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End of Paypal

Sunday, September 4, 2005 Update by Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka

It's been four hours since I spoke to somebody from Paypal, and there still has been no word about unfreezing the donation account. I have no idea if it will take "3 to 5 business days" (as their email claimed) for the account to function again. Additionally, I've been receiving a bunch of alert emails regarding the United Way, pointing out links like this:

http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/VA-news/VA-Pilot/issues/1994/vp940927/09270294.htm
http://www.fdncenter.org/pnd/news/story_print.jhtml?id=63100013
http://www.unitedwaynca.org/website/content/media/pdf/wpost.1.3.4.04.pdf

The NOLA UW Is here on Charity Navigator, with a score of only two stars (42.07*) and 14.1% overhead
compared to the Red Cross's four-star, 60.36* rating and 8.9% overhead

It seems a whole lot of you object to the United Way, and having researched them a bit more, I do not blame you. I have begun to form doubts that giving more money to their organization, money that Paypal is taking a percentage and profit from, is a bad idea. I wanted to donate the money to the Red Cross, but Paypal insisted they are unable to do this, instead claiming the only organization the funds could be diverted to is the United Way. I called their offices back and asked them to refund everybody's money, which Leslie promised would happen soon.

UPDATE: All donations will be refunded by noon tomorrow.

As I wrote before, I was using Paypal to gather all donors' addresses to send them free merchandise, merchandise I paid for and I was going to ship out with my own money, to reward them for donating. Obviously my stupidity truly is never ending, what with my need to have somebody's address before being able to mail them something. I guess the postal system under bridges don't require this information.

This whole thing has been a colossal pain in the butt. All I tried to do was raise money and personally reward people for donating in a time of need, and it turned into a smoldering, twisted, burning car wreck along the highway. I'm beyond apologetic this did not work out the way I planned, but the pure hassle Paypal has given me trying to raise money just isn't worth it, especially when it could take over a week for the money to be unfrozen, and once this ever happens, the cash will be shipped to a corrupt, bloated overhead organization. Please donate using the Red Cross link up top. I can't send you guys any free stuff, but I promise I'll sit here in my basement with the lights off, drinking a beer by myself and thinking of you.

- Rich "Lowtax" Kyanka