gunpal weirdness

General General Discussion
1

i’ve only sort of been paying half attention to what information happens to find me on this topic… i’d heard a long time ago about gunpal screwing people up, so i havent ever used them… i’m really not even sure how i managed to get on the mailing list. the last email i got, months ago, was an email stating that any other emails received from CEO Ben Cannon were not to be regarded as real emails, because his email had been hacked, or some shit like that. the previous email i’d gotten was one supposedly from Ben Cannon rambling on about some bullshit- i’d basically just glanced at it and deleted it.

i just got this one a few minutes ago:

Dear Benjamin,

GPal is happy to announce that operations are back up and running for new checking account transactions. Transactions originated on or after March 09, 2011 should now be processed within our 2-7 business day target.

As some of our customers have been acutely aware of, GPal has been experiencing a variety of growing pains that stem from the Credit Card acquiring banks failing to deliver customer funds to GPal.

As a result, we have taken the drastic step of suspending credit card payments entirely until such time that we are able to process them in a timely fashion.

Many of you may be waiting on funds from those transactions and rest assured that GPal is doing everything we can to work with the banks to get your funds released from the Credit Card acquiring banks. If you are one of our customers who have been affected by these credit card bank holds, you can help us speed up the process by having the Buyer fill out the form at: http://www.gpal.net/CreditCardAuthorizationForm.pdf and sending it to support@gpal.net.

Throughout all of this, we at GPal have been fighting tooth and nail despite adverse bank action to continue to bring our customers the services they need and we will continue to disburse money to our customers within the bounds of bank requirements. It is our aim to provide you the best pro-rights payment processing service possible and we will not waver from that commitment.

In order to get back on our feet and fully recover, GPal must expand its offerings, including but not limited to offering a Debit Card for easier and immediate funds access for our sellers and expanding our processing base. To do so we need your help.

GPal remains absolutely committed to providing the only pro-rights and non-discriminatory payment service in the world. Thank you for your support and patience.

Sincerely,

Ben Cannon
Chairman/CEO
GPal, Inc.

does this asshole seriously still owe people payment money from transactions MONTHS old? that’d be fucking insane… lawsuit type stuff.

so i did a search, and it looks like he’s got quite the rep for accusations of fraud and embezzlement, though i can’t see where any charges have been brought against him… except for an Impersonating charge he got in california for supposedly trying to pull people over with a red light and then presenting a badge…

what’s the deal with this guy/company? this shit sounds heinous… are any of you using this service? is he somehow not a crook? how is gunpal still in business?

2

I posted a thread a long time ago warning people about them. Last I heard some authoritah type figures were going to take a look at his operation but haven’t heard of anything since.

Id just warn people to do their research before they tie up any money with this guy. You may not get it back…

3

Brian Enos posted on his forums that he and many others had lost money to this guy. He sounded fucking pissed.

4

I got the same email. So far, my gunpal use has been limited to site sponsorship here. I wonder if it might be prudent to remove one’s CC/bank info from their site…

5

I received the same email.

I would be interested to hear the side of merchants that have done business with the man. Not piling on, just that if I have done business with the companies that sponsor this site, they are a known quality to me.

So if people whose last names rhyme with Timberlake, Noveske, Buffoni, etc are not thrilled with him, I’ll take that to the bank.

Literally.

6

oh, snap… that must be how they got my email. oh well… i switched all my banking over to wells fargo about 6 months ago- they aint got my shit anymore.

7

Do not use Gunpal. It has turned out to be a huge scam.

It’s a whole sordid mess…but they’ve had serious issues with getting the money to where it’s supposed to actually go and have not been making good on stuff.

8

Why don’t people use Paypal? I use Paypal all the time for firearms payments. In fact I sold a rifle to a guy and I just gave him my paypal email address and he sent payment a few hours later. After I received the payment I sent the rifle to his FFL and everything went smoothly. Ebay may be one thing, but Paypal doesn’t need any special description about why money is being sent. I told the buyer to send me money by choosing the personal tab and choose gift. I had not fees taken out either. Very simple, fast, and easy.

9

Because if you get caught they will freeze your account, take your money, etc.

Anyone who keeps any sort of money in PP or linked to a real checking account and CC is stupid IMNSHO. If you must use PP for something, link it to a checking account that you keep empty. If you get a payment, move it from that checking account to your real account ASAP after the money comes in. Use a separate PP account that you only use for CC purchases when linking against a real CC. Don’t every receive money in that second account.

You can Google all the horror stories about PayPal and the businesses they have ruined by seizing funds for months on end.