paypal is holding payment

reen_3

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later.

I sold an item on ebay at the beginning of the month. The buyer had around 70 positive feedbacks. She paid via paypal straight away and I posted the item using registered post the next day. She received the item and left me positive feedback. I transfered the money from paypal into my bank account. it cleared a couple weeks ago.

Everything was fine until yesterday, when i got a message from paypal saying:

"It has come to our attention that you may be the recipient of potentially unauthorised funds. We have initiated an investigation into this event. In the meantime, we have placed a temporary hold on the funds in question until the investigation is complete. This temporary hold will show as a deduction in your available balance."

I had no money in my paypal account at the time, so it's now actually showing a negative balance.

In the meantime, paypal wants me to send them details of the transaction, including the tracking number. I don't have it. I only keep them until the funds clear into my bank account and I received feedback from the buyer.

So, what do I do now? Can paypal take that money from my credit card/bank account themselves, or can I just start up a new paypal account using a different bank account and leave this one with a negative balance?

I e-mailed the buyer yesterday morning, but she hasn't replied yet. Should I phone paypal? Where do I find that number?

Thanks in advance for the advice.

milliejon

I'm sorry, I can't offer any advice, but I just think this is a bit weird. If PayPal think this is a fraudulent payment, why would they need you to send details of the transaction. They have this because it's in your account.

I can understand them asking for tracking details so that there is proof that something tangible has actually been passed between you and the buyer.

Just a little tip - if I get paid via PayPal I add the tracking details to their payment details on PayPal.

cafenervosa_2

I had the same email. The bottom line is that you have received funds that are not aurthorised and you will lose this money. Paypal like to drag things out but the result won't be good.

Tirian

Unless you have authorised a direct debit facility from your bank to Paypal, they cannot take funds out of your bank account, full stop.

However you Paypal account will be unusable whilst the balance is negative - if you try to pay for anything, Paypal will add the negative balance onto the amount that you pay.

Unless they find in your favour, your Paypal account is now useless. Get Nochex instead ..

You could try setting up a new Paypal account, but check the t&c carefully - if they realise the two accounts belong to the same person, you may find that they retrieve the funds from your new account!

Tirian

reen_3

Thanks for all your replies.

I phones paypal, and they were absolutely no help at all. I explained that I did everything just as I was supposed to - I sent the item to a confirmed address that is covered by paypal's seller protection policy. I have proof that the buyer received the item in the form of postive ebay feedback from her. So why am I about to lose over 60 quid? The guy that I spoke to said that I need to hold on to recorded post receipts for 6 months! You gotta be kidding! Like I don't have enough junk in my house.

I don't understand how all of this happened. I've been using paypal since 1999. I've had a few minor problems, but always as a buyer, not a seller. This buyer was fine. She had good feedback (100% from sellers), paid straight away and left me positive feedback the day she received the item. It was no different than the hundreds of other transactions. It's not like it was someone with a brand new id, using a stolen credit card to buy an expensive items to ship overseas. It was just a pair of shoes!

Anyway, I am still waiting to hear back from her.

jenniferpa

I suppose that if someone living in the same property fraudulently used the account you could get in this situation. I'm sorry about what has happened, but I don't understand why you wouldn't keep the tracking information - if you're selling enough to make the paper volume that great, you're running a business, and should be keeping these records anyway.

reen_3

jenniferpa wrote:

I suppose that if someone living in the same property fraudulently used the account you could get in this situation. I'm sorry about what has happened, but I don't understand why you wouldn't keep the tracking information - if you're selling enough to make the paper volume that great, you're running a business, and should be keeping these records anyway.

I am not running an ebay business. I've sold 100-150 items over the last few years. But I'm also doing an MSc full time, in addition to working a full time job and volunteering part time. Thus, cataloguing proofs of postage is not a top priority. I keep them long enough for the funds to clear and to get positive feedback. At that point, I assume that the transaction is complete. How long do you keep tracking information?