Cash advance fee

takman

Pollycat wrote: »

Thanks.

I've emailed the seller and they've sent me a reply saying they're closed (it was yesterday) but will get back to me.
I'm not sure if it's an automated response.

I'll see what they have to say before taking any further action but I will definitely take it up with Ebay and Paypal if I get no joy.
I'm not going to let this go.

I'm thinking the best thing is for them to cancel the payment altogether and I'll pay again with the right Merchant Category.
Then I can argue with the credit card company that the £3.00 should be removed as I didn't have a cash advance.
Does this sound sensible? And do-able?

I would send the jewellery back......but I love it, it's out-of-the-ordinary.
I would have paid an extra £3.00 for it - but that's not the point, is it.


It's actually made me wonder.......
they're not a big Ebay seller - around 600 feedback - but maybe I'm the first one to notice about the cash advance fee.

Yes I would say getting a refund and then explaining to the credit card company the mistake is the best course of action. You can also show evidence of what you bought so I can't see them refusing to refund you the £3.

But when you pay again be careful the same thing doesn't happen. Most people probably pay by debit card or direct debit so haven't noticed this before.
I wouldn't be surprised if you get a confused response from them not understanding the problem because they haven't set it up right in the first place so must not know much about it.

Pollycat

Well, I've had a reply from the eBay seller:

[FONT=&quot]Hi, I have been on the phone to ebay and paypal for the last hour, and ebay and paypal have both confirmed that there is nothing wrong with the transaction or the way our account is set up. Finally Paypal said that your credit card provider (probably American Express) were doing a security check on certain transactions and that you will get reinbursed for this in the coming weeks, if you want to contact Paypal yourself they will verify this and advise you further if you wish to chase it up,

[/FONT]

The credit card provider isn't AMEX, it's MBNA.

I'm waiting for a response from them after my OH (main account holder) went back to them to tell them it wasn't a cash transaction and that I'd bought 2 very similar items on eBay, paid by Paypal (private sellers though) as well as items from eBay business sellers which didn't incur a fee (none of those were classed as 'money transfer' under Merchant category name.

Thoughts?

Thanks

chattychappy

bearcat16 wrote: »

It's not just the fee, credit card cash advances are recorded by credit reference agencies and adversely affect your file.

Lenders consider someone who uses a credit card for a cash advance as either in desperate straits or poor at managing their finances.

I'd be highly annoyed!

Nonsense. A few cash advances will have little or no impact and this was just a one-off. I draw cash out weekly on CC, sometimes multiple times a week. It's the cheapest way for me to get foreign cash. I have no problems getting new CCs, limit raises etc.

I can only assume it's negative when combined with other factors - eg close to your limit, paying minimums or missed payments.

Of course the OP is right to be upset by what has happend, but a single cash advance on the credit reference agency is nothing to worry about.

adindas

bearcat16 wrote: »

It's not just the fee, credit card cash advances are recorded by credit reference agencies and adversely affect your file.
!

I wonder where did you get this information from ??? Any link ??

If you search it a lot of people in this froum are using Halifax Clarity card to withdrawal cash advances abroad it will never be any report effecting their credit worthyness.

MSE also recommend this as one of the way to withdraw foriegn currency ...

eskbanker

The MSE credit rating article includes as point 14:

Don't withdraw cash on credit cards

This is both expensive to do, as interest is higher and you're charged it even if you repay in full each month. Crucially, many lenders see it as evidence of poor money management skills.

The one exception is withdrawing cash on a specialist card abroad. See Overseas Credit Card ATM Withdrawals for full info and why they're not too bad.

That doesn't make it an unarguable fact though, and their assertion about how it's seen by lenders doesn't specify whether this is only seen by your direct lender or via CRAs....

Pollycat

TBH, I'm not that concerned about this having a negative impact on our credit file.

It's the principle - I bought an item for £x and expected to pay £x for it, not £x + 5%.

So our credit card company have come back to us and said:

Many thanks for your reply.

I understand your frustration with this, I can see in our previous messages that colleagues have advised you that payments made through PayPal will be classed as cash or a quasi-cash transaction, to also confirm that as the merchant is listed as a pawnbroker they are processing this transaction through PayPal as this type of service and it is the merchant and PayPal themselves who are listing it in such a way that we are then charging you accordingly, as such because the fee is correct we are unable to refund these charges.

To me, it's clear that it's the way the seller put the transaction through - 'Merchant category Name' as 'Money Transfer' - that has triggered this fee by our credit card provider.

That's despite what the seller says:

[FONT=&quot]Hi, I have been on the phone to ebay and paypal for the last hour, and ebay and paypal have both confirmed that there is nothing wrong with the transaction or the way our account is set up. Finally Paypal said that your credit card provider (probably American Express) were doing a security check on certain transactions and that you will get reinbursed for this in the coming weeks, if you want to contact Paypal yourself they will verify this and advise you further if you wish to chase it up,[/FONT]

I don't care what paypal & ebay have said to the seller - they've put a transaction through as 'money transfer' and it's cost me an extra 5%.

Next step will be paypal, I think.

Any more advice for me?

Thanks

lisyloo

It's not correct. I would go through the PayPal resolution center and ask for the £3 back. the seller will get a chance to respond during the process.

I use Halifax clarity abroad multiple times a year and concur that it does not have a negative effect if your affairs are in order.

King_Of_Fools

Remember that as well as the £3 fee, MBNA will also be charging you interest on the full amount of the transaction until you pay it off.

Pollycat

King_Of_Fools wrote: »

Remember that as well as the £3 fee, MBNA will also be charging you interest on the full amount of the transaction until you pay it off.

:eek: I'll pass that information on to the boss.

earlywormgetsthebird

SnowTiger wrote: »

Was the payment made via ebay? Does it appear under your list of ebay transactions?

Ah... yes. Just over a week ago this popular snowtiger person, condescendingly put to me: "What part of... don't you understand!?"

As that's the way you like to talk to people who raise a legitimate concern, then what part of this, the OP's first sentence above, don't *you* understand?

"I bought an item of 2nd hand jewellery from eBay using my Paypal account..."