Monthly Archives: April 2026

Chase Vs PayPal: Like That Scene Where the T-Rex Takes on the Velociraptors

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Something really cool just happened, and I’m pretty sure it’s not some kind of weird April Fools Day joke.

So for the last month I’ve been in PayPal purgatory. (Try saying that fast.) Purgatory began for me when I sent, through PayPal, funds to a friend who has friends in Gaza in need of food and shelter. I named the people I wanted to be the recipients of my funds in my message to my friend. One of the names had “Mohammad” in it. My transaction got flagged by the PayPal police. (Again, try saying that fast.)

PayPal wanted me to give the birthdate of the man named “Mohammad” and wanted ID from me. I sent them a copy of my driver’s license, and told them I neither knew the man named Mohammad, nor his birthdate. Now PayPal told me that I had sent the wrong ID. And I let them know I wasn’t comfortable sending them any other of my identifying papers.

I got more messages from PayPal in the following days, letting me know that until I sent the right ID (I now know they didn’t want MY ID, but Mohammad’s ID), and told them Mohammad’s birthdate, my money was going to be sitting in their PayPal holding tank for 120 days, until the transaction voided out. They told me they couldn’t cancel the transaction or refund my money to me until the issue was resolved.

At this point, I contacted the Better Business Bureau and lodged a complaint. BBB said they’d see what they could do. They told me it might take a while, though.

Then yesterday, I got it in my head to call Chase – the credit card company I’d used to send money through PayPal – and see if I could get a refund through THEM. A lovely customer service agent named Amgika answered my call. I told her I honestly wasn’t sure if there was anything she could do about my PayPal plight (try saying that fast), but I explained the situation: I’d sent money through PayPal to a friend who had friends in Gaza in need of food and shelter. PayPal had flagged the transaction and put my money in their holding tank until it got resolved. PayPal had never released the funds to my friend – she’d never been given access to the money I’d sent her. Could that money be refunded back to me? Amgika said I should expect to see that money credited back to me within 48 hours.

I went to PayPal which had now sent me a message in response to my complaint to the BBB. It was polite, but they still wanted Mohammad’s birthdate and etc. to “resolve” the issue. I let PayPal know that I’d gone to my credit card company, explained to Chase that my funds had never gotten through to my friend, and asked Chase to get a refund for me. I said, “I think this will solve the problem for all of us.”

And this morning all kinds of everything happened involving messages from the BBB, PayPal, and Chase.

BBB asked if I rejected or accepted PayPal’s message to me, and why. I said I rejected it because I’d found another way of solving the problem – explaining I’d gone to Chase. Then I got this polite message from PayPal: “We understand your perspective that the transaction did not complete and that the recipient was not able to access the funds. We also understand your decision to contact your card issuer to request a refund. When a chargeback is initiated through your card provider, the review and final resolution of the transaction will be handled directly by your card issuer in accordance with their policies and timelines. PayPal will participate in that process as required…We appreciate you keeping us informed and understand your intent to resolve this matter. Thank you for your time and patience.”

THEN I got a message that I would find either a letter or a credit waiting for me in my Chase account. Egads. I wondered if Chase had rejected my request. I went to my account and found this message: “Dear KAREN TERRELL: We’re pleased to tell you that we’ve resolved your dispute…We credited your account for the full disputed dollar amount.”

Chase took care of it for me! It kind of reminds me of that scene at the end of Jurassic Park where the T-Rex takes on the velociraptors, and the T-Rex wins! Yay T-Rex!

Wedding Day

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March 31, 1984.

You know those shows you see on television where the bride spends HUGE amounts of time, thought, and bucks choosing the just right ring, dress, caterer, flowers, music, photographer, and reception venue for her “big day” – those shows where every minute detail of the wedding production is analyzed, critiqued, and judged for its merits on visual perfection? Where the ceremony is somber and refined and the highlight of the whole shebang is the dress the bride wears?

Yeah. That wasn’t us.

My engagement ring was a little garnet ring I picked out from a small jewelry shop in Pike Place Market in Seattle, and the man who sold it to us was cheerfully, flamboyantly, hilariously gay – he had us cracking up the minute we walked into his shop. My wedding dress was the first dress I tried on from the sales rack at our local Bon Marche. Cost me $120. Our minister was a hoot – we’d met with him for a required counseling session, and when he told us that anything he had to say to us would be pretty much useless at this point – because it’s really only AFTER the wedding that the bride and groom realize what they’ve gotten themselves into (we later learned that he’d just recently been divorced), we immediately recognized the man had a sense of humor, and he was, for sure, the minister we wanted officiating our nuptials.

The wedding was a joyful, light-hearted affair in a small Methodist church in Gig Harbor – I remember the minister asking us if we really wanted to hold the service in his church – it was very small – could maybe hold 100 people – and very old (it’s since been torn down and a larger church built in a different location) – but, for our purposes, that little church was perfect – I liked the cozy smallness of it and the stained glass windows – and from the church’s steps we could look out across the water and see Mount Rainier rising above the hills in the distance. The wedding itself was simple, joyful, and natural. We weren’t too concerned with “perfection” – we just wanted our guests to feel comfortable and loved.

The reception was held in my parents’ backyard – with the sound of laughter, and the smell of daffodils and plum blossoms, filling the air. And we played volleyball in the pasture – the groom’s team won, but it was a close game. The minister came to the reception, and fit right in with our hooligan families and friends. Before he left he told us that sometimes he’s really worried about the future of the newlyweds he marries – they often seem more concerned about the wedding than the actual marriage – but, after watching us yukking it up with our families and friends, he felt good about being a part of our ceremony. He knew we were going to be alright. We knew how to laugh.

***

When I think about that day, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to deny other people the right to a wedding, and to a life-long commitment in marriage with the partner they love. I can’t understand why any couple would feel their own marriage is threatened by allowing others the same rights that they have. I feel a real yearning for other folks who love one another, and are brave enough to make a commitment to each other, to be allowed to have what my husband and I were allowed to have.