Paypal abusing customers

[Deathwish]

So i purchased a few things via paypal a while back, they were meant to take the money from my bank account withing 3 days, they did not. Why ?.

Because what appears to be happening is that when it involves a currency conversion they are taking a window of ( in my case ) anything up to 14 days to put it through, this allows them to choose a conversion rate that is higher than at time of purchase at some point within those 14 days, Evil little sods arent they

[Wilksey]

You have the worst luck ever mate!

What I have done is logged on to PP and told it to take payment in native currency (GBP, USD, AUD etc) and I let my credit card (which is linked to PP) do the conversion, happens a lot quicker (instantly usually) and it is typically cheaper to let my bank do the conversion rather than PP.

[tszaboo]

At least their conversion rates are not as bad as with airlines. I've seen 5-10% easily.
Luckily, you usually have a check box, switching to be payed with the original currency.

[Deathwish]

If it wasn't for ebay using paypal  I wouldn't bother with it. I hate the fact that I can have £1000.00 in my account today, buy things on ebay and then when i check my bank account nothing has been taken for over 2 weeks or so and it messes with my head as to whether I can afford to buy the next thing in case I end up in the red.

[timb]

If it wasn't for ebay using paypal  I wouldn't bother with it. I hate the fact that I can have £1000.00 in my account today, buy things on ebay and then when i check my bank account nothing has been taken for over 2 weeks or so and it messes with my head as to whether I can afford to buy the next thing in case I end up in the red.

You see, once upon a time, everyone used checks to pay for things. It could take weeks for a check to be deposited and reflect on your banks statement. Responsible adults would do this thing called "Balancing our checkbooks" wherein we kept a running tab of our checking account balance (the checkbook ledger) and balanced this with our actual bank statement once a month.

Today, checks aren't nearly as common for consumers, but the principle still applies. There's software (Quickbooks) and websites (Mint.com) specifically designed for this very thing.

Thusly, PayPal aren't evil in this case. They are being smart and trying to make money, which is their job. If you overdraw your bank account, it's because you are lazy and can't properly plan ahead.

Sincerely,
Every Adult Ever

[Deathwish]

No I have a debit card for INSTANT payment so I dont have to keep books or add yet another job to my day or week, my paypal is set up to take payments primarily from my debit card so it is instantly shown and actioned on my bank account, but they choose to take it from my bank account before my card which defeats the point of my debit card.

[Monkeh]

No I have a debit card for INSTANT payment so I dont have to keep books or add yet another job to my day or week, my paypal is set up to take payments primarily from my debit card so it is instantly shown and actioned on my bank account, but they choose to take it from my bank account before my card which defeats the point of my debit card.

If you tell them to use the card, they will use it.

If you fail to tell them to, that is your problem.

eBay and Paypal are doing nothing wrong.

[rdl]

Wow, you gave PayPal access to your bank account? Really?

[Deathwish]

Ebay arent doing anything wrong,i never said they were, and paypal have been told to use my debit card before my bank account.

Yep Paypal have access to my bank account, many years ago I had to set up a DD for them in order to have and use a paypal account.

[Monkeh]

Ebay arent doing anything wrong,i never said they were, and paypal have been told to use my debit card before my bank account.

If you have a linked bank account you must make the selection at every purchase. It makes it very clear at the time of payment what the source wil be.

eBay and Paypal are so tightly linked I often mix them up, I edited.

[grumpydoc]

So i purchased a few things via paypal a while back, they were meant to take the money from my bank account withing 3 days, they did not. Why ?.

Because what appears to be happening is that when it involves a currency conversion they are taking a window of ( in my case ) anything up to 14 days to put it through, this allows them to choose a conversion rate that is higher than at time of purchase at some point within those 14 days, Evil little sods arent they

I thought that the amounts were fixed at the point of creating the paypal transaction

Are you sure that you aren't mixing this up with "pay after delivery".

