I've been flagged by Paypal for an unacceptable use of their services.

"Dec 12, 2009: We have recently reviewed your account and have noticed that you are selling items on your website that violate our Acceptable Use Policy. We value you as a member of our community and wish to continue our relationship, so we ask that you remove all items from your website that violate our Acceptable Use Policy.

Please note that subsequent violations will result in the closure of your account.

(Your case ID for this reason is PP-852-186-747.)"

According to them, Paypal cannot be used for a sweepstakes

"You may not use the PayPal service for activities that:

violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation

involve the sales of products or services identified by government agencies to have a high likelihood of being fraudulent
violate applicable laws or industry regulations regarding the sale of (a) tobacco products, or ( prescription drugs and devices
involve gambling, gaming and/or any other activity with an entry fee and a prize, including, but not limited to casino games, sports betting, horse or greyhound racing, lottery tickets, other ventures that facilitate gambling, games of skill (whether or not it is legally defined as a lottery) and sweepstakes unless the operator has obtained prior approval from PayPal and the operator and customers are located exclusively in jurisdictions where such activities are permitted by law."

I have to do two things:

1) sign the affidavit saying I won't violate the policy anymore (but they will shut me down if I keep getting stuff)
2) stop posting the link to edwardblume@gmail.com immediately on the main post. They even gave me a link to the post showing where the Paypal email address is listed.

Honestly, I can stand behind what we are doing, but I don't want the attention from Paypal or anyone else.

Can we switch up to another account and handle things by PM (cloak it)? Maybe we should change it to something like, if you are interested PM RobW.

The current balance is $1044.93.

We are at 72% on the raffle.

Thanks,
Rob

That sucks - but I get it - I never even thought about it - but I can see why they have to play that way.

I don't know what the alternative might be. This is how the "Win the 'Vettes" website does it - thru a merchant account: https://www.winthevettes.com/OrderTickets.aspx

is there any "reasoning" with them, like explaining this is a charity function and we are near the goal?

or if the payments were marked as goods, so paypal would get their share, would they be more receptive?

Its BS but I get it. My main concern is the money that has been collected so far.

I think they are more trying to flag things that may be done by bad people, but we get swept up into it too.

As a banker, I understand anti money laundering and all that, but here we are just doing good deeds.

We'll do a work around... and keep going.

Thanks,
Rob

I've done the 2 steps to restore the account: I agree to their affidavit of use, and agreed to take the account off the post / site.

I explained in the resolution that this was for charity and that I will comply with Paypal's use policy. I even gave them my phone number if the want to chat about it.

I'll follow up with the account daily until its clear and then get the funds off to Mike Moorman.

Thanks again,
Rob

Here is the accounting for all of the funds donated, balanced to the penny.

Can one of us get a new pay pal address and just be sure everyone marks it goods from here forward until the raffle is done? Let them have their percentage. Just sell an extra raffle ticket or two. You could pull the money out where it's safe. And we could just start a new account.

I think Wayne told me he had a pay pal account ready too.

I'd be down with that. Somehow Paypal followed payments or searched my email address back to the transmission post itself on the world site. They gave me a link directly to Dr Evil's post in pointing out that my email address / paypal account needed to be taken OFF the site.

So if a new Paypal account is established, I would do it by PM still and not provide it for anyone but real members.

I just got a PM from a 0 post lurker from Las Vegas called venice914 asking for the new Paypal account. I passed him on to Mike to send a check for the donation.

Or we could modify the post to say the transmission has NO VALUE, and change raffle to donation where one person randomly will get something of NO VALUE...

It sounds like Pay Pal has all the angles. Lets just have Wayne use his paypal and do the PM thing. Then we will know who wants in and can give them instructions to NOT do the donation thing. We just need to get your email and pay pal addy out of the loop and get the money out of the account before they mess with that too.

that works, my paypal is wafry1975@gmail.com, if anyone PMs you instead of me.

Thanks Wayne.

