WARNING! Paypal UK Pre Paid Top Up Card provided by Royal Bank of Scotland

Written by Island Youth Project

You Have Funds But Can't Have Them

An email dropped into our mailbox from an IYP reader a couple of days ago concerned about the way Paypal & RBS run this new top-up card service. If you have one of the 'award winning cards' then you might want to read on.

If you have any problems regarding Paypal then please let us know! Links and information to help will be listed below letter.

Hello IYP,

I need to make you aware of a problem I have with the so called 'pre-pay topup card' provided by Paypal & RBS and think you should post on the site for public interest because this could effect Island youths who currently using one.

A buyer purchased an item from me on ebay for £43.99 net total0 (£42.29). A week later I had a dodgy charge back for the item, I Had over £150 in my Paypal account so they held £42.36 (7p Extra) while they 'investigated' and then I withdrew the remaining money to my paypal topup card. Around 10 days later Paypal ended up in favour for the buyer so I lost the item sold, £42.29, and ebay fees of £2 but it didn't stop there.

A few days on I tried to withdraw my money from the prepaid card but it was declined. I Went and checked Paypal and they had restricted my account for a negative balance. Not knowing why I owed money any money I phoned RBS who said it was out of their hands and need to contact Paypal and speak with them.

Only problem was none none of the following numbers would let me call them, I tried 08707307191, 02086053000, 014029357733, 014029352050 and 08707301895. In the end I had to ring back RBS who tried to find me another number. Apparently the only number that works was the Irish number (+35314369004) and expected me to call that from my mobile. In the end she put me through.

Finally got hold of Paypal and they told me i owed £1.64 as they was unable to re-coup all the buyers money. I told them they had infact taken 7p more than I owed and they needed to refund the sellers fee as i had not made any money. The rude Irish lady then told me i have to pay the paypal fees because they had to investigate.?? I started to get upset and she hung up on me. I ended up spending £20 calling paypal and RBoS in one day.

In the end i was told that I needed to add funds to my account to pay the Paypal fees, then they can then unlimited my Paypal account and unblock my pre-paid card. I Tried that & got a message saying it can take up to 10 days for the money to show in my paypal account. By this time i was turning purple. I then got a friend to send me £2.00 via paypal. This turned up in my account and paid the stupid £1.64.

My account was still limited and was told it will take up to 4 days to be revived. I phoned them again and they reviewed the account over the phone and told me my account was active. I went and checked my paypal account and i had £2.07 in there. they had paid the £1.64 to the seller then gave me £1.71 back. My top-up card to this day is still blocked with my money in it

Called RBS and they said I can close my account direct but it will take 28 days to get a cheque or i can wait 48 hours for the block to come off. Crazy, been using paypal since 2005 and they do this over £1.64 that i didn't even owe. I cant have that, have closed my account. The paypal topup card website states:

"You don’t need a bank account to get a PayPal Top Up Card – so it’s great for young people rather than carrying cash around, the Top Up Card offers a safer payment method which you can use both at home and abroad."

What's safe being miles away from home when you can't access your own pre loaded money? That's classed as stealing where I live.

All the best, Timmy

IYP NOTES:

Paypal will charge £2 each time you withdraw from an ATM machine, be careful not to take it out bit by bit and avoid using cash machines that normally charge. You could end up paying £5 in charges just to get £10 out.

LINKS, HELP AND INFORMATION

PayPalSucks.com - Find out why you should avoid paypal and use an alternative. Exposing problems behind the PayPal payment system. Frozen accounts, scams, news reports

PayPalSucks.Org - Horror Stories: PayPal Did it! Frozen accounts, double dipping, class action lawsuits, fees, etc.

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