PayPal charging processing fees???

[Guest]

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[wind5001]

Hi everyone,

I just browsed the Lend me your goat-blog (http://lmyg.wordpress.com/) and was VERY surprised to find the following entries:

Nov. 14:
"Two days ago we took out $25 from our Kiva.org account. We were surprised to find a $1.03 processing fee. Those of you familiar with Kiva.org know that ALL money going in and going out is to be FEE FREE per the original agreement with Kiva! PayPal.com refuses to answer our inquires even over the phone. Kiva.org is looking into it (thanks Liz). We sense insurrection in the air and a hint of arrogance from PayPal on this issue! MicroPlace.com and PayPal.com are from the same momma (eBay), so it begs the question… Will this relationship between PayPal and Kiva continue in light of an obvious, yet ugly, competitor in the microfinance arena called MicroPlace.com showing up on the stage? Logging into the PayPal.com account this evening we were hit with an advertisement for MicroPlace.com. Any comments, fears, hopes from anyone else? We are going to stop all new lending with Kiva.org until we get some answers from Kiva AND PayPal as to what is up with this fee, see a refund and receive an apology directly from PayPal (Kiva need not apologize since they didn’t invoke the fee)! This is NOT Kiva’s fault, however, PayPal needs to rectify quickly and resolve the issue as to alleviate any fears that you will lose $1.03 for EVERY $25 loan you placed overnight should the original agreement have changed!"

Nov. 16
"As you can see, we are done here. This blog will stay up until the end of the month, then we will be taking it down. All of our funds are going to come out of Kiva.org, hopefully without the same mistakes, and placed into other efforts (MicroPlace.com perhaps). It has been wonderful working with all of you fellow lenders over the past several months. However, since we cannot get the straight story from PayPal, nor an official email update, apology or anything, we are throwing in the towel. We hope Kiva.org will grow stronger, but it’s biggest weakness is it’s payment link with PayPal. Be very aware that at any moment PayPal can exercise the right to remove the original agreement with Kiva.org and charge you as you leave out the backdoor. MicroPlace.com is being positioned against Kiva.org and will pit lenders against Kiva if this sort of thing continues (we have no assurances from PayPal to the contrary). PayPal denied us four times a proper answer or solution. No credit has posted. We are still seeking both, but we cannot trust the middle-man who doesn’t want to service us as clients.

Good night and farewell!"

I cannot believe this is happening. Has anyone else tried to withdraw money from Kiva recently? I am wondering what is going on there and I sure hope this can be solved!! I always enjoyed the blog by Jeff and Heather and I find it a pity they are leaving Kiva this way.

 

Oli

[Henry]

Aren't these the people Fiona just introduced us to?  LOL!! 

[wind5001]

I think you're right, Henry...quite ironic, isn't it?

Their lender profile is: http://www.kiva.org/lender/fanafi - check out their I loan because and Occupation...

[Dottie b]

They're taking their funds out of Kiva and putting them in Microplace? 

Dottie B
 

[CasperL]

Dottie B,

I believe that they are doing so. I have a hard time taking their complaint against PayPal serious, I think it's their way to justify that they are putting their funds to Microplace. I read their Blog a few days ago (after they got introduced on this site) and they were expanding their portfolio - now they are taking out their funds loan by loan.

Casper
http://www.linkedin.com/in/casperl
http://www.kiva.org/lender/CasperL

[Dottie b]

It's so weird - they're complaining about PayPal, which is owned by eBay, and contemplating putting the money into Microfinance, which is owned by eBay. 

So I guess eBay's strategy worked.

Dottie B

[Diane R]

Those were my thoughts *PRECISELY*, Dottie. 

--Diane.

[wind5001]

Well, honestly,

I don't care whether they put their money someplace else or not...that is up to them and I personally would not invest in MicroPlace cause it lacks all the personal appeal Kiva has.

What I am worried about is the fact that PayPal actually charged them for processing the money from Kiva which is not what the Terms of Kiva state (look at their screenshot from PayPal). That could become an issue for all of Kiva. That's why I asked whether anyone else has had trouble withdrawing money...

Oli

[simba]

Recently I did a withdrawal  from Kiva and no fees were charged. 

[Wood Fairy Glenda]

....and not only have they stopped lending to Kiva clients, their Lender Profile now has for Occupation, "Former Lenders" and for I loan because: "We don't any longer!"
My feeling is that people have every right to come and go from Kiva as they wish, but why must they leave with such bitterness and downright nastiness? Whether or not PayPal is going back on their agreement (and I have no evidence as yet that they are!), it has nothing to do with Kiva's integrity.