Orbx has decided to post an explanation detailing why they removed PayPal as a payment method for their products. As it turns out, there are some issues with their account and they are working with PayPal to resolve them as quickly as possible. In order to protect Orbx and their developers they decided to pull PayPal until the issue can be resolved.
John Venema, Orbx CEO, offered a lengthy in depth explanation of the events that have transpired in a forum post today. An account is required to read it, however it should shed a little light on the issue. I think it is likely only a matter of time before Orbx starts accept PayPal again, but for now you’ll have to use an alternative method.
Update: We’ve provided the text from the forum post just in case you don’t have an Orbx account (and if you don’t we highly recommend one as they have fantastic support)
Hello everyone,
I’ll keep this as brief as possible. Firstly, my sincere apologies for removing PayPal as a payment option for now, but we had no choice as you will see below. I am on the phone to PayPal daily and working with them to resolve the situation. I am sure Orbx is not the first business in the world to face this problem but their timing could not be worse, right after our store opening and during a sale. We’re as outraged as you all are, that much I can promise you.
I love using PayPal myself, have done for years. It’s quick, convenient and secure. It’s also the first time we have been on the other side of the fence as a merchant.
So here is the facts, although as you can understand there are delicate confidential business discussions taking place which would be foolish for me to disclosure until the matter is settled.
- On November 29th PayPal informed me our account was under review and limited.
- This limitation was restricted to Orbx not being allowed to close our PP account. Not a problem for us
- The reason cited was the sudden huge increase in $ and transaction volume since our store opened
- PP requested company documentation to clarify what business we are in – this was provided immediately
- We heard nothing more about the matter, but I thought this would be a formality and the limitation lifted
- On December 6th PP informed me our account was further limited
- This time we were unable to move any money out of our merchant account, effectively freezing our funds
- Extensive further documentation was requested and immediately provided
- I called PP every two days expecting the review to be concluded.
- Meantime the merchant account balance was growing; I normally do a transfer each Monday
- When the merchant account balance grew to six figures and with no resolution in sight, I made the decision to stop all PP payments
- We now have a substantial amount of our income held by PP until this review is concluded
- We have no promise this money will be released
- We have no choice then, but to protect both the interests of Orbx and its developers to ensure they are paid for their hard work
- If we fail to resolve the issue then many customers would have ‘bought’ and effectively gotten free products
We will continue to call PP daily, as I have just done. I have been requested more documentation today which I provided. I hope, along with all our staff and of course you as customers, that PP can complete this review and allow us the confidence to use their service again.
We did not feel it was appropriate to reveal this information to you yesterday because it is business confidential and frankly, we’re not obliged to tell you. But after waking up to the furore on the forums this morning, and the rampant conjecture that has been going on at many forums, I thought I would reveal as much as I can without actually risking jeopardising the PP account review.
So …. it appears some people like to think Orbx is doing its best to push customers away with V2 migration, OrbxDirect, FTXCv3 and now this PayPal situation. The truth is that we have had a vision for some years to make the way our customers interact, purchase and maintain our software the simplest and easiest on the market. Sure, there have been bumps in the road. Sure, there are bugs outstanding. But Rome was not built in a day and I believe we are heading in the right direction. We have closed over 2,000 Zendesk tickets since the store opened. We have hired two permanent support staff to deal with issues. Ben is working some very long hours on coding and other tasks. We feel your pain, but we know most issues will be resolved eventually.
Orbx is not going anywhere soon. We have a lot of very exciting plans for 2017 and beyond. Plans that move us beyond just FSX/P3D and into some of the most ambitious projects we have ever conceived. We are spending many hundreds of thousands of dollars on R&D in 2017 and this is without any guarantee of success. But where there is no risk there is no reward. So watch this space!
Allow me again to apologise for a situation that was NOT in our control, not planned, nor desired. I hope to have it end in a positive outcome as soon as possible but the matter is not in my hands.
Thanks for your continued loyalty to Orbx products and your support in 2016, I hope you will give us the chance to grow into new ventures in 2017 and come along for the journey …
A great festive season to all of you!