PayPal Debt from my Teenager!

EachPenny

2e0arr wrote: »

I'm not quite sure about someone under 18 setting up a direct debit agreement because I think Ive heard that an under 18 cannot sign a legal agreement for a mobile phone contract.
Maybe thats a companies own rules or code of practice or Law I'm not sure. If it is law then surely that would mean they could set up a direct debit as means of paying something ?

A mobile phone contract is usually a credit agreement - you agree to buy a phone and typically pay them eyewatering interest on the loan, but all you see is the 'reasonable' monthly charge. The law requires you to be old enough to understand what you are getting yourself into.

If you open a bank account you enter into a legal agreement. You can be under 18 and still do this.

d123

EachPenny wrote: »

A mobile phone contract is usually a credit agreement - you agree to buy a phone and typically pay them eyewatering interest on the loan, but all you see is the 'reasonable' monthly charge.

A mobile phone contract is not usually a credit agreement (in terms of the Consumer Credit Act) it's a service contract.

There are a few exceptions, like Virgin and o2 Refresh where a separate credit agreement is signed for the handset, but a traditional mobile phone contract isn't.

davethorp

Paypal!!!8217;s systems allow people with confirmed paypal accounts to choose instant bank transfer as a funding method. In this case paypal will immediately pay the retailer and debit the money by direct debit a few days later. If the direct debit fails the funds are usually taken by a backup credit/debit card. If that fails the account will go into negative balance. The system is widely open to abuse in the wrong hands and I!!!8217;m really not sure why paypal offer it. It sounds from the OP that the transactions to sony were made using instant bank transfer so paypal paid sony before they had received the funds

A few people have mentioned the possibility of criminal proceedings. I highly doubt a company the size of paypal would resort to this in the OP!!!8217;s son!!!8217;s case. Given the relatively small sums involved we!!!8217;d be looking at a very minor fine were this an adult case let alone a case involving a minor.

One person also sarcastically asked if paypal should carry out credit and ID checks when opening an account. That!!!8217;s not really an unreasonable expectation from a provider providing financial services. Speaking from personal experience I!!!8217;ve had an number of credit searches relating to my paypal accounts for !!!8220;administration reviews!!!8221; so I!!!8217;d be surprised if they didn!!!8217;t search the OP!!!8217;s son!!!8217;s file so that really should have flagged something up. However I!!!8217;ve heard of instances before of under 18!!!8217;s getting other forms of credit such as mobile phone contracts (although as D123 points out not all mobile phone contracts are subject to credit agreements) when they were under 18 such as when my ex girlfriend!!!8217;s sister obtained and defaulted on a mobile phone contract with O2 when they were 17 by simply altering their year of birth. Mechanisms are in place (or should be in place) for companies to prevent this though

davethorp

Also seriously MSE sort this issue out with certain punctuation marks. Been going on far too long now

masonic

davethorp wrote: »

Paypal!!!8217;s systems allow people with confirmed paypal accounts to choose instant bank transfer as a funding method. In this case paypal will immediately pay the retailer and debit the money by direct debit a few days later. If the direct debit fails the funds are usually taken by a backup credit/debit card. If that fails the account will go into negative balance. The system is widely open to abuse in the wrong hands and I!!!8217;m really not sure why paypal offer it. It sounds from the OP that the transactions to sony were made using instant bank transfer so paypal paid sony before they had received the funds

Paypal offer it to save money on card processing fees and chargeback claims. That's why it becomes the default payment method ahead of cards registered to the account - to many people's annoyance. With processing fees having dropped considerably in recent years, and the advent of faster payments, it's probably time they reviewed its place in their payment options now virtually anyone can fund their account within minutes.

2e0arr

Some years ago I was involved with a College, not a very good one but that's another story. The Lecturers who taught the 16 years olds straight from school on the first meeting would discuss health and safety in the Laboratories and make each student sign that they were aware of the dangers etc and misbehave etc. However its was just for show they said because apparently the document they signed was not enforceable by the college and the reason i was told is because they are under age to sign a legal document. Now knowing the college this could be totally wrong info but it crossed mind that if this is true can they sign a legal agreement involving finance and a direct debit arrangement.

But then again can you claw back to your account direct debits you have made to a company ?

2e0arr

davethorp wrote: »

Also seriously MSE sort this issue out with certain punctuation marks. Been going on far too long now

Do you edit away from the forum and then paste into it ? if you do consider editing in another app and say as a .txt file whihc might hopefully remove owrd processing formating for say a doc file. Then re-paste from the saved text file ? hope this helps

davethorp

2e0arr wrote: »

Do you edit away from the forum and then paste into it ? if you do consider editing in another app and say as a .txt file whihc might hopefully remove owrd processing formating for say a doc file. Then re-paste from the saved text file ? hope this helps

I type directly into the forum software through a web browser. It’s a known issue but also has been a known issue for several weeks. MSE really should have fixed it by now.

My earlier post contained a lot of information relevant to this thread but because of MSEs glitch I’m sure a lot of people would consider it tldr

sheramber

As far as I can see when opening a Paypal account you tick a box to say you have read and agree to the Paypal User Agreement.
That agreement says
1.7 Eligibility. To be eligible for our Services, you must (i) be a resident of one of the countries listed on the PayPal Worldwide page; (ii) have full legal capacity to enter into a contract; and (iii) if you are an individual, be at least 18 years old

he further lied to the debt collection agency by pretending he was 18 and setting up a repayment plan.

At no point does the OP say that Paypal were aware her son was under 18.

2e0arr

sheramber wrote: »

As far as I can see when opening a Paypal account you tick a box to say you have read and agree to the Paypal User Agreement.
That agreement says
1.7 Eligibility. To be eligible for our Services, you must (i) be a resident of one of the countries listed on the PayPal Worldwide page; (ii) have full legal capacity to enter into a contract; and (iii) if you are an individual, be at least 18 years old

he further lied to the debt collection agency by pretending he was 18 and setting up a repayment plan.

At no point does the OP say that Paypal were aware her son was under 18.

A good point but what action can they take against him and can they prove it was her son. If they keep quiet they would have to go to extremes to have enough evidence. Paypal have given it up as bad job if the sold it to a money collector.

If a money collector turns up at your door nothing they can do.

The real message if this is true how did paypal allow this to happen ?

I do not think Paypal are a pukka bank in the UK although i think they follow rulings from FCA and the FO voluntarily.