Yes you do have to watch what payment option PayPal wants to use like a hawk when using it with a 3rd party.

[Seekonk]

Ebay added a shopping cart so you could buy from multiple vendors and do one paypal transaction.  Except when I get my bank statement there will be a half dozen individual ACH transfers instead.  I'm waiting for the day when I'll get an excessive ACH usage charge from the bank.

[moya034]

Ever since I started a strict accounting regimen for my personal finance, I have not had a single overdraft. I don't care if the transaction posts immediately or 4 weeks from now.

My preferred accounting software is: http://www.gnucash.org/

[mtdoc]

My experience has been that Paypal screws you on currency exchange rates as a matter of course.  I have used them several times to pay for fairly expensive vacation rentals in Canada and while the transaction occurs immediately, the exchange rate they use is about 5% worse than the market shows for the day the transaction takes place.

[bookaboo]

If it wasn't for ebay using paypal  I wouldn't bother with it. I hate the fact that I can have £1000.00 in my account today, buy things on ebay and then when i check my bank account nothing has been taken for over 2 weeks or so and it messes with my head as to whether I can afford to buy the next thing in case I end up in the red.

You see, once upon a time, everyone used checks to pay for things. It could take weeks for a check to be deposited and reflect on your banks statement. Responsible adults would do this thing called "Balancing our checkbooks" wherein we kept a running tab of our checking account balance (the checkbook ledger) and balanced this with our actual bank statement once a month.

Today, checks aren't nearly as common for consumers, but the principle still applies. There's software (Quickbooks) and websites (Mint.com) specifically designed for this very thing.

Thusly, PayPal aren't evil in this case. They are being smart and trying to make money, which is their job. If you overdraw your bank account, it's because you are lazy and can't properly plan ahead.

Sincerely,
Every Adult Ever

That's absurd, so your saying that in order to facilitate a multinationals effort to angleshoot an extra few % off us we should just give up one of the main advantages of online banking which is a real time update of your balance?

[Halcyon]

Ever since I started a strict accounting regimen for my personal finance, I have not had a single overdraft. I don't care if the transaction posts immediately or 4 weeks from now.

My preferred accounting software is: http://www.gnucash.org/

Likewise. Payments can fall months from now and it's still built in to my budget. I use YNAB http://www.youneedabudget.com. Takes me all of 5-10 minutes a week to keep track of everything.

[rdl]

I got tired of PayPal's shenanigans a long time ago.

I let them send me a credit card once, and after that all purchases started defaulting to that card. Then, one time (my fault) I forgot to pay the bill. For some reason they can auto-pay my eBay charges but apparently cannot auto-pay their own credit card. I got hit with a $35 late charge, so I cancelled the card.

After that I started getting notices every time I bought something saying I was getting close to my "sending limit" and demanding I link a credit card or bank account. Funny how I never got a notice like that before had the PayPal credit card.

Anyway, I now just pay for all my ebay purchases directly with my American Express, and rarely even look at the PayPal account. I think there's been $8 or $9 in it for the last few years.

[jmegar324]

Yea paypal is horrible I am having trouble with a payment. The store let me order and charge me then they told me that they didn't do the ship to store option so I asked for refund. So I paid it with my paypal and its still pending they said I have to fax them some papers for some odd reason. Will never use paypal again and I still have not received refund.

[ez24]

So i purchased a few things via paypal a while back, they were meant to take the money from my bank account withing 3 days, they did not. Why ?.

Because what appears to be happening is that when it involves a currency conversion they are taking a window of ( in my case ) anything up to 14 days to put it through, this allows them to choose a conversion rate that is higher than at time of purchase at some point within those 14 days, Evil little sods arent they

Isn't Paypal just doing what you wish they do?   Think about your forum name.  Seems to please you people need to screw you over or worse.  So my vote goes that you got your wish.   

[fivefish]

Maybe I'm not getting something here.

