PayPal Freezes MineCraft Dev’s 600k Euros

from Elemental Forums

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2010/09/10/paypal-freezes-minecraft-devs-600k-euros/

http://notch.tumblr.com/post/1096322756/working-on-a-friday-update-crying-over-paypal

"And.. Paypal. On the 25’th, they limited my account for unspecified reasons (a suspicious withdrawal or deposit! wow, thank you for that amazingly detailed information), and asked me for a bunch of vague documents. I did my best to give them what they asked for.

My account is still limited. I’ve called them three times, they keep telling me it’s being reviewed. Most recently they told me it’d take up to two more weeks for it to get resolved, and that if they decide something bad’s being going on, they’re going to keep the money.

There’s over 600000 euro in there. Money I was planning on investing in the new company."

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....wow! So this means that he sold 60k+ copies of Minecraft in the last 3 weeks? :omg:  This is madness!

53,684 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top

Hes clearly a crim crim. I mean charging people to play 3D paint...

Reply #2 from Elemental Forums Top

Paypal is one of the best scams going."We'll just keep the money"? Seriously? No legitimate outfit could pull a racket like that.

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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top

They are a scam.  My friend and I used to use Ebay to sell stuff years ago, and we both stopped due to Paypal screwing with us.  I sold a video card to someone outside of North America.  He complained he didn't receive it, I provided the tracking number to Paypal to prove I sent it out. Paypal said too bad it's outside of North America so the buyer complaint automatically wins and had to give him a full refund.  I didn't even get by shipping costs back; I basically paid to screw myself.  Then about 6 months later a similar incident happened to my friend.  While the graciously allowed him to clear himself, they charged him a $10 'investigation fee'.  So apparently you can file a false complaint with Paypal and the seller gets robbed for $10 no matter what.

Not the first time I've heard of them freezing an account for no good reason either.  I've heard of loansharks with less shady practices.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Paypal is indeed s scam, a poorly managed service, and a joke.  I stopped buying anything online with them because of their random blocking of any transaction they deem "strange" or "funny", and by that they mean any transaction from outside the USA. It's been a widespread rule for them for years now. The sheer amount of complaints from people around the globe is of no concern to them.  The biggest problem with them is since they are not a bank, they are not liable and dont have to go by the regulations regular banks go.  Like in this case, they can keep your money indefinitely, and they'll give you a tracking number for it.  They are typical Ebay horse****.  I tell everyone that has to do a transaction online to go for google checkout instead.

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

You can't steal 600k and walk away.  If they try it they will be sued for millions of dollars, and the guy will win.

Reply #6 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting TheDarkKnight2008, reply 5
You can't steal 600k and walk away.  If they try it they will be sued for millions of dollars, and the guy will win.

You need to have enough money to fuel a lawsuit to make that work, and for someone in the EU Paypal is a foreign entity. Paypal can defend themselves with his money, what's he got?

Reply #7 from Elemental Forums Top

Quoting Aractain, reply 1
Hes clearly a crim crim. I mean charging people to play 3D paint...

Lol...well I am very surprised that this game is so popular...selling 60k copies in 3 weeks? I find it hard to believe to be honest.... [Considering that the developer wasn't lying...:D]

Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top

Quoting TheDarkKnight2008, reply 5
You can't steal 600k and walk away.  If they try it they will be sued for millions of dollars, and the guy will win.

They've stolen people's money in the past, so they will certainly try.  Something Awful raised $30,000 for the Red Cross Katrina fund, and Paypal froze the assets, closed the account, and refunded all the money minus their fees!  Any 'investigation' they claim they are doing is actually just consulting with their lawyers to see if they can pull this one off.  The developer's only defence here is the make as many waves on the Internet as possible about this.  It's much harder to steal something when everyone is watching you steal it.

Hopefully the guy gets his money back without needing to go to court, and hopefully any business still foolish enough to be using Paypal will think twice after hearing this.  If Paypal has customers with $600,000 euros, then I think it's long overdue for the government steps in and regulate them.  They are pretty much a bank without any of the rules real banks have to follow.

Reply #9 from Elemental Forums Top

I hate Paypal and don't make purchases that require it's use.

Reply #10 from Elemental Forums Top

I play this game and Notch (Developer) is not a "crim crim" as it was so eloquently put.  Paypal has decided to release the money however they will charge him a 5% holding fee for the trouble that they put him through.  If you go to minecraft.net and go to the development blog you can see Notch's posts on the subject. 

Reply #11 from Elemental Forums Top

Paypal is something I will never, ever use again.