Dubious Paypal charge?

almeida8

Last weekend I placed an order on a UK site and paid via paypal with my Amex card. Both the website and the subsequent email confirmation gave the total price as £40.

Checking my Amex statement online last night, I noticed that I had been billed £42.17. I queried this with the company, who phoned Paypal, only to be told that the extra charge is because the card is in dollars and a charge is added to this, the £2.17 is this charge converted to pounds sterling.

Huh? The card was issued and is administered by their Brighton HQ and surely they cannot charge me more than the receipted amount in the confirmation email?? There was no indication anywhere that the final billed price might exceed this.

I know not a lot of money is at stake here, but this cannot be right, surely?

Any advice as to how I should handle this would be much appreciated, cheers.

Matt_Nixon

I had this while I had my Amex card linked to Paypal, I think Paypal assume all Amex accounts are in US Dollars so send Amex the transaction amount in Dollars, Amex then convert the foreign currency to UK Pounds, thus you get a currency gain/loss plus a transaction fee! Joy!

I chalked it upto experience and changed my card on Paypal to a Visa.

kuohu

Yes I have had this too. They convert Amex transactions to dollars and a fee is incurred. They got me on it once, 6 months or so ago.

I've just had a quick look on the Paypal FAQ for it but can't find reference to it now. I'm sure it's hidden away somewhere.

QuidsInn_2

I wouldnt trust paypal any more than my ex husband. I have just closed my account with them as they were taking bits and bobs of money willy nilly and I couldnt get hold of anyone to sort it out, or get a reply to emails.

almeida8

Thanks all. I just received the following from Paypal (was amazed they responded at all, tbh):

...as your card is American Express and is administered by
the Bank of America all payments using this card over PayPal are charged
in US Dollars and converted to UK Pounds Sterling.

When a payment is made over PayPal with your card, PayPal uses the
current currency conversion rate of the day. However, as this rate
changes on a daily basis, when American Express processes your payment
they use a different conversion rate and as such you could be charged
more or less for the payment.

I do apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you. Please
contact American Express for more information.

American Express cards are always charged in US Dollars regardless of
the currency of the card.


Guess I have to chalk this one up to experience as you say. :undecided