Here's the email I picked up just now explaining things better:

service@paypal.com to me
show details 11:32 AM (10 hours ago)
Dear Rob Ways,

We appreciate the fact that you chose PayPal to send and receive payments
for your transactions.

However, after a recent review of your account, it has been determined that
you are currently in violation of PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy. Under
the Acceptable Use Policy, PayPal may not be used to send or receive
payments for activities that involve gambling and/or gaming activities,
including but not limited to casino games, sports betting, horse or
greyhound racing, lottery tickets, certain games of skill, and other
ventures that facilitate gambling.

The complete Acceptable Use Policy can be found at the following URL:
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p...x_frame-outside

To learn more about the Acceptable Use Policy, please refer to our Help
Center page here:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/helpweb?cmd=_help

We are hereby notifying you that, after a recent review of your account
activity, it has been determined that you are in violation of PayPal's
Acceptable Use Policy regarding your raffle sales on
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=102047. Please refer to
Transaction ID: 9RU49697M5136945V.

In order to comply with the Acceptable Use Policy and avoid the limitation
of your account, you will need to:

1. Remove PayPal as a payment option, as well as all references to PayPal,
including the PayPal logo and/or shopping cart, from your raffle(s),
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=102047; and

2. Submit the online Acceptable Use Policy affidavit.

To appeal your limitation, login to your account and select the "Resolution
Center" link. On the next page select the "Resolve" button(s) located in
the Steps to Provide More Information section and follow the applicable
instructions.

This is not intended to be an all-inclusive review or list of your Internet
sites in violation. Furthermore, the violations of the Policy described
above are not intended to be an all-inclusive list. It is the
responsibility of the user to ensure that all transactions comply with the
Acceptable Use Policy.

For more information about the status of your account, please log in to
your PayPal account.

We encourage you to login and return your account to good standing as soon
as possible. Failure to respond by 12/17/2009 will result in the further
escalation of this issue.

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Please understand that this
is a security measure meant to help protect you and your account. We
apologize for any inconvenience. If you have any questions, please contact
the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy Department at aup@paypal.com.

Sincerely,
PayPal Acceptable Use Policy Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you
will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account
and click the Help link in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

PayPal Email ID PP522

Here's where Paypal rejected my appeal because the original post still mentions "paypal". Notice how it even picks up Dr Evil....

Wow.

I PM'd Dr Evil asking him to wipe the paypal info on the original post.

Thanks,
R

Dear Rob Ways,

We have reviewed your account and unfortunately, we will not be able to
grant your appeal at this time.

The original posting by user Dr Evil still states PayPal as a method of
payment for the fundraiser. This will have to be removed before the
limitation on your account can be removed.

In order to comply with the Acceptable Use Policy and avoid the limitation
of your account, you will need to:

1. Remove PayPal as a payment option, as well as all references to PayPal,
including the PayPal logo and/or shopping cart, from your raffle(s),
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=102047;

For more information about the status of your account, please log in to
your PayPal account.

We encourage you to login and return your account to good standing as soon
as possible. Failure to respond by 12/17/2009 will result in the further
escalation of this issue.

We appreciate your cooperation in this matter. Please understand that this
is a security measure meant to help protect you and your account. We
apologize for any inconvenience.

If you have any questions, please contact the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy
Department at aup@paypal.com.

Sincerely,
Richard
PayPal Acceptable Use Policy Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you
will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account
and click the Help link in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

PayPal Email ID PP522

Other members mention pay pal in the thread. Do you think we should pm them and ask them to go into their post and edit out the pay pal reference?

And Rob, you have a pay pal reference in post # 35 and #46 of the transmission thread. You should edit it out. Maybe just use PP like Evil did in #47

maybe something like "checks are preferred, but if you would like other methods of online payment, please contact RobW, tat2dphreak....

PITA. Rob, Ottox914 is going to contact you for 10 tickets at $160

Thanks guys. I think my Paypal account flag has been lifted. I will initiate a funds request off Paypal Monday.

Sorry for the speed bump, but we'll get through it.

