PayPal blocked FlashQ going into reality (Posted on MAY 15, 2014)
On MAY 12, 2014, PayPal has limited our account and frozen all the funds we have raised, roughly $62,000, for unspecified reasons (a suspicious withdrawal or deposit). We contacted PayPal (Hong Kong) 3 times via phone and email these days. The feedback was disappointed, with PayPal’s obtuse and unresponsive “automatic” process. We were finally told that PayPal would be keeping the funds frozen until we get the product delivery done. PayPal’s act is ridiculous when contrasted with the crowdfunding business model. When a startup entrepreneur doesn’t have access to startup capital, he / she can’t produce the product.
Stick to our schedule, we are going to use the fund for material procurement and mold tooling. Everything alright in our project so far, except that PayPal’s freeze makes us unable to go further. If funds frozen can be resolved in a week, we can keep our schedule and the promise to the product delivery by Sep.
Googling tells that PayPal has a long and storied history of freezing money raised in crowdfunding campaigns, especially for the high-profile campaigns. We are not alone. We keep speaking to PayPal and INDIEGOGO about this funds frozen issue. We have faith that we are in the right and will thus prevail.
Being responsible and transparent to our backers, we will keep updated in http://igg.me/at/flashq Update section, and via our Facebook and Twitter account (@lightpixlabs).
Thanks for reading, and thanks again for your support.