Help! Paypal lost my money!

desperate_dave

I'm badly in need of some advice and I'm sure someone he're will be able to offer some!

About three months ago, I requested a withdrawal from pay pal to my bank account, but got the account number wrong (I was copying and pasting from an online statement and got an extra digit from the front and so missed one from the end). On realising my mistake, I contacted pay pal who said that it wouldn't be a problem as it would fail and be returned to my account in a few days. 10 days on however, the money was not returned and the transaction was marked as complete.

Another call to paypal, and I was advised that it s not a problem, paypal is always able to get your money back, they would perform a 'trace' on the money which would take 5-7 days. Fine I thought. When nothing had happened after that time, I made another call, and another, and another, once a week for a total of 13 weeks! :mad:

Last night I got an email from them stating thatbmy money could not be traced and that I should contact my bank. I've already phoned the bank weeks ago, but they wouldn't tell me whether the account even existed, let alone put a trace on it as it doesn't belong to me!

So can anyone offer any advice as to where I go now? I can't afford to let £400 go out of the window!

Thanks all.

Sparx

How did you send money to your bank account when to confirm any bank account to your PayPal account and link it they have to make 2 small deposits to it which you have to input to confirm it is a real account of your own? Meaning the deposits would never have made it to your bank account and you couldn't of confirmed it..? So how did you transfer money from PayPal to your bank (or this bogus one?) ..

Olipro

PayPal haven't lost your money, you have.

the money has gone to someone else with the same sort code (assuming you got that part correct), you need to resolve this with your bank.

desperate_dave

Hey Olipro,

Yes agreed it was a very stupid thing to do. But idiots like me need protecting from ourselves! I can't believe other people haven't made a typo like this before! The terms clearly state that the bank account must be in the same name as the paypal account, so I don't understand how the withdrawal ever went through?!

The sort code was correct, so it looks like a letter to A&L is needed, as I got absolutly nowhere through phoning customer services! I'm really not hopeful though. Its just incredibly frustrating that such a simple mistake can be so costly, plus that its taken over 3 months for paypal to tell me they can do chuff all after telling me every week that its all ok. grrrr.

Lokolo

The name of the account doesn't matter. All thats needed is a correct account number and sort code.

desperate_dave

Yes it certainly seems that way. Its just that paypal website says....

Please make sure your bank account information is correct before attempting to withdraw funds from your PayPal account. For example, if your name is James Patrick Smith, but your bank account is in the name of “J P Smith,” you would need to enter “J P” as your first name when adding the bank account.

If your bank information is incorrect, your withdrawal will be returned and a 50p fee will be charged. Additional bank fees may also apply. Please contact your bank for details.

Lokolo

desperate_dave wrote: »

Yes it certainly seems that way. Its just that paypal website says....

Question them on it say you weren't worried as you were expecting the money to return.

xyz123

desperate_dave wrote: »

Yes agreed it was a very stupid thing to do. But idiots like me need protecting from ourselves! I can't believe other people haven't made a typo like this before!

No wonder we all are in trouble with banking crisis. People not willing to take responsibility for their own actions and just blaming others. :T

Olipro

desperate_dave wrote: »

Yes it certainly seems that way. Its just that paypal website says....

That applies only if the account number is not valid; if the account number you enter is assigned to somebody, no matter who it is, this does not apply. PayPal simply submit a BACS payment, it won't be returned unless the account is invalid.

Assuming that your bank have sort codes on a per-branch basis, the head of the branch should be in a position to clear this up.

michaels

My solicitor sent a chaps payment to A&L but in my name rather than my wife's (it was her account) and A&L returned the payment as the details didn't match costing me about 100 quid in lost interest and more than a few grey hairs over a bank holiday weekend (it was a 6 figure sum that was missing); so in some cases they obviously do insist on the payment having the correct name.

brokeinyorkshire

desperate_dave wrote: »

I'm badly in need of some advice and I'm sure someone he're will be able to offer some!

About three months ago, I requested a withdrawal from pay pal to my bank account, but got the account number wrong (I was copying and pasting from an online statement and got an extra digit from the front and so missed one from the end).

Thanks all.

When you do a transfer out of Paypal you are asked to choose the account you wish the money to go to and the details are already pre populated. You do not have to input your bank details, and like a previous poster said, your Paypal should have already been set up,. They won't pay funds into your account unless it has been verified first!

Seems a bit strange to me!!