Head's up, I just got off the phone with Pay Pal because they locked MY account after my SON's completely separate business Pay Pal account was overdrawn by $100.
His account was overdrawn because he had 2 Pay Pal accounts and consolidated them but overlooked to cancel one automatic monthly payment.
But Pay Pal locked my account because when he opened his accounts, he did it at my house which means he used the same IP address as my account. When I asked what federal guideline gives them the right to lock one person's account because a totally separate account is withdrawn, I was told it's an in house rule the new management came up with and that's life on the internet. No lie.
After a lengthy conversation with Pay Pal's limitation's department, my issue was quickly resolved but only after I offered to conference call in a local financial reporter who is also a long time friend of mine to see if she'd like to cover this incident. He unlocked my account so I won't go public with my incident to see if there's interest to cover it but no questions asked, my account will be closed by next week.
So from there I called eBay to find out about alternative methods because I've always used Pay Pal. About half way through the conversation and finding out it's more of a headache than necessary, I determined I don't need eBay anymore either, especially with so many different options out there now. So for the first time in years, I won't have an eBay account anymore either.
But the question that needs to be asked, is exactly how much business is Pay Pal driving away from eBay because of this new in house rule? How many people can't go to eBay this Black Friday weekend or holiday season because another person who used their IP address to open a Pay Pal account, is overdrawn or did something that they didn't like and locked their account?
I don't own shares of eBay but though anyone who does and reads here might want to look into this as I can see this becoming a problem for the company in the future. Especially if it domino effects.
I'm a non-professional individual investor who may own, not own, buy, or sell stock at any given time in any security ever mentioned in posts. I never accept compensation in any form to post. Always consult an investment professional when investing.
