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Problems with PayPal? Independent community documenting Acceptable Use Policy damages.

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SG Pte Ltd

Singapore

Complaint against PayPal Pte. Ltd. NOT REGULATED. This entity serves the rest of the world, in the countries listed below.

Countries under PayPal Singapore

Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon Republic, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Saint Helena, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Falkland Islands, Greenland, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, Uruguay, Venezuela, Armenia, Bahrain, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Mainland China, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Mongolia, Nauru, Nepal, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Norfolk Island, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Pitcairn Islands, Qatar, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tonga, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Vietnam, Wallis and Futuna, Yemen, Ukraine, Switzerland, Serbia, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Iceland, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Azerbaijan Republic, Andorra and Albania.

How to complain to the MAS

An email template was published for people whose English is not strong: the published template.

  1. Replace the highlighted spaces with your real full name, country and transaction ID.
  2. Attach any screenshots from your PayPal account.
  3. You complain mainly to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). They will assign you a case number and ask whether you want your case forwarded to PayPal management; you then reply to the MAS with your consent to escalate.
  4. You will receive a reply from PayPal’s Office of Executive Escalations saying they are looking into your case, and after some days a full response explaining why they took your money for damages.
  5. Once you receive the full response justifying the debit, you can reply using the published reply templates.

They will try to dodge your complaint for some time. If your MAS complaint and replies failed, then there are two options: a demand letter through a Singaporean lawyer, which is expensive, or a claim in the Singapore Small Claims Tribunal.

Suing PayPal in the Small Claims Tribunal

A claim can be filed without leaving your home and without a lawyer, by video conference. The steps that were published are:

  1. You may need a Singaporean mailing address and telephone number, which can be rented from a forwarding service. The State Courts verify your home country address rather than the Singapore forwarding address.
  2. Register your account on the court’s system at statecourts.gov.sg using that address, and keep the application number you are given.
  3. Write to the State Courts at go.gov.sg/writetostatecourts explaining that you are overseas and need your pass verified by video conference, quoting the application number.
  4. After about one business day the court schedules the video conference. You send a copy of your passport in PDF and proof of your home country address as instructed.
  5. After verification you can file the claim against PayPal through the same system. A complete guide with screenshots was published.

Note that you cannot claim more than 20,000 SGD, around 15,000 US dollars, using this method. If your amount is higher and you cannot afford a lawyer you can still use it. Contact the State Courts after each step so they are aware you are a foreigner overseas and assign a video conference.

The legal basis that was cited

The published argument was that the conduct falls under the Consumer Protection (Fair Trading) Act, section 4, and that the liquidated damages clause may not stand under the Unfair Contract Terms Act. A simplified guide to small claims in Singapore was published alongside it.