Thanks Wayne for stepping up!

no problem. I recieved one paypal for $20 from Robert Blum, aka triadisrad

Don't you love happy endings...

Dear Rob Ways,

Thank you for making the necessary changes to your website in order to
comply with PayPal's Acceptable Use Policy. After a recent review of your
account, we have found that you are no longer in violation. We appreciate
your cooperation in resolving this matter. In the future, if you have any
questions regarding what items are prohibited under PayPal's Acceptable Use
Policy, please see the following URL for the complete text:

http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p...x_frame-outside

Please note that your use of PayPal for raffle tickets or for any other
violation of our Acceptable Use Policy in the future may result in a
permanent account limitation.

Again, we thank you for your cooperation in resolving this matter and
appreciate the fact that you chose PayPal to accept payments for your
business. If you have any further questions, please contact the PayPal
Acceptable Use Policy Department at aup@paypal.com.

Sincerely,
Richard
PayPal Acceptable Use Policy Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

Yep,

David Parsons
335 Hilltop Dr.
Rice Lake, WI. 54868

"ottox914"


He PM'd me too. Very nice score! I told him he could always send the money through Waynes email if that worked better for him.

only one paypal, from rob blum for $20 so far, when we cut it off, I'll send 1 paypal for everything that I received.

Check it again.

I received this message from Dave Parsons.

"Paypal sent to wafry1975 as gift with message: Merry Christmas from Dave and Lee."

I noticed Mike Ginter wanted to send a pay pal for the raffle. I sent him Waynes info and told him to put Merry Christmas from the Ginters in the notes space if he wanted to gift the money. I also told him to PM Wayne and give him his info.

yes, I got one from Dave parsons last night, after I posted that

Amount: $160.00 USD

nothing from gint yet

Plas76targa, (Matt) sent me this note via PM.

[QUOTE]Rob - can you still count me in the raffle for a Dr Evil transmission? I will send a check to Mike Morman today.

Matt

[QUOTE]Message Forwarded From plas76targa

Rich,

Count me in for one ticket on Dr Evils transmission raffle. I'll send you a personal check to the address provided in the 914 world post.

Thanks,
Matt[/QUOTE]


I sent him this response:

Hi Matt,

I received your PM. I will forward your information on to Mike and Rob. If you would rather send the money through Pay pal do this.


Contact Tat2dphreak (Wayne Fry) via PM You can pay pal the money to him at

wafry1975@gmail.com

Give him your screen name, full name and address, let him know you pay pal'd him the money. Let him know what it's for and the amount.

If you want to gift the money just put:

"Merry Christmas to you and your family. This is for Lee"

Pay pal got pissy with Robw so this is our work around.

Good Luck!

Rick Ollah

Still after me now.. this is getting ridiculous...

Dear Rob Ways,

We have noticed that you have charged a fee, or a surcharge, to a buyer
for accepting a credit card payment via
http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?s=0...00547594c11db2f
2&showtopic=102047&st=20,
Post #35 and Post #29. In accordance with PayPal's User Agreement under
Surcharges, you agree that you will not impose a surcharge or any other
fee for accepting PayPal as a payment method. You may charge a handling
fee in connection with the sale of goods or services, as long as the
handling fee does not operate as a surcharge and is not higher than the
handling fee you charge for non-PayPal transactions.

In order to comply with these laws and regulations, you must remove all
mention of a fee or surcharge from your listing. If we receive a second
complaint, your account access will be limited until you remove all
mention of a fee or surcharge from your listing.

For the Terms and Conditions of the User Agreement, click the "Legal
Agreement" link at the bottom of any PayPal webpage and click "User
Agreement."

Sincerely,
Nicole
PayPal, Acceptable Use Policy Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

All the more reason to shut down the raffle - get the money out of there and learn a lesson about PayPal - spelled:

WTF. PITA.

yep, I was going to suggest we give people a heads up, say 12-24 hours as a last chance, but now I think we should just give them a few hours more and be done...

