In spite of taking great care to get my tutorial DVDs and classes approved by PayPal in writing, a couple of times in the past year or so PayPal have restricted my account or requested that the items be removed. I consequently have had to appeal their decisions. This then results in an absurd number of emails, all from different people, each totally ignoring the fact that I already have approval and referring me to their very loose Acceptable Use Policy. The repetititiveness is like a broken record such that it makes me wonder if I’m interacting with an automated system, not a human being. Helpfully, all the emails come without a return address or any means of contact so they are clearly not interested in a reply. Luckily, I have the email address of their Policy Department but it is only a general email and does not allow one to reply to the originator except by putting FAO. Just to make it even harder, nobody uses a surname. You can tell they don’t welcome customer contact!
The AUP fails to define any of the prohibitions, e.g. “certain sexually related services”, so is open to any interpretation and thus is entirely unhelpful. It was for this very reason that I took such great care to check with them first and even provide sample footage of the DVDs to prove there was no sexual content or nudity and that they were for education not titillation. At least, they are not as heavy handed as they used to be and have the courtesy to call you to alert you of an issue. In the past, they just locked your account, froze your money and made it almost impossible to appeal.
Sadly, PayPal have a monoply on eBay to the extent that you can’t even list certain items without using PayPal. I believe this was challenged at one time and they were forced to offer alternatives but they appear to have gradually changed their rules to make it technically impossible, e.g. no URLs to anything other than product info in listings, or simply disallowing the actual creation of items for sale. Consequently, my DVDs are off eBay pro-tem until PayPal wake up and realise my items have been approved. How I wish there was an alternative…
Meanwhile, I’m listing the shibari tutorial DVDs on more Amazon sites and also on Albris.
I won’t even start on the user-hostility of their system or we’ll be here all day. I can’t resist one example: Who ever heard of a system with international usrs that simply failed with the message “Postage not available” if you included any foreign character in the postl address? I’d speculate the software was written by monkeys but that would be a gross insult to simian intelligence!
Update 1:
The wonders never cease! I just had a call from Juliana at PayPal, who called me originally about the alleged breach of their AUP. It has to be a first speaking to the same person twice! Anyway, she asked if the call could be recorded and I replied that it sounds a great idea so long as I can have a copy too. She “didn’t think this could be done” so I suggested she transfer me to somebody “who could think” and thus authorise it. I’m sick of people their end taking no account of the pre-approval of my products that allegedly keep contravening their AUP and I need a record of this pig-headedness. Last I heard was an email saying the matter had been escalated. Meanwhile, I have set up incoming call recording and invited a call back on the condition that the caller reads and understands the communications confirming that I am not in contravention of their AUP. I wait with bated breath…
Update 2:
It appears that PayPal are legally obliged to provide a transcript of any calls recorded:
(3) The Data Protection Act 1998 (“DPA”)
Recording (and use of recordings) where Company X would be able to establish the identity of either party to the call, either directly from the recording or from other information which it is conceivable that Company X could obtain, would require you to first:
(i) Have informed that party how the recording would be used;
(ii) Obtain consent for the recording to take place (This may be implied from the fact that the customer has been notified and not object, but it is you should obtain explicit consent if the call reveals any information classified as sensitive by the DPA, ie details of race/ethnic background, political opinion, religion, trade union membership, physical/mental health, sexual life, offences committed or legal proceeding bought.)
(iii) The obligations in relation to processing of that data also apply, so that the data must be kept for longer than necessary, under secure conditions and must be accessible to the customer at their request.
So, let’s see what that say about that 😉
Judge Allows Payment Monopoly Lawsuit Against eBay/PayPal To Proceed
What a coincidence! Finally, somebody seems to have decided to take some action about the incestuous relationship that exists between PayPal and eBay which effectively makes it well nigh impossible to offer any alternative payment method on their auction site. According to The Consumerist’s article here:
“Plaintiffs in the lawsuit accuse eBay attempting to monopolize the online payment systems used on its site, and that it has “limited and banned competitors in an attempt to maintain its dominance in the online auction market.”
Earlier this week, a federal judge in the Northern California-based U.S. District Court, denied eBay’s request to have the lawsuit dismissed.”
One can’t help wondering why it took so long? Break out the pop corn and get yourself a ring-side seat! I know which side I’m rooting for and I’ll will be observing this with some degree of satifaction. Let’s just hope justice will be done.