PayPal payment refunded??

lukerichardson40

Hello all,

Just wondering if anyone can tell me what happens in this situation -

I bought an item on ebay for 310 pounds on the 8th July.

The item was paid for via paypal the next day, no problems at all. I called the seller to make sure he got payment, he said he did so I arranged a courier to pick it up (a bath).

Anyway, I got the bath weeks ago with no issues at all. The seller called to make sure it got here fine and was pleased with everything.

Anyway, just paid for something now and looked on my paypal to find I was well in credit which I couldnt understand so looked and found the money I paid for the bath had been refunded on the 8th August.

I cant understand what has happened? It is now 11 days since the money has been refunded and I havent heard anything from the seller.

My question is, what do I do about this? I paid and he said he got the money, I have heard nothing from him and now the money has been refunded??

I could get in touch and say 'you know that bath I paid for, well, you refunded me' or should I wait and see if he gets in touch? He has my email address.

Could this be some kind of scam?? I really dont get it.

RainbowDrops

Is the sellers eBay account still active?

petersoftware

May be worth getting in touch with Paypal to see if they performed the refund. If not then could have been a mistake by seller.

lukerichardson40

It seems his account is still active.

I think the best way to go is to just wait and see? I have done nothing wrong. If I didnt buy something today and look then I would have been none the wiser for however long it took until I paid for something else.

RainbowDrops

I guess you have to consider how you'd feel if the shoe was on the other foot.
If you were a busy business, it might be possible to miss that an item had been refunded for whatever reason.
I'd say it's courtesy to contact the seller. Yes, it may have been their oversight, but you have the item & are happy with it. I personally would feel bad about keeping both the item and the money.

soolin

I wonder if this is one of the phantom 'bank chargebacks' that we often come across as sellers and where buyer is totally unaware that anything has happened.

Personally I think I would be happier calling the seller and asking, it would not sit well with me to potentially leave a seller out of pocket.

lukerichardson40

I agree with that, the seller was very good and the item is great. I will phone him when I get home on Wednesday (away working at the moment) and ask him about it.

As RainbowDrops said, if it were the other way round, I wouldnt be too pleased. It is surely an oversight.

If, for example I were a mean so and so (which I arent) and decided not to contact him, what would happen?

petersoftware

If, for example I were a mean so and so (which I arent) and decided not to contact him, what would happen?

There is the danger of a misunderstanding. The seller may mistakenly think you instigated the refund and have therefore taken the goods without paying.

Much easier to get in contact with them to sort it out. But to avoid the possibility of any scam, contact PayPal to get their advice and insist on repaying (if that is what PayPal suggest) with the exact same PayPal account to their exact same PayPal account. That way if there are any problems in the future PayPal will be able to see all of the transactions in context.

soolin

lukerichardson40 wrote: »

I agree with that, the seller was very good and the item is great. I will phone him when I get home on Wednesday (away working at the moment) and ask him about it.

As RainbowDrops said, if it were the other way round, I wouldnt be too pleased. It is surely an oversight.

If, for example I were a mean so and so (which I arent) and decided not to contact him, what would happen?

Assuming this is a phantom bank chargeback, and I am of course only guessing, there are a few things that might happen.

As a seller I could normally protect myself by providing paypal with proof of posting, in this instance your seller might struggle as he foolishly allowed you to send a courier. However in that instance , and assuming seller asked here for advice we would suggest a letter before action to you, and then taking a legal route to persue the money.

Alternatively, if they are sneaky like me and manage to get details of the bank doing the chargeback, (my buyer tried charging back an American Express payment in the US) , they might call the company and ask them to note down details of the case to be attached to the buyers file, rmeinding the bank that should this go to law they may be required to provide further details. Seller might also track you down in other ways- my buyer used a work address email for instance

In my case my buyer was straight back onto me at that point asking why American Express were talking about freezing his account agaianst a potential fraudulent transaction and why his senior partner was so interested in his ebay purchases.

My buyer though had admtted getting my goods and admitted doing a chargeback as his son had spent too much that month and he wanted to teach him a lesson- (I also got the local US Sherrif interested, a lovely man, even called me back at some ungodly hour to say he had visited the family and had a little chat and my money would be refunded that same day)

lukerichardson40

It is a real shame some people are forced to go through things like that. I have had trouble with a bathroom company (not this bath, this was very good) and it is a real pain.

As I said, I will contact the guy when I get home. Like you say, it might be a phantom thing. Whatever the case I will be making sure the chap has his money one way or another.