I am cool with a 24hr notice so we do not get any bitching. But, I am also cool with what ever

ok, it's 12 noon ish now.

what say you about a post now, telling people tomorrow 12 noon is the cutoff, then all checks should be received by next monday.

think Mary, or Rob's daughter, could do a quick web-cam drawing to be web-posted on xmas? or is that pushing it?

A member in a pinball group (a newsgroup at that) I belong to is raffling off a pinball with 100% of the proceeds going to "Make A Wish" - PayPal nailed him today and now he has to resort to checks - which we know won't generate the same amount. He has no reserve on the pinball and will draw on Christmas Day - only 27 entries to date on the raffle...

Another "Angels" group shutdown by PP: http://www.examiner.com/x-17034-Chicago-Gu...over-gun-raffle

Got this message from rjames

"Am I too late? I can send a check out before the thread is locked tomorrow."

Thank you,

Robert James Shook

Here's my reply.

Hey Robert!

I received your PM. I will forward your information on to Mike and Rob. If you would rather send the money through Pay pal do this.

Checks can be sent to:

Mike Moorman
816 Sandwedge Ct
Andover, KS 67002

Or..... Contact Tat2dphreak (Wayne Fry) via PM You can pay pal the money to him at

wafry1975@gmail.com

In a PM message give him your screen name, full name and address, let him know you pay pal'd him the money. Let him know what it's for and the amount.

If you want to gift the money just put:

"Merry Christmas to you and your family. This is for Lee"

Pay pal got pissy with Robw so this is our work around.

Good Luck!

Rick Ollah

I received this PM from Brant:

Rick,

I'd like to throw my name into the hat for 1 ticket
I can mail a check to the kansas address or what ever your prefer.
just give me the direction and I'll get it out tomorrow first thing
I'm not sure I can swing it yet, so I haven't jumped in... but there is a chance I'll still get to kansas for this thing

thanks
brant


Here is my reply:

Hi Brant!

I would be really cool if you could make it in February! This isn't the usual 914 event.

I will forward your information on to Mike and Rob. If you would rather send the money through Pay pal do this.

Checks can be sent to:

Mike Moorman
816 Sandwedge Ct
Andover, KS 67002

Or..... Send a PM to Tat2dphreak (Wayne Fry) give him your screen name, full name and address, let him know you pay pal'd him the money. Let him know what it's for and the amount.

After you send the PM, you can pay pal the money to him at wafry1975@gmail.com

If you want to gift the money just put:

"Merry Christmas to you and your family. This is for Lee"

Pay pal got pissy with Robw so this is our work around.

Good Luck!

Rick Ollah

I recieved markb($80) and Mike ginter's($20+$1) Paypal's last night... no others yet, I will keep accepting paypal for people who PM'd us until thursday morning

Just received this message:

Hi Rick,
Thanks for getting back to me so quickly. I'll have to send a check as I just realized my paypal balance is less than $20 and it always takes 3+ days to transfer money to the account. I've already dropped a check in the mail.
Thanks for getting me signed up last moment!

-Robert Shook (rjames)

Just received this from Brant:

Rick,

cool thanks for the info
I pm'd wayne and will wait until I hear back then send the $

paypal is a nightmare
I had a fight with them once upon a time
unfortunately I still use them for convienience.. but at least I dislike them while I use them....

I got into it with them over the RRC entry fee's and one year I figured they were getting 100bucks that we could use for charity. So now I do RRC with checks only because of their greedy nature.

I'm still working on my schedule for attendance
I'm even contemplating sharing a ride with ginter (car pooling)

thanks again and I'll wait to hear back from wayne and then put the $ to him today!

brant

brant PM'd me and I gave him the info

Bill Smith will be contacting you shortly.

wayne1234 and brant have paid

messing up my odds now

JazonJJordan is in for a ticket - paid

Some people are buying tickets because they want to make me their friend for life, I think I am not perfect, but there are some I hope DONT win It would be like having a hypochondriac with access to free medical care

hey, I can see this thread you know...