Attention Hukilau Attendees -- IMPORTANT!!!

Tiki Kiliki (Christie) needs our help!!!

If you purchased Hukilau merchandise and processed your payment through PayPal, please call PayPal to insure your transaction has been completed. PayPal placed a red flag on and suspended many of the payments made to the Hukilau. They deemed these transactions suspicious...after people walked away with merchandise, thinking everything was paid in full.

One problem I experienced is this: When Christie alerted me of the problem she was experiencing, I immediately accessed my PayPal account. But, My account showed NOTHING...not even a note from PayPal to alert me that a payment had been suspended. It wasn't until I spoke to a customer service rep directly that they told me that they were holding my charge information because they needed verification. WHAT THE HELL?

Ergo, please call PayPal @ 1-888-221-1161 and verify your transaction has been processed. Please do this for Christie and the spirit of the Hukilau...and all of the hard work put into this fantastic event!

MANY MAHALOS EVERYONE -- VINCE MARTINI

[ Edited by: Vince Martini 2010-06-25 10:36 ]

On 2010-06-25 10:32, Vince Martini wrote:
WHAT THE HELL?

I second that! A complaint about that kind of lack of communication would be in order too!

This event is only a little above break even for Christie, she needs that cash pronto...
Are THEY sitting on the money and banking with it? That kind of stuff makes me so mad.
HOW does Paypal arrive at such a general decision?

...I just heard from Naomi that when she sells at an event and makes like 4 grand on a Sunday that sometimes the credit card company calls her and asks her if it is legit --which is weird, cause you are GETTING the money! Do they assume you are running some kind of "African prince" scam? ...well, at least they call.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2010-06-25 13:44 ]

I found out the hard way with Pay Pal that night Sven when I tried to pay for that matchbook tiki shirt I found for you.PayPal denied my
money transfer to the seller of that shirt.Absolutely no explanation from PayPal why my account was flagged.Saturday morning I contacted PayPal and had to jump through so many hoops to get a live agent and finally figured out what happened.They told me I had to call in for verification of the transaction.Once I verified my identification the transaction was processed.My question for PayPal is WHY did they allow ANY transaction to be processed and NOT flag them immediately so the seller doesn't lose any money or products.Christie,even though the status of some Hukilau Mug buyers is "still pending",you should be able,as a seller, get the email address of the "buyers" of these mugs.I would imagine that alot of these people won't have a clue that they've been flagged until they use PayPal again or read their credit card statement.Still,if you're one of the attendees at this event and you got the mug,MAKE SURE Christie gets her money.Also Christie if you're short even one mug send me a message and I'll sell my extra mug and send you the money.Vince,I can understand why you got mad as hell at PayPal.Next year I would suggest using a PayPal program called "Bump for Iphone". Works like a charm.I even got a vendor at the event to start using it.Finally,if you pre-purchased any any of the item's and you didn't pick it up at the event,you'll need to check your PayPal and pay the $14.95 shipping.

Ours got flagged. We fixed it a couple of days after Hukilau. It's because they were all coming from the same IP. They called it a "foreign IP".

Hukilau weekend, I received an email notice that my PayPal account had been suspended for suspicious activity. When I called PayPal, they gave essentially the same explanation that phinz stated. We were all using the same laptop at the Hukilau booth, so it appeared that someone had hijacked our accounts. After okaying the transactions, PayPal immediately restored my account and processed the transactions that weekend. I saw that my banking account was appropriately debited, so I know the transactions went through.

[ Edited by: TikiTomD 2010-06-25 16:55 ]

On 2010-06-25 14:14, TikiTomD wrote:
Hukilau weekend, I received an email notice that my PayPal account had been suspended for suspicious activity. When I called PayPal, they gave essentially the same explanation that phinz stated. We were all using the same laptop at the Hukilau booth, so it appeared that someone had hijacked our accounts. After okaying the transactions, PayPal immediately restored my account and processed the transactions that weekend. I saw my that my banking account was appropriately debited, so I know the transactions went through.

TikiTomD, this post is not directed at you, but rather at PayPal's weak arguments relating to their justification for raising a flag and putting Christie in a compromised situation..

