PayPal Concedes Defeat in Moneymaker Funds Dispute

09:19
22 Jun

PayPal has given in to threats of a class-action lawsuit and refunded $12,000 to Chris Moneymaker in a dispute over terms of service. The e-wallet accused Moneymaker of breaking its rules and seized the funds without any detailed explanation, leaving the American furious and threatening to sue.

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People Power

Last month, Chris Moneymaker took to Twitter to vent his fury at what he perceived as nothing less than outright theft. He had received an email from PayPal last year explaining that his account was being frozen pending an investigation, and now, with the utmost cheek, the entire balance was being appropriated as payment for damages.

Simply put, PayPal allowed a customer to charge their account with funds and then kept the lot, citing terms and conditions. We know what the banking sector can be like but it’s not often we get to see it operating like this in front of our faces. Ban him, if you like, but this really does look like legalised (debatable) theft.

Moneymaker declared his intention to organise a class-action lawsuit where he would attempt to gather as many other people as possible who had faced the same situation from PayPal. He then enlisted the services of attorney Eric Bensamochan, who recently represented Todd Witteles against Mike Postle, and the team of disgruntled customers grew to over 50 people.

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Too Little, Too Late

PayPal was clearly warned about what was coming but the attempt to end the dispute by sending Moneymaker his $12,000 back was too little, too late.

Moneymaker informed PayPal that the lawsuit would still be filed even though he would no longer be a plaintiff. He now intends to use his time and energy to assist others who have been unfairly wronged and didn’t have the resources to fight back.

Moneymaker spoke to Cardschat to explain his views on the situation:

“I mean just the fact that Paypal can do this to anyone. And if you do not have a platform or hire a lawyer and pay legal fees, it will just work for them. They are nothing but thieves.”