-Being American

Yeah, I haven't been updating. Bigger things to deal with as of late. If you use PayPal and are of the bohemian type that doesn't own credit cards, but just uses a bank account with debit. Heed my tale.

I've been using PayPal for years. Two months ago I received a message from PayPal that my account was chosen for safety measures that I verify my Social Security Number. Easy enough, I was born here and pay taxes every year.

Several weeks of faxing and phone calling and nobody being able to tell me why my SSN couldn't not be verified, eventually it became understandable...

The catch is, they exclusively use the credit bureau Experian to verify SSN's and not the Social Security Administration. Being a short-sighted Luddite, I've never owned a credit card and just like to pay for things I can afford so I don't get pressured into debt. Because I have no credit history, I can not verify my SSN and the only way to talk to someone from Experian is if I order a credit report, which I can not because I don't have a credit history. A conundrum.

The animation below show's the progress I've been making the past two months.

Fig.1 My right leg which stands for PayPal's Resolution Center.
Fig.2 My left leg represents Experian, TransUnion, Equafax, SS Admin etc..
Fig.3 Symbolizes the typical bureaucratic fashion I've been going through to prove that my Social Security Number is indeed real even though I don't use a credit card.

At this point, my account has been frozen, and is pending permanent deletion with five figures in it.
It seems to be out of PayPal's control and according to complaints on www.consumeraffairs.com, Experian pretty much doesn't handle problems well either. I'm still waiting for a response for them to verify my information they requested....Its troublesome because I have no control over this.

A sympathetic operator at Equifax(another credit bureau) told me that I should go to some bank and get a 'secured' credit card. With no way around it, I walked into Washington Mutual, and arranged for my first credit card. So when it arrives next week, I'm going to purchase some groceries to christen my credit record into existence (I mean when I pay the balance at the end of the month.) Then I will have the opportunity to patriotically join the ranks of the millions of proud Americans that cherish the one thing we all hold dearly: Credit debt. At least that is what I'm hoping will happen.

I know, I know: Its about time I started building credit anyways. But I don't think its right for PayPal to bully someone into it the credit system when they themselves do not offer loans etc..their business is just charging service fee's for making safe internet transactions. Doesn't seem legal or fair to me.

Unfortunately I underestimated how strangely un-resolvable this would be. With the majority of my entire money earnings being held ransom for months for no good reason, nor being able to make any further online income, my savings is now depleted enough so I can't pay my taxes in full, along with anything else. No new income + holding hostage my current money + mounting penalties, late fee's, maybe I could lose my apt and everything else if this keeps up. By the time Experian decides to resolve my case, I'll probably have acquired enough debt to HAVE to use a credit card till I can catch up again.

Thanks PayPal.

I'll put some art stuff up soon. I'm too irritated right now.
esao.