Noob PAYPAL question?

Soprano

Howdy,

I am about to set up a paypal account after years of avoiding it.

So if someone sends me payment, is there any sneeky way they can snatch the money back once its in my PAYPAL account?

I see it takes 5 working days to get the money from PAYPAL into my account and presume by the time its in my account, there should be no way they can get the money back?

I realise this could sound like I'm some conman getting ready to rip someone off, but I'm not. I don't want someone to grab money back when I send theior good off. I have heard a few people who has money taken from their account.

TIA

Cheers

bleugh

https://www.bleugh.co.uk/paypal

frivolous_fay

Soprano wrote:

So if someone sends me payment, is there any sneeky way they can snatch the money back once its in my PAYPAL account?

Plenty of ways, unfortunately Read up on the T&Cs and info about paypal. The main points are to always send items worth £32+ via trackable means. And if they're less that £32 - always get proof of posting so that you can claim money back from the RM if an item vanishes. And always send to confirmed addresses... don't accept alternatives.

Soprano wrote:

I see it takes 5 working days to get the money from PAYPAL into my account and presume by the time its in my account, there should be no way they can get the money back?

Sadly it's not that simple. They can take the money out of your paypal account and put it into negative balance. Then you can only 1) pay them back, 2) prepare to be hassled for the money 3) never use your paypal account again.

Soprano

Thanks to you both..

soolin

The only thing I would add is that if you keep your wits about you paypal problems are very rare. I have several thousand successful transactions, never had a problem yet.

Virtually all problems shown in the various anti paypal sites are due to users not understanding how it works. The most common problem being losing a paypal chargeback because the item was sent untracked...sellers seem completely surprised that they need to make sure something arrives, and seem to think merely putting something in the post is sufficient, it isn't. I actually don't send my items under £32 tracked but I do use a COP, then if an item doesn't arrive I can refund *before* it even gets to a chargeback and reclaim my losses from the RM. For items over £32 though I always use special delivery purely so that I am covered for loss while the RM have it.

I've even seen a couple of people cross because they did use recorded delivery and still lose a chargeback...the reason? It never arrived and never showed as tracked on the RM website. So, if you send recorded or special keep your claim slips for a minimum of 6 months in case of problems. Merely sending something tracked is insufficient, it must show as delivered to the address registered to paypal.

The only thing I can see no way of stopping is a claim for fraudulent card use as tracking makes no difference. Anyone who accepts credit cards via paypal nochex or any other merchant type of account can have a claim of fraudulent use made against them, and I can see no way of protecting against this. However the incidence is very small as you would have to be up against a real crook who is prepared to make a fraudulent claim to his credit card and go through all the rigmarole of reporting the card lost and mis used etc.

Soo

Sugar_Coated_Owl

Soolin wrote:

For items over £32 though I always use recorded purely so that I am covered for loss while the RM have it.

I'm sure it's a typo but isn't it supposed to say special delivery?

soolin

razorbladekisses wrote:

I'm sure it's a typo but isn't it supposed to say special delivery?

Sorry, yes you are quite right.I'll amend my post.

Thanks razorblade.

Soo

patwa_2

In my experience paypal usually favour the buyer and the seller is usually left by the wayside. I'm by no means a volume seller, but am going to close my account on Monday. I'm just tired of paypal's messing around, they have an obsession with demanding information from you for even the most minor of queries (fax them invoices, identification in triplicate, etc, and no e-mail's not good enough) and the whole 'just snatch the money back' like it's some sort of tug of war just annoys me.

I'm very tempted to go themore expensive route and set up a Worldpay account, they seem reliable, have much more visible customer support, and are also very well known. Eiher that or I'll stick with NOCHEX, haven't had any problems with them in the past and their rates are also lower than paypal.

For the average seller this won't be a problem. But if you're thinking of selling items such as mobile phones, radios, computer equipment etc, where there could be trouble, I'd stay away from paypal. True, it's now become a symbol of reliability on eBay, but as I said, more for the buyer tan the seller.

Another thing, yes it is true that money can be taken straight out of your account if the buyer wants it, and sadly credit card companies rarely investigate these issues, especially once the name paypal crops up. If it were any other company, they'd get their money, but it could be taken back again as they would investigate the matter, but not with paypal.

Sorry for that rant, but hopefully it will give you food for thought.

Cheers and take care.

Hussein.