"In April, I got a letter from the state, saying that there was $660 in an unclaimed account of my late husband, who passed away six years ago," Vicki David of Santa Rosa said, "and I knew nothing about this and that I needed to make contact with them, or it would be considered unclaimed property."
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Her unclaimed property was money held by PayPal.
"So I contacted PayPal, which is a difficult thing to do, because every time you talk to someone you go through the same story, and they either know or don't know, what division to send you to," David said.
She was told to send in a copy of her husband Frank's death certificate, her driver's license and proof she was the executor.
VIDEO: Bank of America refuses to cash $900 cashier's check from 1988
Bank of America refuses to cash $900 cashier's check from 1988
She did. "I waited a month or two. I never heard anything, so I called back, went through several people, found out they had only received one of the documents," David said.
She called PayPal several times, but says she wasn't getting anywhere. "I did get hold of one gentleman who said, 'Oh, I know who you need to talk to, but he couldn't get hold of him, either,'" she said.
It just went on and on. "After six months or better of working on this, I was no farther ahead than I'd been in April, so that's when I gave up, and I turned to you to help me. And within one day someone (from PayPal) was calling me back," David said.
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MORE: Companies offer to return unclaimed money - for a fee
She spoke to a PayPal employee who really helped her, reporting back every step of the way.
"She contacted me and said, 'Yes, we got everything we need. A check will be in the mail to you within fourteen days,'" David said. "I was very appreciative."
MORE: Unclaimed Property office forces man to go through extra hoops to claim his own money
7 On Your Side really wants to thank PayPal for taking care of all this. 7 On Your Side's Michael Finney spoke with a company representative who was not comfortable talking about this on the record because of privacy concerns.
Now, If you receive one of these letters from the state, contact 7 On Your Side and we will walk you through the process.
You can check with the Unclaimed Property website to find out if you have any money waiting to be claimed.
Take a look at more stories and videos by Michael Finney and 7 On Your Side.
7OYS's consumer hotline is a free consumer mediation service for those in the San Francisco Bay Area. We assist individuals with consumer-related issues; we cannot assist on cases between businesses, or cases involving family law, criminal matters, landlord/tenant disputes, labor issues, or medical issues. Please review our FAQ here. As a part of our process in assisting you, it is necessary that we contact the company / agency you are writing about. If you do not wish us to contact them, please let us know right away, as it will affect our ability to work on your case. Due to the high volume of emails we receive, please allow 3-5 business days for a response.
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