PayPal told customer her death breached its rules

[bots]

PayPal wrote to a woman who had died of cancer saying her death had breached its rules and that it might take legal action as a consequence.

https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/624/cpsprodpb/7A40/production/_102469213_514e6ce6-4153-42e6-bddd-13934de96a28.jpg

The firm has since acknowledged that the letter was "insensitive", apologised to her widower, and begun an inquiry into how it came to be sent.

The matter came to light after her bereaved husband contacted the BBC.

He said he wanted to make other organisations aware how distressing automated messages could be.

Lindsay Durdle died on 31 May aged 37.

She had been first diagnosed with breast cancer about a year-and-a-half earlier. The disease had later spread to her lungs and brain.

PayPal was informed of Mrs Durdle's death three weeks ago by her husband Howard Durdle.

He provided the online payments service with copies of her death certificate, her will and his ID, as requested.

He has now received a letter addressed in her name, sent to his home in Bucklebury, West Berkshire.

It was headlined: "Important: You should read this notice carefully."

It said that Mrs Durdle owed the company about £3,200 and went on to say: "You are in breach of condition 15.4(c) of your agreement with PayPal Credit as we have received notice that you are deceased... this breach is not capable of remedy."

PayPal has told Mr Durdle that it is looking into this "as a priority", and has written off the debt in the meantime.

"We apologise to Mr Durdle for the distress this letter has caused," a spokesman added.

"We are urgently looking into this matter, and are in direct contact with Mr Durdle to support him."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-44783779

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:shocked:

[GoldHeart]

OMG !!! :shocked: utterly disgusting company PayPal . I'm glad I don't use it .

The husband should of told them to f off and refused to send his and his wife's personal ID information. Even when you're grieving they still try to make your life a misery :crazy: .

[Crimson Dynamo]

isnt it that non payment had breached the rules?

[Marsh.]

isnt it that non payment had breached the rules?Probably but the way they've wrote the letter they've addressed the letter actually to her telling her that her state "deceased" is a breach of the agreement.

[Jordan.]

"We have recieved notice that you are deceased"

Is it wrong I screamed

[montblanc]

"We have recieved notice that you are deceased"

Is it wrong I screamed

:laugh3:

[AnnieK]

Nothing surprises me with PayPal or eBay, both run by complete incompetents

[GoldHeart]

Nothing surprises me with PayPal or eBay, both run by complete incompetents

This

[Crimson Dynamo]

The lesson is pay your debts

[Marsh.]

I got a credit agreement through PayPal and had no issues.

Woman should have made sure her payments were taken care of before getting herself deceased.

[Mystic Mock]

That's absolutely shocking from PayPal.:laugh3:

[GoldHeart]

I got a credit agreement through PayPal and had no issues.

Woman should have made sure her payments were taken care of before getting herself deceased.

Wow could that statement be anymore insensitive and cold :umm2: , the woman died of terminal cancer . Maybe she was trying to get out of debt but I'm pretty sure she had other things on her mind ,what with being seriously sick and all . Of course people shouldn't get into debt but it happens. Now I feel sorry for the husband trying to sort things out .

And even when he sent the appropriate ID information and even sent the death certificate to prove she died ,they still send a stupid incompetent response letter still addressed in her name :facepalm:.

[Matthew.]

that’s disgraceful

[armand.kay]

dgbdjkbil who wrote this and was like "yep perfect lets get a stamp on that"

[Denver]

dgbdjkbil who wrote this and was like "yep perfect lets get a samp on that"

What is a samp? :shrug:

[Marsh.]

Wow could that statement be anymore insensitive and cold :umm2:

No, it's a joke. You know since most people don't get themselves into a spot of deceased on purpose.

Go and impress someone else with your bleeding heart.

[armand.kay]

What is a samp? :shrug:

meant to type stamp

[Toy Soldier]

The lesson is pay your debts

What lesson? I'm pretty sure she doesn't give a ****... you know... being dead etc. :joker:

In the UK spouses / offspring are not responsible for their family members debts when they die. Only if it's an account in both names. So if the paypal account is in her name only... Sorry PayPal... you're out of luck :shrug:.

[GoldHeart]

No, it's a joke. You know since most people don't get themselves into a spot of deceased on purpose.

Go and impress someone else with your bleeding heart.

Well I couldn't tell if you were serious or not . No need for that attitude :nono:

[GoldHeart]

What lesson? I'm pretty sure she doesn't give a ****... you know... being dead etc. :joker:

In the UK spouses / offspring are not responsible for their family members debts when they die. Only if it's an account in both names. So if the paypal account is in her name only... Sorry PayPal... you're out of luck :shrug:.

