Hacker News: MelkerWendelbohttps://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=MelkerWendelboHacker News RSShttps://hnrss.org/hnrss v2.1.1Sun, 05 Apr 2026 21:57:47 +0000<![CDATA[New comment by MelkerWendelbo in "Stripe withheld $85k from our EU platform"]]>The bulk of payments happened within the last 30 days, so we're well within any standard chargeback window — which is exactly why a temporary hold would make sense. We have no objection to Stripe holding funds as a chargeback reserve for 90-120 days as per their standard policy. The issue is that Stripe explicitly stated in writing that funds will "not be made available" — not that they will be held temporarily. They also stated they will begin issuing refunds to all customers within 5 days, meaning they intend to reverse all payments regardless of whether those customers have actually disputed anything. That's not a hold — that's reversing legitimate completed transactions and returning money to customers who received and used the service. We have delivery proof for 37,938 successfully completed jobs and refund records showing we proactively refunded every customer who asked. The concern isn't the hold itself — it's the active reversal of funds to customers who never complained.

]]>Mon, 30 Mar 2026 06:55:50 +0000https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47571243MelkerWendelbohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47571243https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47571243<![CDATA[Stripe withheld $85k from our EU platform]]>I'm the founder of Zorq AI (zorqai.com), an AI video and image generation platform based in Sweden. I want to share what happened to us as a warning to other founders, and to seek advice from anyone who has been through something similar. We launched in November 2025 and grew quickly. On March 24, Stripe flagged our account for a routine credit review due to a spike in volume. We submitted all requested documents. On March 28, Stripe closed our account permanently citing "unacceptable level of risk." Our current Stripe balance is 803,043 SEK (~$85,000 USD): Available: 556,906 SEK Pending: 246,136 SEK

The critical part: Stripe support confirmed in writing: "If a balance still remains in your account after eligible payments have been refunded, it will not be made available to you." No specific legal basis. No policy violation cited. Why disputes occurred — being fully transparent: There were two real technical issues on our end that we want to be honest about:

Our Stripe webhook handler was being rate-limited by Cloudflare (429 errors), causing credits not to be delivered to some customers after payment. We fixed this with retry logic and manually resolved every affected customer same day. Our infrastructure provider unexpectedly went down, forcing a 25-hour emergency migration. We built a recovery system so customers could restore their credits using their Stripe receipt number. Every customer who reached out received credits or a full refund.

We acknowledge these issues caused disputes. We have resolved all of them. Why this is legally questionable: Stripe Technology Europe Limited is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an EMI under PSD2. We are in the EU. The permanent withholding of merchant funds without a documented legal basis is questionable under EU payment regulations. Stripe has not cited which specific clause or policy we violated. What we are doing:

Submitted a formal appeal with full documentation to Stripe Contacted lawyers regarding PSD2 implications Filing complaints with Finansinspektionen (Sweden) and Central Bank of Ireland

Has anyone successfully challenged Stripe's fund withholding in the EU? Has anyone worked with lawyers experienced in this specifically?

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47565502

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]]>Sun, 29 Mar 2026 18:01:41 +0000https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47565502MelkerWendelbohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47565502https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47565502