I’m a freelance virtual assistant working on social media sites of a French client who is based in  the US and I was required to open a Paypal account so that she can send direct payment to me in a convenient way for her.

I must admit that I really didn’t know anything about this Paypal thing. But since I felt  that it’s mandatory for me, on February 24, 2010 I registered for a PP account and on the following day I linked my BPI account to verify my account with PP. I followed the instructions which they provided and I  researched on the internet for the bank codes which is required to be entered in one of the field in linking the account.  PP then sent me an email that I should wait for the two (2) small deposits that will reflect in my bank account 2-4 working days after.  And then on February 28 I received an email stating that they have already deposited the  two small amounts.  And so I went to check it everyday in the ATM machine (gasgas na gasgas nga ung ATM card ko eh) at the bank for two weeks but  only to disappoint myself.  That’s the time I began to contact PP through email ( at pinabaha ko ang email ko sa Paypal, talagang nangulit ako). I also called BPI twice on diferrent occasions but the two CSR (customer service representative) I have talked to delivered different and conflicting informations to me.

My client, who was also a bit worried like me since she had already sent the money to me without asking if my account is already verified, was very supportive and kind that she let me use her skype credit for me to be able to call the paypal people in the US. (sabi ko kase sa kanya I have no money to use for an overseas call eh). I have talked to a customer service representative and was told that they will fix the problem soon and even asked  apologies  for that matter.

But still, I received no good result for the succeeding days, I began to feel depressed and frustrated that I started  to research in the internet entering keywords that would give me positive result on linking PP account with BPI. I’m very thankful to my American friend (a chatpal only) that he searched for the website where I can join forums and discussions about my problem. I’m very glad that the linked he provided me was a blogsite of a Filipino writer  (dannybuntu) and I was able to interact with people with same problem as mine.

To make the long story short, as I have been  very upset and already feel exhausted, I tried to link it this time with my HSBC credit card and after waiting for another 2 weeks (which is worth it naman) I have successfully linked it and my account was  finally get verified. But still, I have to withdraw the money and I have to link it again to my BPI account but this time PP gave a bad response, ‘THE BANK ACCOUNT  YOU ENTERED IS INVALID”..Oh my God, paano nagyari un? So I sent another email again to PP expressing bad feelings towards them.

And then, I researched again, and this time I read a blog about the wrong information provided by BPI..that the actual number which should be entered in the linking of PP with BPI is the routing number  021000021 and not the bank code 10040018. I could blame neither BPI nor PP about this. Maybe,  had I entered the correct routing number in the first transaction I did with paypal, I could have not encountered these troubles  in account verification.

The bottomline of all this, I guess, based on my experience is to read carefully the proper steps in everything that a person is entering into. Maybe I got overwhelmed that I overlooked  some important information.  The good thing was, finally I had been  able to withdraw  my money last April 9, 2010. Thanks God…