PayPal Rant

[Part-Time Homeschooler]

I recently sold an item on eBay and the buyer paid via PayPal. I refunded the buyer's money because of an error in the listing. After receiving the item back, I hit the "refund" button via PayPal and I thought everything was fine.

 

Fast forward two weeks later: I received an overdraft statement from my bank. Instead of refunding the buyer with the funds in my PayPal account, PayPal debited the bank account I have on file with them! :banghead: That account is solely used for PayPal/eBay so the balance is always very low. There was not enough money in the account to cover the refund so my bank charged me a $35 overdraft fee and a separate $30 fee because my account stayed overdrawn for over one week (I didn't find out about the situation until 2 weeks after I sent the refund). I transferred the money from my PayPal account into my bank account, but I still had to pay the $65 in fees (my bank refused to take anything off).

 

Needless to say, I am very ticked off about this. I don't have $65 to throw away like that.

 

Thanks for letting me vent!

[Pink Fairy]

Boy, that absolutely stinks! If that's not the standard policy, it sounds like paypal owes you $65. If it is the policy, it still stinks and I'd be bummed too. :grouphug:

[katalaska]

Did PayPal send the refund from the same place the funds went to? In other words, if the funds went into your PayPal balance then the refund should come out of the PayPal balance. Does that make sense?

 

I ask because when I've been refunded, the refund goes to the same place the money came out of (i.e. my credit card account) and NOT to my PayPal balance (or my bank account).

 

I just thought maybe if they put the money "in the wrong place" maybe PayPal could rectify the situation.

[Mom to Aly]

Call your bank! Explain what happened, and, if you have had no other probs with that account, I bet they will credit it back to you. I had major probs with paypal doing messed up things with a bank account, unfortunately, my main one, and they ended up making me have nearly $150 in charges (why I stopped using them a long time ago)--I called my bank, Wachovia, explained the whole thing, went through it step by step--had never had a prob in my life, and they credited every single penny back to me.

 

Good luck!

[milovany]

I've had numerous fees removed just by calling and explaining what happened. Give it a go!

[katalaska]

Calling the bank again (it sounds like maybe they already told you "no" about reversing the charges...???). It can't hurt to ask again, and to ask to speak to the higher-ups. The worst they can do is say no.

 

I've had much success by simply asking for things to be turned around in my favor. This is not to say that I take advantage--but more like if I feel that I should have been able to use a coupon, had a charge reversed, had a discount applied, I call and ask. I also take names (usually by asking, "Please tell me your name again so I can write it down"--then they know I'm making notes), dates, and times.

 

I'm all for asking (and more than once, especially if you otherwise have not been a problem or asked for favors in the past).

 

Good luck.

[Diannab]

I have had similar problems with PPL and have stopped using them completely. It bites not using them, but I can't stand their practices!

[lighthouseacademy]

I hear you. I made a mistake that caused an overdraft and they did not notify me that they overdrafted and were going to charge again- I assumed that it went to the cc backup... 2 weeks later they dinged my bank again and it cost me. I got the email that pp said they sent to notify me that the bank would be tried again before it went to the cc FOUR months later!!!!!!!!!! They were absolutely unwilling to fix the error and kept saying that they did not owe me money and it was not their fault.

[RoughCollie]

This is one reason we don't have PayPal. After they stole money from our bank account, DH decided no one but us will be permitted to get their sticky fingers into our accounts.