Steve Berry, a writer for Doctor Who Magazine, is raising money for a book of celebrity memories of the BBC science fiction show, Doctor Who. He’s been using PayPal to receive pre-order payments that will go toward the production and distribution of the book, titled Behind the Sofa, with all excess payments and profits being donated to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
It all sounds very above-board so far. And yet, yesterday morning, Berry’s PayPal account was frozen.
Berry detailed it in his blog yesterday:
“This morning I received a very short, very terse telephone call from a lady called Francine, who works for PayPal. Francine informed me that the PayPal account associated with Behind The Sofa had taken a lot of money over a very short period.”
Apparently, that fast influx of cash triggered a review of Berry’s account and dealings. In his case, the concern was that people were paying for a book that essentially didn’t exist yet. This is a valid concern for PayPal, which is merely trying to protect its buyers. But in the process, they stalled Berry’s project, made it extremely difficult for him to resolve the issue, and (as Helen Killer of Regretsy was quick to point out) were all the while collecting interest on the frozen cash.
Berry said he wasn’t given an opportunity to engage with PayPal to resolve the issue without first providing specific invoices and business documents, which he didn’t have. “They are asking me for documentation about my business (I am not a business) and proof of invoices/suppliers, etc (which I cannot give, because I am still in the process of completing the final manuscript of the book with design and layout all being carried out by some excellent volunteers).” He added that Francine failed to provide him with number to call back nor any indication as to when his account might be unfrozen.
So he called on readers to tweet-bomb @PayPalUK, and today, his account was unfrozen. Berry and PayPal even published a joint statement, suggesting that bygones are indeed bygones:
“PayPal has apologised to Steve Berry for the way it handled payments for his book about Doctor Who, Behind The Sofa. It is working with Mr Berry to make sure funds are released as they are needed to pay the publisher and other suppliers.”
PayPal’s position is understandable, But Berry was concerned that the average customer without a blog following or social media skills might not get something like this resolved as quickly as he did.
Killer summarized the problem, this way:
“Once your money is frozen and you’re in panic mode, you are now at the mercy of the customer service representative, who is asked to make ‘a judgment call.’ This is where it all breaks down. PayPal’s policies are so confusing that the representative inevitably grows frustrated at being unable to explain them. This escalates matters, and almost always ends up with PayPal collecting interest on your money for six months, while your business or project gets deeper and deeper into trouble.”
