Credit Application Failed for "Inaccurate Information"???

[chrisjdel]

I got the following message in an email after applying for PayPal Credit and failing:

"Your information was incomplete or inaccurate or the circumstances may have suggsted that the purchase was not made by you."

First of all, no purchase (since I wasn't approved yet). Secondly ... huh? I think I know my own birthdate, SS#, and address. This wasn't a complicated application where you had to list every job you've ever held, and forgetting that two week stint at Mickey D's when you were 16 caused them to conclude you're a liar and reject you. That sort of thing. You can't skip a field either so how could info be incomplete? My credit is decent enough for a regular credit card, so I can't imagine that's the reason - and why wouldn't they just say that if it was, instead of inaccurate/incomplete? Anyone know what the deal is?

[DPCreations]

For security reasons the exact reason will not be disclosed.  This prevents an applicant from attempting to fix a specific issues with adjusted information to circumvent security issues.

You are the only one who can review your financial status and your real credit history.  Information on your personal residence and utility bills could be reviewed. 

PayPal is able to do a credit and finance review with financial sevices where your SS# is connected.  More information will be used than just the data you submitted.

[chrisjdel]

First of all, thank you for your reply.

I still don't understand why the information was described as inaccurate/incomplete though. What little I provided certainly wasn't inaccurate. If (as I assumed they would) they ran a credit check, that was presumably neither incomplete nor inaccurate either. Failed credit check or low/nonexistant credit are given as reasons when people are rejected by MasterCard or Visa online applications. Why PayPal wouldn't say so is beyond me.

The whole "security" or "for your protection" shtick tends to be a blanket, one size fits all excuse many companies use to justify policies that don't do a thing to provide security or protect you. The personal info I provided - full name, address, SS#, DOB - is more sensitive than anything on my credit report if you're thinking in terms of online fraud and identity theft. And yes, the whole idea of explaining what caused you to be turned down is so you can fix it! Assuming that's possible. For all I know they could've used erroneous data. What if my ad blocker **bleep** up the application? Or the PayPal site was having issues? There was a major cyberattack today and financial institutions were among those targeted. What if that had something to do with it? I got an email at the address associated with my long standing PayPal account, and verified some of the information I previously entered, to get to a screen where the reason for the rejection was supposed to be disclosed. Oh there was a reason given - but that reason makes no sense. Certainly seems like an error to me. Is there any way of actually contacting someone at the company to find out more, and alert them to the mistake if there is one? I can't find any route for direct contact, by phone, email, live chat, or anything else.

[DPCreations]

Just click on Help and Contact at the bottom of the page; it seems that would have been an obvious choice if you wanted to contact PayPal support.

[Whac-A-Mole]

Paypal error messages are often vague and can be misleading.

Paypal customer service is poor.

dont waste your time ,apply elsewhere/

if you have good credit,others will accept your application