“You can raise money to help your sick cat, for example, but not poor people.”

Congratulations to PayPal for winning Top Scrooge 2012.

Regretsy, possibly one of the most deliciously twisted web sites around (which means I LOVE them), decided to help out poor folks this holiday season. Because our economy sucks and there are lots of poor folks who are hurting right now.

However, PayPal arbitrarily decided to not merely shut down their charitable actions, but freeze ALL of their accounts for 6 months and is insisting all the donations be refunded. Of course, PayPal is keeping their fees, so Regretsy would technically be refunding more than they have received. But the cherry on top of this Grinchy sundae is this actual quote from a PayPal representative:

“You can raise money to help your sick cat, for example, but not poor people.”

Dude.

I have nothing against cats, but if I have a sandwich and I’m faced with a hungry cat and a hungry child, the child is going to be the recipient of my PB&J. Hands down. Every time.

The list of people who use the PayPal donate button who are NOT non-profit charities is endless. You’ll find those buttons on most blogs, because hosting fees ain’t nothing to sneeze at if you’re good at what you do.

I’ve heard of the arbitrary evilness of PayPal before, but this is really a new low.

Here’s the whole scoop from Regretsy. Here’s someone who did the pain-staking work of explaining why PayPal is wrong per their own policies.