Hukilau submitted several transactions via the same computer...the same IP address, and this is deemed suspicious. Yet, a merchant can run several credit card transactions through a single credit card processing machine (in essence a computer specifically designed to process many payments via the same merchant number) and this is legitimate? The level of fraud via credit card machines is massive!

It sounds like PayPal's real concern was protecting themselves from fraud...not us the consumers and at the very least, Christie/Hukilau the merchant. What is disturbingly obvious is that PP has no system in place to verify transactions. So, they hold the transaction information, sqatting on this and circulate vague e-mails. Meanwhile, people are packing merchandise into their bags and Christie is left pinched...thanks to PayPal not creating a proactive process to transact several payments through the same merchant destination. How preposterous and unprofessional.

One single laptop or one credit card machine, it doesn't matter. This is simply using different technology to process payments. The difference? A machine verifies and process, PayPal just desperately stores information -- which does not make me very comfortable!

[ Edited by: Vince Martini 2010-06-25 16:41 ]

I take no offense at all in this, Vince Martini, except for being put on the spot by PayPal. In good faith with funds to back it up, I made two separate PayPal transactions at Hukilau on two consecutive days. One would have thought that if there had been a problem, the second transaction would have been rejected. Yet PayPal accepted the second item as cheerfully as the first, only to suspend payment behind the scenes for the "suspicious activity" cited above. I was rather embarrassed by it, as it violated a trust. This was, however, the first time that I've ever had a problem with PayPal, after years of using it in online trade.

On 2010-06-25 17:21, TikiTomD wrote:
I take no offense at all in this, Vince Martini, except for being put on the spot by PayPal. In good faith with funds to back it up, I made two separate PayPal transactions at Hukilau on two consecutive days. One would have thought that if there had been a problem, the second transaction would have been rejected. Yet PayPal accepted the second item as cheerfully as the first, only to suspend payment behind the scenes for the "suspicious activity" cited above. I was rather embarrassed by it, as it violated a trust. This was, however, the first time that I've ever had a problem with PayPal, after years of using it in online trade.

And for that matter, all of the pre-orders were processede through PayPal and I had no glitches with my shirt pre-order whatsoever. This whole thing is quite strange!

Pre-orders came from multiple IP addresses. The issue is the same IP address for multiple transactions from multiple users.

PayPal is a racket anyway.

On 2010-06-26 07:26, phinz wrote:
Pre-orders came from multiple IP addresses. The issue is the same IP address for multiple transactions from multiple users.

PayPal is a racket anyway.

Phinz, you are right. I was thinkiing of everything being processed through one computer and that was not the case with the pre-orders. You are right again, PayPal IS a racket...and Ebay racket at that!

BTW, are you enjoying that bitchin' guitar, buddy?

Because of non-response from some of my buyers - that already have merchandise in their hands and I'm sure proudly displayed in their homes - payments have begun being reversed this morning. Hundreds of dollars of free merchandise gone and The Hukilau will probably never see it again. I can't tell you how upset I am right now that there are people out there, in this community, that won't even care enough to help us out. This makes me really sad after such an incredible year. Mugs, Shag shirts, all of it - for free.

I don't think I've every felt this way before - thanks for the effort for those of you that really cared.

As I was typing "i can't believe..." I stopped, of course I can believe how some people are. And if I forget, I'm regularly reminded.
So sorry that something like this has happened!
How about posting something on the Hukilau Facebook page for those people who maybe haven't logged into TC and seen this thread?
(I guess I'm still the optimist.)

I just got a response from someone after I sent proof of his refund through Paypal that once he sees it on his credit card statement he will pay - I am appalled and enraged at the moment. Obviously he's received all the other response that I have sent. I am so shocked and disapointed.

Well, that's a damn shame. I hate the pay pal-ebay relationship, though pay pal has usually been convenient. Confirming I checked my account and the monies were processed directly.

I still would not mind exchanging my Shag shirt for one a size smaller. I've only tried it on once and it is a tent on me. Is this possible?

Good luck with this situation. Known non-payers should be blacklisted from future events.

Robotiki - any exchanges and such should be emailed to me if you have concerns. We will get to that as soon as possible.

