Bastard's Thoughts

Well it’s been some time since I last wrote something here and, to be quite honest, I think that it could be time for some new P.O.L.

First of all, I’d like to thank all my chineese and russian fans for spamming me continuously for the past half year, it’s your support and dedication that keeps the internet working and motivates me to write, a sincere thank you is in order. Of course, I will be reinstating spam filters and automatic isp notifications after I’m done writing, but still.

Now let’s return to what I wanted to say. Recently, I had an idea about developing a website. Maybe it was the lack of activity, boredom or being an all around great guy ( and if you, the reader, don’t select the last option as the reason I will do stuff to your connection – I KNOW WHO YOU ARE ) but I said “Hey, let’s give something to the internet community”. This manifested itself as a plan for a simple website knowledge base. As the internet is crawling with payed tutorial websites, most of them requiring a lot of know-how just to be understood, I would write simple and clear information for the every-day user. But wait, there’s more, I also thought that, seeing as this is a free service I will add a donation button, just for the fun of it. ( I know, I know, not setting it with a hidden window and automatic completion so that everybody gives me a donation by default is bad, but hey, I thought that being nice would work for this one occasion)

So first things first, I tried to register my domain name. Seeing as any .org or .com domain that had anything to do with the topic were already taken, I lost 2 days just finding a decent name. Next up, registration…I found the very cheap godaddy.com and proceeded to create an account and pay with my credit card. Now, the first thing that happened after I payed for the website was to receive an e-mail notifying me that, via a random username check-up, I would have to confirm my identity by sending some photocopies.

I said, what the hell, it’s not my nationality, for sure, it’s just…random…and proceeded to upload my photoID. 2 days later the account is still frozen and I am still waiting for a reply from their support line. Now I realize that my face is not that of a model’s ( now I was just being modest ) but still, to freeze up an entire support system…now that takes skill.

Now this being said, my domain is registered, thankfully, my servers are supporting the ns so, for what it’s worth, it’s working decently so far.

I developed the website and wanted to add a paypal button. Easy, right? Well, first off, I created an account and confirmed my credit card ( loosing 1E in the process, but gaining it back as 12.5DKK later ). After going through an entire ordeal for confirming my ID here too ( again, what is with me and random checkups, i prolly should try to play the lottery with random numbers, if my luck holds out I won’t even have to finish working on the website, ey? ) I was notified that I have to create a business account for a working donation button ( and by working I mean – if people donate I can get my money in the real world, not just keep it as virtual ascii currency online ). Easier said than done. I went to upgrade my account, knowing full well that I was not a BUSINESS but an INDIVIDUAL that just wanted, in case this ever happened, to get his donation money out in to the real world; but rules and procedures are rules and procedures ( and tautological statements are, very well, tautological in essence ) SO I completed their form and selected that I am an individual and all that.

Everything seemed to be working in order, until today when i received

Hello $name,

We need your help resolving an issue with your PayPal account.

What's the problem?

Your PayPal account is registered as a charity or non profit. We would like
some more information from you to help us understand your organization.

Case ID Number: $CASENUMBER-86

How you can help

It's usually pretty easy to take care of things like this. Most of the
time, we just need a little more information about your account or latest
transactions.

Please log in to your account and go to the Resolution Center to find out
what you need to do. If we don't hear from you by 3/8/2011, we may limit
what you can do with your account until the issue is resolved.

Naturally, I logged in to my account to check out what could be the reason for the issue

Now, you would think that, hell, confirming my ID and my credit card would be enough, but now ( besides the ridiculous message over the issues ) I had to send proof of tax exempt, bank statement, payment information and check e-mail papers.

Ok, let’s say that I can ignore the first 4 issues, due to their stupidity, but meh, let’s check the e-mail to see what documents are left, maybe they want a full sized scan of my penis, both erect and idle, sperm count, hair color, length and thickness etc etc etc so i went back to my e-mail, only to discover that the documents I have to send are the check your account documents. Naturally I sent pay pal a friendly e-mail asking them for more information and demanding, as they did, an ultimatum for their reply

Good day,

I have received a number of e-mails from you and am wondering exactly what do you need me to send.
First of all, while registering for a business account i selected INDIVIDUAL, as a result, and following the steps and help menus on your website, it seems to me that I don't have to have a tax exempt for my business seeing as, and i think i mentioned this before, i am an individual. The only reason that I did modify my account to a business one is to be able to have a simple donate button, so please, let me know exactly what do you need, relevant to the correct situation.

Second of all, while trying to understand what exactly is required from me, I noticed something on my account's page ( where you kindly notified me about my current account issues )" EU regulations require that we collect and confirm your account information by 1/1/1970. If you don't do so in time, PayPal is required by law to limit access to your account. When PayPal limits an account, your funds may be held until we've confirmed your identification per the UserAgreement.". I'm sorry to tell you that the date has passed for about 41 years and 2 months, and considering that I probably wasn't even a project in my parents' life, i think it would be rather hard to blame me for not giving you my identification BEFORE 1970.
So, as a conclusion, please try to let me know what RELEVANT information you require. At this point, I was asked to upload the following documents " check your e-mail account ", checking the e-mail account I was notified that I have to check the case page from my paypal account, and after checking my paypal account I was asked to... see the pattern here? If this situation is not fixed as soon as possible i'm afraid I will have to withdraw the entire sum of 12.5DKK that I have in my account and move my (INDIVIDUAL) business elsewhere, perhaps install a donation jar with a tax exemptform outside my window.

With respect,

Now I hope these guys won’t close my account, I’d hate to explain the fact that they have a shit system and that, although I think I remember giving them my birth date  ( along with my scanned id card ), asking me to give them my information before 1st of january 1970 will (have been) rather dificult. Legaly speaking, I doubt that THEY were in business at that time so…is this some sort of time-shift paradox?

Shall keep you posted

/BOFH

Posted in BOFH, Going Mental, POL | 2 Comments »