Taking the OP in this thread at face value, which I think you can, it seems Paypal can reverse transactions up to two years later, for any reason.
In this case, it appears the buyer didn't pay Paypal, so Paypal has taken the money back from the seller.
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=3438971
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I had a similar problem a few years back. Sold a Red Letter Day voucher which had 6 months to go for £180. Once delivered I disposed of tracking number. After RLD went bust the buyer claimed refund from his credit card (which is fine) but they just passed the cost onto PayPayl then onto me. Reason given was non-delivery, they would have reversed the decision if I could provide tracking number, which I'd disposed of after seeing it had been delivered.
I went through the Financial Ombudsman to no avail. Eventually when I received a bailiff lketter I just gave in and funded my account. Didn't want adverse credit rating.
I too dislike PayPal but it's a necessary tool. I also dislike selling on eBay but occasionally still do it. Lessons learnt!
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...Didn't want adverse credit rating...
I'd like to know where you were advanced any credit?
Unscrupulous companies such as Paypal, and debt collectors, rely on frightening people in this way.
A debt cannot be established simply by one party saying the other owes money.
'Smokie, you owe me £100, and if you don't pay, I'll register a default on your credit record.'
Coming from me, that statement is plainly ridiculous, so why believe it from Paypal or a bailiff?
Paypal is behaving in a similar way to the scam parking ticket companies - send the punter a bill and hope he coughs up.
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I'm not even sure that anyone mentioned my credit rating during this episode but I came to the conclusion myself, maybe wrongly, that if the bailiffs were involved then somehow it would filter back to the credit rating, which wasn't worth jeopardising over £180.
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...but I came to the conclusion myself, maybe wrongly...
Maybe rightly, however unjust that may have been.
It is possible to check your rating and challenge entries on it.
But I don't enter into arguments with big companies if I can avoid it, so I agree there are times when a view must be taken.
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Keep all receipts for 6 years.
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>>>Another reason not to use Paypal
Hardly.. a third party account where there is scope for two sides to the story. Similarly Smokie's issue had two sides.
If you sell sensible stuff that attracts decent buyers Paypal is no more risky than any financial transaction through any other bank or method.
The charges though are a little stiff if added on top of the Ebay seller fes.
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...a third party account where there is scope for two sides to the story. Similarly Smokie's issue had two sides...
Isn't there always?
On both occasions Paypal has not been paid by the buyer, so has simply taken the money from the seller.
I'm surprised you think that is reasonable.
...Paypal is no more risky than any financial transaction through any other bank or method...
Yes it is, if I pay you by some form of bank transfer, debit card, cheque, or heaven forbid, cash, the transaction cannot be reversed after two years.
Paypal is insecure (first party account from me) and its business ethics stink.
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I don't use Paypal - a few years ago we had an internet banking fraud and the first question the police asked was 'do you use Paypal'.
But this seems very strange to me - surely Paypal's 'contract' is with the person using their service to pay someone, not with whoever their client is paying? We'd all like to automatically retrieve our money when a deal goes sour, but we can't, can we? Or am I missing something?
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They're pretty slimy. They're basically a bank but they fight tooth and nail to avoid officially becoming a bank -- they'd be forced to lose a lot of their questionable practices.
They even went so far as to move the country they're based in to avoid a law that would have made them recognised as a bank.
It is quite lucrative though so the chances of being able to buy ebay purchases via Google Checkout or similar are non existant any time soon.
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Paypal are owned by eBay - 'nuff said?
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"Paypal is insecure (first party account from me) and its business ethics stink."
+ 100!
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>>>I'm surprised you think that is reasonable.
It's a balance of risk and reward Iffy. Paypal is tightly linked to Ebay where I'm up thousands(both selling and sourcing items) in 700 deals over several years compared with traditional outlets to buy/sell. If the odd unreasonable chargeback arrived it's no big deal in the scheme of things. Over all these years I've not had trouble with Paypal. Yet in broadly the same period my Lloyds debit card has be cloned and my Visa card details stolen.
If you sell normal tangible family type goods in good order and correctly described the chances of any one individual ever suffering an unfair chargeback are very slim. Also I do protect myself by making anything over £150-£200 cash on collection so I limit my liability.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 5 Sep 11 at 08:54
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Fenlander,
Seems to me you've worked out a sensible dealing strategy.
Any ebay/Paypal user would be wise to follow it.
When my Barclays current account was raided, it was the opinion of the bank Paypal was the source of the security breach, even though the fraudulent transactions were nothing directly to do with Paypal.
Hence I wonder if your two card accounts would have been tinkered with had you never used Paypal.
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>>>Hence I wonder if your two card accounts would have been tinkered with had you never used Paypal.
Of course it could have been the case but as a matter of interest the debit card wasn't linked to Paypal. The Visa was one of hundreds/thousands where details were stolen from a larger organisation and I really can't remember now if Paypal was in the running for that.
Last edited by: Fenlander on Mon 5 Sep 11 at 10:12
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Another reason not to use Paypal - smokie