Thanks...

On 2010-06-26 09:15, tiki_kiliki wrote:
Robotiki - any exchanges and such should be emailed to me if you have concerns. We will get to that as soon as possible.

Thanks...

Is there anything else we can do to help you, Christie?

On 2010-06-26 08:55, Pittsburgh pauly wrote:
As I was typing "i can't believe..." I stopped, of course I can believe how some people are. And if I forget, I'm regularly reminded.
So sorry that something like this has happened!
How about posting something on the Hukilau Facebook page for those people who maybe haven't logged into TC and seen this thread?
(I guess I'm still the optimist.)

I think, or would like to think, that you are probably right and most Hukilau attendees have not read this thread. Perhaps there is some way this thread could be made sticky at the TC forum home page, making it visible to all?

I'm so sorry to hear that this has happened and do hope most, if not all, the money is properly paid up!

Kiliki,

I am so glad I stumbled across this thread! I don't use my PayPal account very often, and when I saw this I went to the site to see that the payment I had attempted to make was reversed on the 15th and the money was just sitting in my PayPal account.

I am working to rectify the situation so you can get the money. For some reason, I have to re-confirm everything (account number, credit card information, home address, and even a phone number...which for some reason cannot be a cell phone number) before they will process the payment. I've never encountered something so ridiculously difficult.

I'm wondering if you could post something via Facebook to let people know about this drama so they are aware.

What irks me the most is that PayPal never sent me notification via e-mail of a reversal or anything...which I think is kinda ridiculous. If I would have known a couple weeks ago that there was an issue, I wouldn't have let it go this long.

This isn't fair to you or anyone else involved with this event. I am truly sorry that it has taken me this long to hear about this...

I'm going to post an update to my website and Facebook with a link to this thread so anyone I know that went will be aware.

Jason "Tiki" Tackett.

So disgusted to hear about this. I trust more and more people will do the right thing over the next few days. I've posted Vince's initial comment and a link to this thread over on the FOM. Spreading the word through as many outlets as possible: http://www.fraternalorderofmoai.org/huimalu/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=10240

This is really awful that paypal can cause this kind situation - really sorry to hear about it TK.

I just checked my account and it was suspended too. I went through the "verification" nonsense and checked my account activity - I did not see any reversals of payments, but I will monitor over the next few days.

I'd like to think there is a spirit of ohana among folks who attend Hukilau and that everyone will step up and do the right thing here.

On 2010-06-28 07:26, leisure master wrote:
This is really awful that paypal can cause this kind situation - really sorry to hear about it TK.

I just checked my account and it was suspended too. I went through the "verification" nonsense and checked my account activity - I did not see any reversals of payments, but I will monitor over the next few days.

I'd like to think there is a spirit of ohana among folks who attend Hukilau and that everyone will step up and do the right thing here.

Joe -

OHANA is the reason why I have been so adamantly fighting to help Christie correct this situation. You folks who were veterans of Hukilau...starting with Chrisite, were all so great at making us newcomers feel right at home. With a job that currently has me disatified and really needing a vacation, Hukiau was exactly what the doctor ordered. I just feel that collectively we can help correct this PayPal guffaw...with the power of OHANA!

Just ran across the thread this evening. Was this an issue with web orders as well? I reviewed my account history and everything appears to be in order.

LOL Tiki - My web order was fine. It was when I paid for an additional mug at Hukilau that the problem occurred. Multiple people were using the same laptop (the one sitting on the side bar at the merchandise hut) to pay via PayPal. PayPal flagged these accounts as using a "foreign IP address" and potentially fraudulent, shutting down all accounts that were used for this and suspending the payments.

Tell all your friends who were at Hukilau verbally and via a Facebook post that they probably owe money for the Hukilau merchandise they bought on site in Fort Lauderdale. They should check their paypal account and do the right thing by sending payment again if they were credited. A lot of people don't read TC so let's get the word out about this situation in other ways. May good karma smile upon you. Mahalo!!!!!

Has an email blast been sent out to the Hukilau mailing list?

That would seem like an obvious big way to get the word out and make sure everyone is aware so that they can, indeed, do the right thing.

BUMP