Exactly isn't fair on her husband

[Marsh.]

Well I couldn't tell if you were serious or not . No need for that attitude :nono:

:nono:

[Livia]

A couple of weeks after my husband died I received an email from Aviva to my account, addressed to him, asking what would happen if he died with no life insurance. The fact that both our lives had been insured with Aviva for years and that I'd told them that he had died. This sh1t happens. It's upsetting at the time but it's laziness rather than vindictiveness.

[GoldHeart]

A couple of weeks after my husband died I received an email from Aviva to my account, addressed to him, asking what would happen if he died with no life insurance. The fact that both our lives had been insured with Aviva for years and that I'd told them that he had died. This sh1t happens. It's upsetting at the time but it's laziness rather than vindictiveness.

It's also incompetence .
Even letters and stupid cold callers still address the dead person :bored: :facepalm:

[Cal.]

Not them dragging her for getting herself deceased

[Marsh.]

Not them dragging her for getting herself deceasedSome people never learn.

It's quite easy to stay alive. Look at us!

[Toy Soldier]

Some people never learn.

It's quite easy to stay alive. Look at us!

Only 150,000 people die every day whilst nearly 7 billion of us manage to stay alive. There's really no excuse for this tiny minority, and if they think it'll get them out of paying their PayPal bill then they're living in La La Land. PC gone mad.

[Marsh.]

Only 150,000 people die every day whilst nearly 7 billion of us manage to stay alive. There's really no excuse for this tiny minority, and if they think it'll get them out of paying their PayPal bill then they're living in La La Land. PC gone mad.:laugh2:

[reece(:]

Why did I read this as Pav Paul :skull:

[Marsh.]

Why did I read this as Pav Paul :skull:BB15 :love:

[Maru]

I dislike Paypal (but use sparingly). Someone was able to open a credit card account in my name using a bad birthday and no SS# provided... it came to my address though, so I called and closed it for fraud. Also they're pretty rude over customer support... I had some other issue that I can't remember years later, but it left a bad taste in my mouth... it's sad because I used to be a seller on Ebay and enjoyed being one. It helped pay my cell note when I was much younger and I remember when it was a new new thing and "money market" actually gave back a very nice return... now they have a decent grip on the market, so they can do pretty much anything they want...

Ebay is helpful though for getting ahold of OEM parts or other random things that can't be bought or found through "traditional" channels... bought an MSI laptop and it needed a small repair and I was able to buy the piece from that seller after emailing them... since I noticed they had access to some parts in their shop that I couldn't get any other way.

[Ammi]

A couple of weeks after my husband died I received an email from Aviva to my account, addressed to him, asking what would happen if he died with no life insurance. The fact that both our lives had been insured with Aviva for years and that I'd told them that he had died. This sh1t happens. It's upsetting at the time but it's laziness rather than vindictiveness.


...something similar (ish) happened when my dad died, Liv...it was the day after he died...it wasn’t a big ‘faceless’ company like PayPal or Aviva...it was to do with a holiday he and my mum had booked, the details aren’t really important...but from very young ages, we’re all familiar with anger...anger is something we can cope with more than grief...those crippling feelings of grief for a close loved one is something we don’t experience much in our lives, compared to anger...so at the time, I felt so many emotions...from thinking this person who valued the dollar more than a human life and the grief a family was going through was just the lowest of the low in terms of their character...to thinking I would go right up there and punch him on the nose...anyway, I think it was just really that distracting and focusing from my grief was just easier to cope with in those angry moments...?...I had never lost a dad before so all kinds of feelings I wasn’t ready to face yet...if I had faced them at the time, if I had not had that anger to divert my focus...?...maybe I would never have stood up again...maybe I would never have found a way to put one step in front of another...I probably would but it would have been much more difficult...the pain of losing someone so close and so loved is just so unbearable...

...anyways my dad used to always (annoyingly) say....’things happen for a reason’...that was kind of one of his life philosophies...and really he was right...that demand for money because death is no excuse for unpaid bills, type thing...helped me in having something I could focus more familiar angry feelings into....without that and with only feelings of loss...?...well, I’m just so thankful that there wasn’t a ‘without that’...don’t you hate it when a parent is always right...:laugh:...


...atm this poor guy has and has had something to focus on with PayPal and being angry with PayPal...at a time when grief may have been all consuming for him with the loss of his wife...so yeah, things do sometimes happen for a reason....?....’the greed of others can help you’...