paypal

To Whom It May Concern:

I've had some time to digest the email sent out on December 9th informing me of the closure of my PayPal account. I did phone in and attempt to speak with an agent but got a cold rebuttal that the decision had already been made.

However, I feel obliged to write in and put forth my case,  and appeal one more time. I have already been explained that PayPal do not require to disclose their reasons and that as a private entity are able to terminate any account at any time.

I would like to say that PayPal have become the ubiquitous means of online transaction and closing my account would be catastrophic, in seismic proportions and given that I am innocent and a victim of internet fraud myself, it would feel it to be unjust to do so.

I don't recall when I opened an account with PayPal; many years now ago it was - I know that. You would know even better.  I've mostly been a buyer on eBay and used it now and then to make transactions online.

Only recently did I for the first time hear about drop shipping and as someone looking for an online opportunity took a closer look. Unfortunately, its been my misfortune to fall in the deep end of a steep learning curve.

Although, I thought I had done my due diligence I entrusted a couple people who sounded educated and trustworthy both as people and in the way they laid out in a straight-forward manner how and why I would list for them on eBay.

At first I did not suspect anything and got swept away in the moment of euphoria as I was kept busy selling many items, some worth hundreds of pounds each and the sweet smell of success.

It was only when I transferred the money from the first item that I had a wake-up call. I questioned deeper and when I suspected the worst promptly refunded every customer. I think it deserves to be recognized that I did this immediately and voluntarily. Only the one customer who's payment I had sent across already, did I delay, to give the half percentage chance that they did indeed send the item as they had promised. But, they have since been reimbursed as well, as the fraudsters finally proved themselves to be just that without a shred of a doubt.

I appreciate that I am not saying much if anything new that you've not heard already, but I feel obliged to repeat myself in case the circumstances have not been fully and properly appreciated in their right context.

I repeat that I've been a sound PayPal customer of good standing for many years, and it was only out of naivety albeit it foolhardy that I started off on this business adventure in the wrong way. I am not making excuses and accept responsibility as I 'should' have triple-checked and verified in doing my due diligence before trusting these people.

However, it is my hope that you would recognize that there was no ill or malefic intent on my part. On the contrary I tried to respond honorably and decisively with integrity and professionalism, so, that not one of the customers got hurt or too disappointed and inconvenienced by immediately and promptly issuing a full refund accompanied by a note of apology to everyone. I would hope that this would serve me in good stead and be a saving grace of sorts.
I think it says something that of all the customers that I served I do not have any negative feedback on eBay.

I do appreciate that PayPal have a need for security and to protect customers. I would just ask you to recognize that I am also a customer who also needs security and to be brought into the equation. Therefore, i ask that you not be too quick to judge and brush over people with a broad brush as far as coming to false conclusions, and give me the honour and courtesy of explaining what happened and how one can proceed forward so that I am not just a burnt victim left on the way-side.

By our nature human beings are prone to mistakes, but it is how we respond and learn from them that is also important, and I hoped to have proved myself in that regard.

Furthermore, I took the incident to the Police, reported it, who gave me a crime reference number. I did not have to volunteer this but I did so in an endeavor to be as forthcoming, transparent and helpful as possible, so that people like these get stopped and as mark of my sincerity. I had hoped that this should mean something in your eyes and also be a saving grace too.

 Although I see myself responsible in regard to the customers who placed their trust in me when they made the purchases, I am also from another point of view a victim of internet fraud myself in this saga. I have already lost and been hurt on the one hand by the rogues who would have me trust them and now instead of finding support with PayPal and despite my best efforts to put this right and learn from it, now punished by PayPal too! This leaves me feeling unsupported, misunderstood and abandoned when I have a need for exactly the opposite at this time of crisis. I have need in such an event for someone to step forward lend some support, help and understanding in resolving the matter to move me forward, positively and constructively. Not everyone who makes a mistake is a bad person. Surely, the evidence should be there for you to see that I did not intend to deceive or defraud anyone; and indeed no one actually got hurt.

There was one phone call but because I had two numbers registered the first one was used which simply after many years I had failed to clear-out as it  was no longer in use. So, I cleaned that up with a request for another call back but another phone call never materialized. As such I never got to speak one-on-one with anyone in the relevant departments that matter and discuss properly at length the circumstances around what happened exactly.

I would hope that you would agree that everyone deserves a second chance and that I did not have any bad intentions and was indeed a victim at the steep learning curve of what internet World can be like and in fact dealt with customers promptly and justly and that you would therefore reconsider your verdict given the circumstances in that context and at least give me the opportunity to discuss over the phone what happened and how we can move forward in a way that meets both your need for customer's safety and my need as a customer to be able to continue using PayPal as I have been for many years already, so that I can draw a line under this experience and move forward with greater wisdom and care.

Yours Sincerely,

Conrad Linde