In my continuing battle with PayPal I have sent them several emails demanding that they close my account and terminate the user agreement I have with them. They refuse to do so.

They have placed my account in a “Limited Status” which does not close the account. It gives them the ability to share my information according to their user agreement and to take money out of my account should they choose to do so.

Since they admit that they don’t want to do business with me then they should close the account - but they worn’t do that. They want to keep me under their user agreement and they want to maintain access to my checking account even after it’s clear they won’t do business with me.

After several emails from them I called them on the phone at their service center in Nebraska and talked to Dave and I recorded the phone call (1mb 9 minutes) so that everyone out there who has access to the Internet can listen to PayPal and experience what doing business is like in their own words.

After the phone call at the above link I got a call back from another person named Michele at PayPal - and - I recorded that phone call as well (3mb 25 minutes). This person is some higher up. In this phone call she admits that PayPal can still access my checking account. She admits that PayPal will retain access to my checking account forever - and she admits that PayPal still have access to all checking accounts that they have ever opened whether they were closed, linited, or locked.

This alll started on June 13th 2004 when Paypal limited my account and told me they were seizing my money for 180 days and that there was no appeal and that there was nothing I could do about it. However - they underestimated me and I had my money out in less that 2 weeks. Since then I’ve decided it’s my mission to expose what scumbags PayPal is and to warn consumers about using them. I also intend to bring whatever heat I can on them to stop their unethical business practices.

For those of you who have questions about if it’s legal to record this phone call, I will point out several things that make it legal.

First - They are in Nebraska - I am in California - so federal jurisdiction applies. That makes it one party consent.

Second - on the first phone call - the automated voice states clearly “This phone call may be recorded”.

Third - I was talking to PayPal - not to individual persons at paypal. All the conversation is in the context of business.

Fourth - on the second conversation - they were recording me without giving me any type of verbal warning or otherwise that the call was being recorded. When I asked THEM if they were recording the call - they admitted that it might be. So on the basis that they record calls that they initiate without warning people they call that the call may be recorded they are consenting through their conduct and waiving any rights to notification themselves.

Fifth - They already know I record phone calls with them because I have already done it in the past and they have notes about this sort of thing in their computers on me.

Sixth - even if it were illegal - it’s wrong for them to commit fraud - it’s right for me to expose it - and if it turned out I were legally wrong I would appeal to a jury to override the law and find me innocent anyhow. They call it jury nullification - I call it jury empowerment. Besides - such a charge would give this issue the attention it needs to stop paypal from ripping people off.