Does credit card via Paypal offer same protection?

Polly

Have booked holiday accommodation via internet and paid with my credit card via Paypal. Can someone tell me if this offers me the same protection as if I had paid the company directly with my card. Sounds obvious I suppose but I need to be sure. Got a deal that's almost too good to be true.

albalad

Not 100% sure , but i believe paypal is regarded as a cash advance so is therefore not quite as secure as a credit card....but as i said i'm not certain

charlie12

You can do a chargeback with your credit card so yeah, you still have protection.

MarkyMarkD

Eh?

I don't think so, charlie.

If you buy something on paypal, with a credit card, there are two transactions.

The credit card transaction to buy credit off paypal - which has gone through correctly and therefore cannot be charged back.

And the paypal purchase to buy stuff off the merchant - which isn't a credit card transaction and to which CCA Section 75 protection therefore doesn't apply.

You MAY be able to recover funds through paypal, but you certainly can't do it using by claiming from the credit card under CCA section 75 protection.

charlie12

You're partly right MarkyMarkD, however, it's still possible to do a chargeback as many card providers will allow it regardless of the fact that the transaction goes through correctly through Paypal.

Card providers will claim the money off Paypal, and Paypal will automatically recover the funds from the recipient's account (plus fees). They can take it from their Paypal balance, credit card, or issue a debt collector to recover the funds. Paypal don't care as they'll recover their money, the buyer gets their money back from the CC company, and the only person who loses out is the seller. The seller can dispute this but it's a very specific process and Paypal tend to favour the buyer.

This is what many scammers do (e.g. on eBay) . There are many, many stories on sites like https://www.paypalsucks.com

I would never accept Paypal unless I know the buyer to be trustworthy. But I'm perfectly happy to buy with it

Polly

I would be happier if I could just have paid the company directly with my credit card but they do not accept such payments. It does sound as though I will have some recourse but still uneasy.