Refunded item still pending - I smell a scam

hubb

Well last week I purchased a laptop via an Ebay seller with 98% feedback. I got an email the next day stating they were sorry and had made a mistake with listing the item which was no longer in stock. Shortly after I get a Paypal email confirming that my money is being refunded. Looking in my Paypal account it states it is "pending" (expected to clear 31st Dec). Even worse, today I am thrown into my overdraft as Paypal have still deducted this amount from my linked bank account, even though the amount is supposed to be refunded.

Basically does this seem like a scam (I can list the name of the company) or just Paypal being their usual pain in the backside cocking things up ? If its an issue with Paypal I have no hope in getting any joy from their customer service due the the fact that it is now absolute non existent crap from previous experience this year.

soolin

hubb wrote: »

Well last week I purchased a laptop via an Ebay seller with 98% feedback. I got an email the next day stating they were sorry and had made a mistake with listing the item which was no longer in stock. Shortly after I get a Paypal email confirming that my money is being refunded. Looking in my Paypal account it states it is "pending" (expected to clear 31st Dec). Even worse, today I am thrown into my overdraft as Paypal have still deducted this amount from my linked bank account, even though the amount is supposed to be refunded.

Basically does this seem like a scam (I can list the name of the company) or just Paypal being their usual pain in the backside cocking things up ? If its an issue with Paypal I have no hope in getting any joy from their customer service due the the fact that it is now absolute non existent crap from previous experience this year.

It's neither, it just means the seller withdrew the money from PayPal and doesn't have cleared funds to repay you. If they had to imitate an 'upload' of fu dis from their bank then there is always a delay in getting it cleared - and all the bank holidays will not be helping

If for any reason the refund fails, just open an INR

lindens

They could have done it on purpose as a way to get an interest free loan of your money over the Christmas period, but you will eventually get your money back when the echeque clears (as soolin says they withdrew the money from paypal the minute you paid, and then told you about the "mistake")

soolin

lindens wrote: »

They could have done it on purpose as a way to get an interest free loan of your money over the Christmas period, but you will eventually get your money back when the echeque clears (as soolin says they withdrew the money from paypal the minute you paid, and then told you about the "mistake")

Ah yes the old 'payday loan' trick- I haven't seen that being mentioned for years, but it's certainly the right time of year.

hubb

And now I can't even leave them bad feedback as the transaction is cancelled.

This is the seller

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/stockmustgo?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754

lindens

To be fair they have a massive number of sales and listings so I'm sure errors occur.
Sadly for the OP neither of you have done the wrong thing, no-one has broken any rules, there is a just a loophole that has happened to you. You bought and paid for an item from a legitimate seller. They cancelled the sale for a legitimate reason. They legitimately emptied their paypal account. There is now an echeque on its way to you (slowly)

soolin

hubb wrote: »

And now I can't even leave them bad feedback as the transaction is cancelled.

This is the seller

https://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/stockmustgo?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2754

Find the original sale details or purchase notification and go through that as it should be possible to leave feedback.

pikachoiioo

Similar thing happened to me, bought item, seller had an issue so had to issue me with a refund that took over a week.

I wasn't happy but got my refund on the day the paypal email stated. It wasn't a scam just a ludicrously long refund.

MattSt89

It’s the way refunds work though sometimes you just have to wait for the timeframe for it to clear.

theonlywayisup

If the original payment funds came from your bank then the refund will pend until the outgoing payment is cleared and the return is cleared. Only then will it show in your bank. This usually takes 4-5 days in my experience.

ThinkingOfLinking

soolin wrote: »

Find the original sale details or purchase notification and go through that as it should be possible to leave feedback.

I'm trying to leave feedback for an item which the seller decided to cancel this afternoon with no explanation, a few days after I paid...can't find a way to do so...or to report seller for non performance.