Death is a 'Breach of Contract' According to PayPal! Company Apologises For the Insensitive Error
The company went ahead and threatened a legal action against the 'deceased' woman. Howard Durdle, the husband received a letter from the PayPal company about repayment of about £3,200 that his wife, Lindsay owed.
Online payment service application PayPal recently made an inglorious error by telling a widower that death of his wife was a breach of their contract. The company went ahead and threatened legal action against the 'deceased' woman. Howard Durdle, the husband, received a letter from the PayPal company about repayment of about £3,200 that his wife, Lindsay owed. Linsay passed away on May 31 due to cancer and Howard was traumatised to see the letter of the company. He took to social media to address the indifferent attitude shown by them. After the incident sparked on social media, the company has issued an apology to Howard. Airtel Faces Criticism After Its Customer Demands for a Hindu Representative Instead of Muslim Customer Executive! Telecom Clarifies Later.
Howard had informed the company of her death and provided them with copies of her death certificate, her will and his ID, as requested. But the response received from the company was quite shocking. The letter could be an automated reply, or the 'business is business' attitude of the company. They had to close the account of the woman, but the tone in the letter was offensive. The letter addressed to Mrs. Durdle says she has "breached the contract in 15.4(c) of her agreement. That particular policy states, "We may close the Credit Account and demand repayment of the full amount you owe us if you die or become of unsound mind. … 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." The document also stated that the company might have to take action.
Take a look at the entire letter sent by PayPal to Mr. Hurdle:
The company immediately took notice and apologised to the man. But Howards wanted to highlight how such work systems even in other organisations can be damaging for a person.
PayPal has written off the debt and said it could have been a bug, a bad letter template of a human error responsible for this. Although the company has apologised and addressed, it highlights how such 'technical' glitches can affect customer relations to a great extent.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 11, 2018 11:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).