spindoctor
Explorer
Wasn't really sure where to post this, so I figured might as well try here.
I have a registered, personal Paypal account with my credit card linked to it. I only use it to make outgoing payments when I buy stuff online (mostly games). I've had this account for about 5 years now, and I made a few mistakes which have led me to this problem.
So here's the story. About 5 years ago, I did not have a Paypal account. I had only heard of the service, and I never really cared about it. I had just left college and I wanted to buy something online but I didn't have a credit card. My friend had a credit card but he didn't have a Paypal account. One afternoon during our lunch break at work, we sat down together and created a Paypal account. Here's where I made my first mistake. We used his name, his details, his credit card but we stupidly used my email address. At the time we did not understand the significance of this. It was a one time thing, we bought what we wanted, I paid him and that was it. We never used the account again. The important thing, however, was that my primary email address was now linked to that Paypal account.
A few months later, I got my own credit card and then after that, I decided I wanted my own Paypal account. Since my main email id was already used up, I opened the account with a secondary email address that I had. Now this was my second mistake. The email address I used was my college email id, which was hosted in my college and is at my college domain. Back in college, we used to use the email for official stuff like submissions or announcements etc. After we left college, the folks there did not delete the mailboxes and let alumni access it externally through the internet (earlier it was exclusively for our local intranet only). Anyway, at the time I made this Paypal account, I still used to use that email id quite a bit to communicate with college friends. It was still fairly active and I didn't think ahead to the future.
This is the Paypal account I have been using for the last 5 years. It works fine, no issues at all. However, the college email id I had used to register the account has now become useless to me. I can still access it, and it still exists but I do not use it at all except to check Paypal receipts. I have finally come to realize that my Paypal account being linked to a virtually dead email address and one that can die at any time (if the college revokes access) is a huge liability for me.
At some point in the last 5 years, it occurred to me to ask Paypal to delink my primary email address from that dead account and transfer my current Paypal account to that address. I sent them a letter explaining the whole situation, and they replied back that they would need a ton of documentation to do it. I don't remember what they asked for specifically, but it did include a police report of some sort, identity proof, proof of residence, some bank documents and god knows what else. At the time it seemed like too much of a hassle to even bother. I mean, this is India after all... getting a police report or whatever isn't going to be an easy task by any means.
So that's where I am today. My Paypal account linked to my credit card has been working fine for the last 5 years. So what is my problem now? Well, my current credit card is expiring this month. I have received it's replacement card and I will have to link the new card to the Paypal account again and then get it verified again I assume. I figured this is as good a time as any to rectify the mistakes I made in the past. This is where I need help.
I don't think I can get back my primary email address as they require too much documentation before they will release it. My secondary (college) email id is working fine right now, but who knows if that will still be the case in another 5 years. I now have a 3rd email address which I would like to have linked to my Paypal account. I'm not sure how to go about getting this 3rd email address on my Paypal account.
I am not sure if this is allowed, but can I change the email address of my current Paypal account from the college email id to the 3rd, new email id that I want to use? This seems like the most logical option but if they are going to end up asking for tons of documentation again, I can't and don't want to deal with it.
I checked the Paypal user agreement and it is mentioned that a person cannot have more than 1 personal account. I was thinking that I would just register a new account with my new email and be done with it, but that won't work. Especially since my PAN number is linked to my existing account.
I read that existing Paypal accounts can be deleted. The procedure is detailed here - How to Delete a PayPal Account | eHow.com and it seems fairly straightforward. I was wondering if I can delete my current account and open another one with my own detail, PAN number, new credit card number and of course, new email account. It makes sense that this would be possible, but I am not completely sure about it.
Last option I can think of would be to just continue with my current account and link my new credit card to it as well.
I'm going to email Paypal support and ask them about the situation anyway, but I figured I should probably post here and get some advice and opinions on what to do.
Thanks for reading this wall of text and also for any advice you can give me.
I have a registered, personal Paypal account with my credit card linked to it. I only use it to make outgoing payments when I buy stuff online (mostly games). I've had this account for about 5 years now, and I made a few mistakes which have led me to this problem.
So here's the story. About 5 years ago, I did not have a Paypal account. I had only heard of the service, and I never really cared about it. I had just left college and I wanted to buy something online but I didn't have a credit card. My friend had a credit card but he didn't have a Paypal account. One afternoon during our lunch break at work, we sat down together and created a Paypal account. Here's where I made my first mistake. We used his name, his details, his credit card but we stupidly used my email address. At the time we did not understand the significance of this. It was a one time thing, we bought what we wanted, I paid him and that was it. We never used the account again. The important thing, however, was that my primary email address was now linked to that Paypal account.
A few months later, I got my own credit card and then after that, I decided I wanted my own Paypal account. Since my main email id was already used up, I opened the account with a secondary email address that I had. Now this was my second mistake. The email address I used was my college email id, which was hosted in my college and is at my college domain. Back in college, we used to use the email for official stuff like submissions or announcements etc. After we left college, the folks there did not delete the mailboxes and let alumni access it externally through the internet (earlier it was exclusively for our local intranet only). Anyway, at the time I made this Paypal account, I still used to use that email id quite a bit to communicate with college friends. It was still fairly active and I didn't think ahead to the future.
This is the Paypal account I have been using for the last 5 years. It works fine, no issues at all. However, the college email id I had used to register the account has now become useless to me. I can still access it, and it still exists but I do not use it at all except to check Paypal receipts. I have finally come to realize that my Paypal account being linked to a virtually dead email address and one that can die at any time (if the college revokes access) is a huge liability for me.
At some point in the last 5 years, it occurred to me to ask Paypal to delink my primary email address from that dead account and transfer my current Paypal account to that address. I sent them a letter explaining the whole situation, and they replied back that they would need a ton of documentation to do it. I don't remember what they asked for specifically, but it did include a police report of some sort, identity proof, proof of residence, some bank documents and god knows what else. At the time it seemed like too much of a hassle to even bother. I mean, this is India after all... getting a police report or whatever isn't going to be an easy task by any means.
So that's where I am today. My Paypal account linked to my credit card has been working fine for the last 5 years. So what is my problem now? Well, my current credit card is expiring this month. I have received it's replacement card and I will have to link the new card to the Paypal account again and then get it verified again I assume. I figured this is as good a time as any to rectify the mistakes I made in the past. This is where I need help.
I don't think I can get back my primary email address as they require too much documentation before they will release it. My secondary (college) email id is working fine right now, but who knows if that will still be the case in another 5 years. I now have a 3rd email address which I would like to have linked to my Paypal account. I'm not sure how to go about getting this 3rd email address on my Paypal account.
I am not sure if this is allowed, but can I change the email address of my current Paypal account from the college email id to the 3rd, new email id that I want to use? This seems like the most logical option but if they are going to end up asking for tons of documentation again, I can't and don't want to deal with it.
I checked the Paypal user agreement and it is mentioned that a person cannot have more than 1 personal account. I was thinking that I would just register a new account with my new email and be done with it, but that won't work. Especially since my PAN number is linked to my existing account.
I read that existing Paypal accounts can be deleted. The procedure is detailed here - How to Delete a PayPal Account | eHow.com and it seems fairly straightforward. I was wondering if I can delete my current account and open another one with my own detail, PAN number, new credit card number and of course, new email account. It makes sense that this would be possible, but I am not completely sure about it.
Last option I can think of would be to just continue with my current account and link my new credit card to it as well.
I'm going to email Paypal support and ask them about the situation anyway, but I figured I should probably post here and get some advice and opinions on what to do.
Thanks for reading this wall of text and also for any advice you can give me.
