PayPal Troubles

I have been trying to setup a payment processor for a non-profit, and I am wondering if I am the only one who has trouble with this.  Getting an account setup shouldn’t be this hard, should it?  Has anyone had any good or bad experiences with PayPal?  Is there another alternative that is better?

Please read on for details of my experience:

Here’s the latest letter that I have received:

Dear Stephen Phillips,

Hello Stephen, my name is Mark Anthony from PayPal Resolutions Services.
I hope all is well with you.

I’m happy to assist you today!

I received your email concerning not being able to access your account.
Currently it is being reviewed. We understand that it may be frustrating
not to have full access to your PayPal account. We want to work with you
to remove the limitation as soon as possible. Most of the time, we just
need some more information about you or your recent account activity. We
will send you an email once we’re done reviewing your account.

Let me show you how easy it is to remove the limitation on your account.
First , log in to your PayPal account then click on “Resolution Center.”
look for the “Steps to Remove Limitation” list and Click on “Resolve,”
then follow the steps to remove the account limitation.

I hope you have a nice day Stephen.

Don’t forget, we are always here to help, click “help” at the upper part
of the website www.paypal.com or call our Customer Service hotline at
402-935-2050.

Sincerely,
Mark Anthony

PayPal Resolution Services
PayPal, an eBay Company

Check out our Community Help Forums at www.paypal-community.com. You can
also follow us on Twitter to find answers, help other members and learn
more about PayPal. Go to www.Twitter.com/askpaypal

These emails don’t help me at all!  What I need to know is why my Proof of Tax Exempt document was not accepted.  To the best of my knowledge, I have uploaded the correct document that provides proof!  I have been told that the department that reviews these document cannot accept phone calls, and the only emails they return are these generic ones.

So far, this is the only information that I have:

Let me share one more frustration with you.  Their website doesn’t give me much feedback on this process.  I have also been working on this issue:

Notice that it says Waiting for your response.  I uploaded files yesterday, and it doesn’t say anything about PayPal needing to review them or anything like that.

When I click resolve, I am asked to upload files:

What frustrates me is that I uploaded probably 10 files yesterday.  I did one in each format: GIF, PDF, PNG, JPG.  Still once I leave this screen, it shows empty as if I haven’t uploaded any files or made any effort to resolve this issue:

It is important to me because I spoke with a customer service representative who said that I can upload a voided check, but the website only says to upload a bank statement.  Who is right?  Is the website not showing resolved or pending because I only uploaded a voided check?  Could the website be a little more helpful?

I have receive two identical emails from PayPal that said this:

Thank you for contacting PayPal.

I understand that you are having difficulty uploading the requested
documents.  I am including instructions on how to convert your .pdf
files to .jpg so that they may be uploaded through the Resolution
Center.  If you are still unable to upload the documents after that, I
would encourage you to utilize our fax option.

Here is a way to convert your .pdf files into .jpg files using a
Microsoft Windows PC using the Print Screen feature:

1. Open the .pdf file you wish to convert making sure that all the
necessary information is visible on the screen.
2. On your keyboard, press Alt + Print Screen (Print Screen is usually
found above your number pad).
3. Click on your “Start” button, go to Programs, then Accessories and
open MS Paint.
4. In MS Paint, with a blank screen open press Ctrl + v (this will paste
the screen shot of your .pdf into the Paint program).
5. Click “File,” then “Save As.”
6. Give the file a name, and underneath where it says “Save as type:”
click on the arrow and select “JPEG(*.jpg).
7. At the top of the screen where it says “Save in:” you may want to
select your desktop so the file is easily found.
8. Click “Save.”

You can repeat this process with any .pdf files that you wish to upload
to the Resolution Center.

The website clearly says that it accepts PDFs, but is that why my documents are not accepted?  I have attempted to ask that question on the phone, through email, etc.  This blog post is an attempt to get some attention.

Has anyone else had similar issues?

Update: We did finally get this resolved after about a month of working on it! Apparently, the PDF’s were showing up blank in their system. So, if you are uploading documents to PayPal, make sure you use JPG instead of PDF! Also, don’t email PayPal — call them. The first person was unhelpful, but on the second call, I was finally able to get someone that could help me.