PayPal Has A Zero Tolerance Policy If You Owe Them Money, Even When You Are Dead. No Kidding.

Apparently PayPal has a zero-tolerance policy for people that fail to pay their dues, even if they¡¯re dead. The company recently faced a bit of backlash for sending a strongly worded email to a deceased customer who hadn¡¯t cleared her balance.

According to the BBC, 37-year-old UK woman Lindsay Durdle died of breast cancer complications recently in May. Her husband Howard says he provided PayPal with documentation after the fact, including her death certificate, her will and his ID, as the company requested.

However, what he got in response was a letter from PayPal, addressed to his late wife, saying she was in deep soup. It read in part, ¡°This is a default notice served under section 87(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Your account has an outstanding balance of ?3,240.72 (approximately Rs 2,95,135)¡±

¡°You are in breach of condition 15-4(c) of your agreement with PayPal Credit as we have received notice that you are deceased. In accordance with condition 15-4(c), we are entitled to close your account, terminate your agreement and demand repayment of the full amount outstanding. This breach is not capable of remedy.¡±

PayPal also said it was cutting back or restricting the credit limits on the account, and immediately demanding repayment.

Durdle was, of course, furious. PayPal though, told him that the notice was an accident, either the result of a bug, a wrongly worded automated template, or human error. It¡¯s since written off the debt and closed down the account (as requested by Durdle) while the issue is being investigated.

Durdle told the BBC that, while he was emotionally stable at the moment, he¡¯s worked with charities for people that have lost family members and has ¡°seen first-hand in there how a letter like this or something like it can completely derail somebody.¡±