to do.

Anyway, here's a tip for you guys who use PayPal: DON'T USE OPERA MINI OR ANY OTHER ANONYMIZING BROWSER TO LOG ON TO PAYPAL! Stick to using a PC browser for it eh? Oh and if you're travelling overseas, try not to access your PayPal account until you get back.

P/S: thanks PayPal for not giving me hell and solving the problem quickly without giving me a lot of trouble :)