Can I Rant About Paypal for a Minute?

[babystarz]

I guess I'll begin this story when I opened my Paypal account. I was 13. This was in 2001. Obviously, 13 year olds cannot have Paypal accounts. My mother, in her infinite wisdom about the internet, decided to let me use her credit card for online purchases because I was a pony addict even then. This arrangement worked out pretty well, aside from me occasionally splurging without asking. Still, not bad for a teenager with free reign over a credit card plus + interwebs. Fast forward to now. I'm 23. Only my bank account and card are connected to the Paypal account. I'm selling on eBay. I'm trying to make a name for myself with my own online business.


My problem is that the Paypal account is still in my Mom's name. My name is on the shipping to address, but everything leaving the account (shipping, invoices, other communication) is all in my Mom's name. This is a problem because it prevents me from making a name for myself, plus now that I'm an adult I don't want to seem like I'm impersonating her.


The only reason I can still have a current bank account attached to the Paypal account is because she's still listed as a custodian on the bank account, because I got that when I was a minor too. So on all the statements for the account, her name is listed first and mine is second.


I tried to switch the name on the Paypal account; I was even able to select "minor is now an adult" as the reason. I uploaded my driver's license showing my full name as Paypal requested (another wrinkle in all of this: my mom and I don't have the same last name. Or rather, I have two last names and my Dad's last name is my last last name and my Mom's is before it. They are not hyphenated. I usually just use my Dad's last name and leave out my Mom's for the sake of convenience), and gave them my SS#. Paypal denied the request, stating that I needed to provide proof of my name change, e.g. a newspaper announcement. Problem: I didn't change my name[size=78%] [/size]


Now, about a month later, Paypal is suspicious that someone hacked the account and makes me give them more details about my bank account. I'm worried that I just attracted undue attention to myself and they're going to start making me jump through hoops to keep making and receiving payments.


I realize I could just shut down the account and make a new one in my own name, but the account is over 10 years old. I have already figured out that I get special perks that other people don't get, either due to the age of the account or the amount of money that has gone through it over the years. I have no spending limits, for example. A new account is not going to have this. Plus I'm actively selling on eBay and any interruption in being able to do that means an interruption in income for me.


I tried talking to Paypal's customer service and they just repeated their reasoning for not changing the name on the account. Not very helpful. I'm wondering if anyone knows anything about Paypal and sees something that I don't. Or if I should just bite the bullet and shut down the account and open one in my name, so there's no confusion. We certainly didn't anticipate this much trouble when the account was created!

[Prismatic]

That sux :/

Have you tried having your mom call paypal?  Since it's technically her account, maybe she can get farther with paypal?

[HawaiianRain]

You are better off closing all ties to that account and opening a new one. A new account shouldn't have any restrictions AS LONG AS you have your bank account attached, your current credit card attached and you verify who you are (i.e. them asking for your SS.) Make sure you type your name exactly the way it appears on your credit card and bank account. You want the Premier account and not the personal. The personal account has limits. There is no charge to upgrade your account to Premier.

[teresat]

I ran into similar problems after I got married and changed my name. Bank accounts, credit cards and other financial institutions have primary and secondary names on account and that is not the same as joint. I found this out the hard way. My husband added me to accounts but did not make the accounts joint. We didn't know the difference back then.

It's not enough to be on the account with permissions/secondary, you should be specifically joint first before you can make any changes. If your mom is listed as primary, then she needs to make the accounts joint with you and then you should be able to make changes.

[tootie_tails]

Why are you so determined to keep it? Why don't you just open a new account?

[ponylady]

I can understand you wanting to keep the account because of it's age.  But I think at this point you are going to have to open a new account.  It seems like more hassel than it's worth.  And I can see why it raised a red flag to them when you did not use your legal name.  It has to match your social security number and if you plan on running a business, they have to match for tax purposes.   
 
HawaiianRain is right about the Premier account it has no restrictions,  here is a link to the different accounts:
 https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing/general/PayPalAccountTypes-outside
 
I personally use the Business account but it is for tax reasons.
 
If you are determined though to keep that account, I would have your mom phone them since she is the Primary. She maybe able to get further with them on changing it over.
 
 

[hikari_amaya]

I agree with everyone else on that you should have your mom call in. I used to have my ex on mine and I kicked his name off, because I was the Primary account holder.

[NoDivision]

I think you need to start your own account .

Changing a name on a paypal account is for if the original account holders name has changed as in getting married, divorces, etc. Not for completely changing who the owner of the account is. The account is under your mom's name, and so what you're trying to do is not a name change, but an ownership change.

[Ringlets]

  Paypal can be a pain with this kind of thing   I cant add anything else to what has already been advised here, but personally I think its time for a new account..    

[babystarz]

Yep I've come to the conclusion that it's too much trouble to keep as well. The problem is really the timing. I have a pending balance from my sales so I have to wait until that is cleared (until the beginning of June based on my sales this week), then prepare for potentially a week of downtime as I shut down the old account, open the new one, and re-attach my account to my bank account and eBay. And then jump through the hoops of having a new account. I'm really hoping that planning it out will minimize the effect on my sales - there are people who do buy from me almost weekly and have come to expect to be able to continue to do so. Thank you all for your advice!

I would try to have my Mom call in, but with the name silliness (me having two last names, but not really using hers) has caused issues before with other things because these systems just aren't set up for complexity and it seems to confuse customer service people that anyone would give their child two last names that are not hyphenated. It's very common in some other countries but in the U.S. it's not. Just the other day I ran into problems with my medical insurance because of it. I handed them my card with all of the information, but they couldn't find me in the system and had no idea which name to look under. They finally found me, they had given me two middle names instead of two last names. Then after all that they had to call my Dad to ensure that I'm really his offspring, all for me to get in to get my ears looked at for some antibiotics >.< The administrative problems took longer than the appointment did. So yeah, it's a pain in the butt, the thought of giving your child two last names might seem like a good idea but please, never do it Or at least combine them with a hyphen.

[DemonicSymphony]

I still can't close Shadow's paypal account! He's been dead for three years and I'm his surviving spouse! It's crazy the hoops you have to go through.

[babylofty]

DS, dumb question - have you faxed them a death certificate for Shadow?  I find it unbelievable they won't work with you on this.

I heard a story where some adult children were getting spam from their deceased mother's email account until they finally had to go to the media and bang the drums to get the email provider to shut down the account.

[babystarz]

I still can't close Shadow's paypal account! He's been dead for three years and I'm his surviving spouse! It's crazy the hoops you have to go through.

Are you kidding me?! I can see why changing names is an issue, but simply closing Shadow's account because he is deceased and therefore provably has no use of it seems crazy.

[DemonicSymphony]

Oh yeah, we've been rounds with the death cert etc. I finally just disconnected EVERYTHING from it after initially trying to 'take over' the account as the surviving spouse... then tried to close it etc. It's been insanity. So I just... yeah.

[mlpfan]

You are better off closing all ties to that account and opening a new one. A new account shouldn't have any restrictions AS LONG AS you have your bank account attached, your current credit card attached and you verify who you are (i.e. them asking for your SS.) Make sure you type your name exactly the way it appears on your credit card and bank account. You want the Premier account and not the personal. The personal account has limits. There is no charge to upgrade your account to Premier.

you should not have any restrictions as long as you provide you ssn, and bank account number, i have only had mine for a few months and i have no restrictions on anything.
you think not being able to close shadow's account is bad? my grandfather has been dead for 16 YEARS and they are sending my MOM his water bill! and his house was sold out of the family years ago!