A PayPal Dispute

[LeDave]

I bought a item off eBay and I've been waiting to get it and the seller keeps telling me that he will have to wait for his supplier to send it to him, so I kept waiting and waiting and emailing for until a month. Then I told him that I want a refund because I waited too long, I sent a dispute over PayPal and he issued a refund. The problem is I've been waiting for that refund for 6 days now, it still says Pending under status.

I email PayPal and ask them why it's taking so long,

Hi, I have recently been issued a refund
because the seller was unable to send me the item within a reasonable
time period. The refund has been issued on October 9. Apparently it
is now October 14, do you know why the refund status has been pending
for so long? Thanks.

They emailed me back with a reply of,

Hello Dave Le,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us with your concerns. I am
happy to assist you further.

A "Pending Refund" is a refund funded by a bank account. The refund will
post as completed as soon as the ACH transfer completes from the
sender's bank account. If the electronic funds transfer is denied by the
bank, PayPal will re-try the transfer in an attempt to complete the
option to refund the sender of the payment. In this case, the funds can
be delayed. For more information on when the refund will clear, please
contact the sender of the refund.

If the refund cannot be completed, the pending status will become
canceled and the refund will not post to the receiver's PayPal account.
For more information regarding a canceled refund, please contact the
sender of the refund.

We know situations like this can be difficult, so thanks for working
with us. If you have more questions, visit our Help Center by clicking
"Help" in the top right corner of any PayPal page.

Sincerely,
Floyd
Merchant Solutions
PayPal, an eBay Company

So what are they trying to say? Are they trying to say that if he doesn't have the funds to refund me, then he doesn't have the funds to refund me and I don't get it? And that's all there is to it? What? I don't get PayPal, after all this hype about buying safe, they come up with this and this is safe buying online?

[wwwmorrell]

So what are they trying to say? Are they trying to say that if he doesn't have the funds to refund me, then he doesn't have the funds to refund me and I don't get it? And that's all there is to it? What? I don't get PayPal, after all this hype about buying safe, they come up with this and this is safe buying online?

Thats exactly what they are saying. If he does not refund the money you miss out.

PayPal are really a waste of space. !!!!!!

[LeDave]

Jeeze, I've heard tons and tons of horror stories about PayPal but I never thought I'd be a victim from their false image. I never thought it would be this easy to get screwed over either, I hope I get my refund back, I really need to fund my K-7 =/

EDIT: Good stuff, I was able to retrieve the sellers address, I know is full name and I now know his phone number. Is there anything I could do legally against him if the refund does not fall through?

[wildlifephotog]

It is very easy to get around Paypal.
The seller opens a stand alone savings account to link to their Paypal account. They sell an item, and then immediately withdraw the money to the savings. They then remove it from there. Paypal comes after them, but there are no funds in either account. Case closed.

You'll get more protection from using a credit card.

[LeDave]

Well I just sent another complaint and this time to the Better Business Bureau instead, hopefully this will work out.

[K-9]

Originally Posted by wildlifephotog

It is very easy to get around Paypal.
The seller opens a stand alone savings account to link to their Paypal account. They sell an item, and then immediately withdraw the money to the savings. They then remove it from there. Paypal comes after them, but there are no funds in either account. Case closed.

You'll get more protection from using a credit card.

I thought paypal needed two funding sources. I don't think they allow just a checking account. I believe you must have a credit card on file.

We had another forum member who waited about 9 days until their pending refund status cleared. Just be patient. If it's pending, it means the seller did refund it and paypal is just waiting on transfer funds from their bank.

[wildlifephotog]

Well, I've never had a second funding source. I only have a savings account. I don't use CC's.
I've had a Paypal account for 4 years.

I know others who have setup accounts with a CC and bank account. They then remove the CC. Paypal still lets them keep using it.

[wildlifephotog]

Paypal is like a poker game.
And as a wise gambler once told me. Never bet more than you can afford to lose.

[BPT]

you have waited 6 days or 6 business days? I think it takes 5-8 business days for me to transfer money to and from my bank account to my paypal account. I dont remember the number of days for sure but I do know it counts in business days rather than calendar days

[little laker]

Originally Posted by K-9

I thought paypal needed two funding sources. I don't think they allow just a checking account. I believe you must have a credit card on file.

A friend of mine, whom occasionally sells on e-bay just used one of those pre-payed credit cards from Money Mart to get past that.
Although he's only a seller. I don't know if buyers need anything.

Originally Posted by BPT

you have waited 6 days or 6 business days? I think it takes 5-8 business days for me to transfer money to and from my bank account to my paypal account. I dont remember the number of days for sure but I do know it counts in business days rather than calendar days

I've always wondered if it really takes that 5 to 8 business days, or if someone just holds onto your $ collecting interest.
It might not be anything for us interest wise, however add a few thousand peoples money together and it probably is.

[41ants]

Originally Posted by LeDave

Jeeze, I've heard tons and tons of horror stories about PayPal but I never thought I'd be a victim from their false image. I never thought it would be this easy to get screwed over either, I hope I get my refund back, I really need to fund my K-7 =/

EDIT: Good stuff, I was able to retrieve the sellers address, I know is full name and I now know his phone number. Is there anything I could do legally against him if the refund does not fall through?

Legally, you could file something in small claims court, but that would probably be a waste of time. I would personally kick in his front door and get it from him, but that's just me. You might want to wait it out or go the small claims court route.

[Ash]

Keep pursuing it Dave, both with the vendor and PayPal, and see if the amount comes through to your bank account in the next few business days.

No show after 8 business days? It's then a claim you could put forward to PayPal for reimbursement.

[flyer]

Originally Posted by little laker

I've always wondered if it really takes that 5 to 8 business days, or if someone just holds onto your $ collecting interest.

It takes at most 24 hours. Generally, money transfers are done during the "graveyard" shift, so the morning after, it is done. But, like everything else, if PayPal/eBay can hold onto your money for a few days, taking into account all the transactions going on everyday, collecting a few days interest can substantially increase their profit margin.

[41ants]

Doesn't ebay force you to utilize paypal or at least list it as an option. I tried listing an auction several months ago and mentioned western union, cash, & moneygram as an accpetable payment option... Well, they withdrew my listing stating that I violated the terms of their agreement.

At least craigslist doesn't pull that sort of BS.

Le Dave - Good luck with paypal. I think if you utilized a credit card as the funding source for the transaction you might be able to get them involved.

[flippedgazelle]

Update?

Inquiring minds want to know...