PayPal disrupted my business and left me chasing a decision already made

I am angry, deeply disappointed and hurt by how PayPal has handled my new South African business, KuhnChi. I submitted the verification documents requested, including my *** and bank statement. My account was permanently restricted, and I still have not been given a specific explanation I can understand, answer or put right. I believe I acted properly and in good faith.

PayPal was my only available payment gateway at the time. Losing it meant I had to put my website under construction because I could no longer accept payments. That disrupted my launch and my opportunity to earn an income. I cannot put a figure on sales that might have happened, but the interruption to my business was real. For a startup, this is not a minor inconvenience.

The communication has been unacceptable. On 9 October 2026 I was told a second review had been escalated and that further communication was expected by 20 October. When I chased on 18 October, PayPal told me that the permanent restriction had already been upheld on 10 October. I learned that eight days after the decision, while I had been expecting feedback by the 20th. I had not seen an email informing me of that decision. Why did I have to chase for information that should have been communicated clearly?

Support told me it could not see the reason for the decision and described it as final. How am I supposed to understand or correct a problem nobody will identify? I have used PayPal for years, including a separate account held since 2018. I expected a clear explanation and basic accountability.

Even lodging a formal complaint became an ordeal. The complaints links provided redirected me to a South African help page without the promised submission button. I explained this repeatedly, but was given instructions that did not resolve the problem. Eventually, on 18 October, an agent accepted my complaint in two parts and confirmed it was linked to my existing case. I was told to expect a response within another 10 days, but was refused a separate complaint reference because it was described as internal. That period has not yet expired as of 21 October. My criticism is the restriction, the delayed communication and the handling of the complaint, not a claim that this new deadline has already passed.

I felt dismissed and left to carry the consequences alone. Repeated apologies do not explain what happened or get my business trading again. This experience has seriously damaged my trust in PayPal, and I cannot recommend relying on it as a startup's only payment gateway.

I want a supervisor or complaints manager to take ownership, provide a written explanation of the restriction and notification history, explain any remaining independent review route, and reconsider restoring access. My existing case reference is available privately. I want an accountable response addressing what happened, not another generic acknowledgement.

Today, 21 October, I tried again to get an update before posting this review. PayPal Assistant repeatedly returned an error and did not connect me to a human. I still have no substantive response to my complaint.