I've been using a PP debit card for years, and there's never any need to pay any balance (therefore no late charges), because it just debits from your PP account in real-time. Your card spending limit is how much money you have in your PP account. 

You use the PP debit card, and the amount is taken primarily from your PP balance, even if you have a bank account linked.

eBay and Paypal are so tightly linked I often mix them up, I edited.

eBay bought PP a long time ago but they're now separate companies again.

The store let me order and charge me then they told me that they didn't do the ship to store option so I asked for refund. So I paid it with my paypal and its still pending they said I have to fax them some papers for some odd reason. Will never use paypal again and I still have not received refund.

That's not PP's fault. The store has to initiate the refund. If the store does not initiate a refund, PP won't credit your account.

Now, you can call PP and contest/dispute the charges of the store. Tell them you cancelled the order with the store  but the store has not refunded your payment. PP will issue you a provisional refund while they investigate the claim.

[rdl]

...
I've been using a PP debit card for years, and there's never any need to pay any balance (therefore no late charges), because it just debits from your PP account in real-time. Your card spending limit is how much money you have in your PP account. 

You use the PP debit card, and the amount is taken primarily from your PP balance, even if you have a bank account linked.
...

Credit cards work differently.

[jmegar324]

Had to three way call the company and paypal. The company says they have no history of order. The charge is on my paypal account and paypal is of no help first they said they will email me the papers I need to fax and then they hang up immediately and still no email.

[fivefish]

Credit cards work differently.

I know. But thought all PP issued are debit cards linked to your PP balance.

The charge is on my paypal account and paypal is of no help first they said they will email me the papers I need to fax and then they hang up immediately and still no email.

Is it really a charge? Or just a HOLD? My guess is the store placed a HOLD for your order amount. Then you cancelled the order. So the store doesn't need to complete the card transaction. But the HOLD still remains on your card.

If the store doesn't complete the card transaction, then the HOLD will be automatically released after a few days (3-4 usually, longer over the weekend). It still sucks though, coz your money is tied in some limbo.

You just need to keep checking your PP account that the HOLD amount is CANCELLED.

If the store charge turns from HOLD to COMPLETED, then you can call PP and start a charge dispute.  You tell them there's a COMPLETED charge from this store for X amount but you didn't place an order/cancelled it and have not received any product from said store. PP issues you a provisional REFUND, while they investigate your claim with the store.

[Monkeh]

Is it really a charge? Or just a HOLD? My guess is the store placed a HOLD for your order amount. Then you cancelled the order. So the store doesn't need to complete the card transaction. But the HOLD still remains on your card.

If the store doesn't complete the card transaction, then the HOLD will be automatically released after a few days (3-4 usually, longer over the weekend). It still sucks though, coz your money is tied in some limbo.

You just need to keep checking your PP account that the HOLD amount is CANCELLED.

If the store charge turns from HOLD to COMPLETED, then you can call PP and start a charge dispute.  You tell them there's a COMPLETED charge from this store for X amount but you didn't place an order/cancelled it and have not received any product from said store. PP issues you a provisional REFUND, while they investigate your claim with the store.

You're describing a debit card. Paypal transactions do not work like debit cards.

[Jeroen3]

They don't take a long time to process it, they immediately show a beneficial (for them) exchange rate. Which is how they work. Remember they they offer a payment service without annual fee.

Example: 6 Jan this year I bought an uCurrent. Total 85 USD. Paypal used 1 EUR = 1.1572 USD. ^{(usd not aud)}
9 Jan 73.45 EUR was subtracted at my debit card.
But in fact the rate was: 1 EUR = 1.1934435118 USD, so it should have been 71.22 EUR.
Paypal gained 2.23 EUR, 3% of the transaction.
Exactly as much as the 3.0% currency exchange tax shown in a table of the terms of service for a USD to EUR exchange.

Now please tell me how they "abuse" the consumer if it's perfectly transparent and non-mandatory?