In a bit of irony perhaps, PayPal, the online money site that allows users to collect, send and receive funds, effectively taking advantage of the Internet’s virtual nature, has fallen prey to that very same institution. One very tiny company, called Regretsy.com was in the middle of putting together a holiday toy program that would allow visitors to buy toys for underprivileged kids and have them distributed by the operators of the site. Unfortunately, according to CNN, the company ran into a bit of snag just as the program was taking off. Apparently there was some disagreement regarding the use of a PayPal account normally used for paying sites, for a not-for-profit service, even if only temporarily. After some back and forth, PayPal, seeming to contradict its own policies at different points, simply locked down not just the account in question, but another owned by the company, and a third personal account owned by the woman, Helen Killer, who operates the site that is at the heart of the issue.
What PayPal obviously didn’t take into consideration, to its obvious consternation, is that most people have a bit of a soft spot regarding Christmas, and especially programs that seek to help kids that don’t get much in the way of gifts from Santa each year. Thus, when Ms. Killer wrote about what occurred on her site, the whole thing went viral winding up with millions the world over yelling at PayPal for ruining Christmas for a bunch of poor kids.
In light of such acrimony, PayPal did what any self-protective modern conglomerate would do, they caved. Not only did they reinstate the accounts they’d frozen, but they also chipped in a little extra for some unknown expenses, which maybe, were for some gifts for the kids?
It’s hard to say, because due to PayPal’s actions. Ms. Killer was forced to refund all the money sent her way and thus, despite PayPals efforts at atonement, the kids still won’t get their gifts, which will likely leave a lasting impression on PayPal customers the world over, for the foreseeable future.
In the end, PayPal, via director of communications, Anuj Nayar, released a statement saying it holds dear the privacy of user accounts and thus was not at liberty to answer questions regarding its behavior in the fiasco, though its intentions were made clear in missives directed privately to Ms. Killer, which in effect were translated to me that while the company believes it was correct in its actions, company execs have nonetheless decided to give Ms. Killer one more chance.