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Problems with Google Checkout Payouts

I am currently having issues with receiving money that people paid to my business with Google Checkout. I have contacted customer service and here is the reply I got:

Thanks for notifying us of this situation, which our engineering team is currently addressing. When this issue is resolved, we’ll contact you by email.

Meanwhile, my money is sitting at Google.

Others are reporting this problem in the forums as well, some as far back as January. In addition, the Checkout blog had a post in early January about the same issue which was supposedly fixed.

I am sending a strong worded letter to both Google Checkout and my state regulatory body which regulated money transmitters (with which incidentally Google did not register to obtain a license, which itself might be a problem for them). I will try to post updates if anything happens.

UPDATE #1: Here is a copy of the letter that I send to the Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation:

Commissioner of Financial Regulation
CC: Google Payment Corp.

March 4, 2009

Honorable Commissioner,

I am writing to you today to file a complaint against Google Payment Corp., which operates “a money transmission business” [as per the Maryland Money Transmission Act, Section 12-401 (l)(2)(iii)] known as Google Checkout (http://checkout.google.com). This service provides ability to businesses to receive credit card payments from consumers over the Internet. I currently hold a Seller’s account with Google Checkout under merchant ID # XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

As described on their website (http://checkout.google.com/support/sell/bin/answer.py?answer=134475), Google Checkout deposits the received funds within two (2) business days of the day when the original order was charged. One of my customers charded order # XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX on February XX, 2009 for a total of $X,XXX.XX. The net revenue amount after Google’s fees is $X,XXX.XX and was supposed to have deposited into my account no later than this past Monday, March XXX, 2009. HOWEVER, this money has not been deposited nor has it been listed under the “Payouts” section as being planned to be deposited. I had contacted Google Checkout via email since they do not provide a phone number for support. I had received the following reply:

“Thanks for notifying us of this situation, which our engineering team is currently addressing.”

A futher review of the Google Checkout Merchant Forum (http://www.google.com/support/forum/p/checkout-merchants/label?lid=12de2eed05d80c5b&hl=en) showed that numerous other merchants were having similar issues, some as far back as January, and no reply or planned time for resolution was received by anyone via email from Google Checkout. Being a small business, I rely on the quick turnaround of my payments and this unexplained hold up of funds may cause significant damage to my business if it continues. Additionally, I am stymied by both lack of any concrete timeline for resolution. I would like to request your assistance in order to obtain my funds in a timely fashion.

Additionally, I would like to bring to your attention the fact that Google Payment Corp. does not appear on the list of licensed money transmitters on your website which would imply that it is not licensed to do business within this state, thus violating section 12-405 of the Maryland Money Transmission Act. Their competitors, PayPal, Inc. and Amazon Payments, are licensed within Maryland. Additionally, Google Payment Corp. is licensed as a money transmitter in the states of North Dakota, Arizona, Hawaii and Oregon, which implies that they are aware of the need to obtain such license on state level.

Sincerely,
Yakov Shafranovich

UPDATE #2: I have received the following email from Google Checkout customer support. The money has shown up in my Google Checkout account but has not posted to the bank yet. Their reply is as follows:

Hello,

Thank you for your email and continued patience. I understand you are concerned about your payouts from February XX, 2009.

I’ve researched your situation and can confirm that our engineering team has resolved the technical issue you reported. Furthermore, our records indicate that Google should initiated a payout for $X,XXX.XX to your bank account on March XX, 2009. For your reference, I have included information detailing the standard payout schedule below.

UPDATE #3: The money is listed this morning as a pending ACH transfer in my bank account. On a side note, Philip Lessen posted a story of how someone’s AdSense account got closed without explanation, and how the owner was only able to get the money owed to him via small claims court.

UPDATE #4: I have received a letter from the state regulator with an attached reply from Google. Google apologized for the delay but did state that they are of the legal opinion that state registration is not required. They are registering anyway.

Tags: google checkout —

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