08000857609 very rude and harassing call from PayPal regarding negative balance

maxwilkes

My account currently has a negative balance of £595 due to a mobile phone contract security deposit being taken out (at the time of PayPal express checkout I was under the impression I was only paying a £20 setup fee). After the order was processed I was informed that they required a £595 security deposit and this amount had been charged to the payment method I gave. Rather than decline the transaction which it should have done PayPal instead took it upon themselves to pay it for me and then tried to debit my bank about a week later. Anyway...that's the bad news... The good news is that security deposit is FULLY REFUNDABLE after 3 months. So I contacted PayPal via their message centre to inform them of this and all I got was a copied and pasted response about how to add funds to my PayPal. Anyway, today I received a phone call from 08000857609 (which actually showed up as SPAM on my phone) from an Irish lady claiming to be from PayPal. She was VERY VERY VERY rude and aggressive demanding I commit to adding £150 next Friday and subsequent payments every 7 days and said that even if I did commit to this there was no guarantee that the account wouldn't be closed and passed to collections as apparently the whole process is automated and they can't agree payment plan resolutions to prevent collections from happening as it's all automated and they don't have control over the system. When I started saying that most companies try to come to a resolution that benefits both parties as amicably as possible she started to get very rude and aggressive claiming that they're not most companies and started getting angry. At which point I said this is very unprofessional and put the phone down. What the hell just happened? And what do I do now?

Browntoa

So basically you owe PayPal £595 that you haven't paid back.

The security deposit needs to be refunded to PayPal by the people you took the contract with , it's nothing to do with paypal

They are correctly chasing the debt .

k3lvc

So you've lumbered PayPal with a 3 month debt of nearly £600 and expect them to do nothing about it.

If I were you now I'd either repay the balance you owe them to bring your account back to the terms you signed up to - alternatively you sit back and wait for the letters to come in and potentially trash your credit file

Aylesbury_Duck

maxwilkes said:

My account currently has a negative balance of £595 due to a mobile phone contract security deposit being taken out (at the time of PayPal express checkout I was under the impression I was only paying a £20 setup fee). After the order was processed I was informed that they required a £595 security deposit and this amount had been charged to the payment method I gave. Rather than decline the transaction which it should have done PayPal instead took it upon themselves to pay it for me and then tried to debit my bank about a week later. Anyway...that's the bad news... The good news is that security deposit is FULLY REFUNDABLE after 3 months. So I contacted PayPal via their message centre to inform them of this and all I got was a copied and pasted response about how to add funds to my PayPal. Anyway, today I received a phone call from 08000857609 (which actually showed up as SPAM on my phone) from an Irish lady claiming to be from PayPal. She was VERY VERY VERY rude and aggressive demanding I commit to adding £150 next Friday and subsequent payments every 7 days and said that even if I did commit to this there was no guarantee that the account wouldn't be closed and passed to collections as apparently the whole process is automated and they can't agree payment plan resolutions to prevent collections from happening as it's all automated and they don't have control over the system. When I started saying that most companies try to come to a resolution that benefits both parties as amicably as possible she started to get very rude and aggressive claiming that they're not most companies and started getting angry. At which point I said this is very unprofessional and put the phone down. What the hell just happened? And what do I do now?

Put the perceived rudeness to one side for a moment.  Do you owe the money?  It sounds like they tried but failed to get the money from your bank account.  If you didn't read or understand what you were agreeing to and you do owe the money, they are entitled to chase it.  Your willingness to entertain an amicable solution suggest you know you owe the money.

The perceived rudeness is a separate matter and doesn't cancel your debt with them.  Worthy of a complaint? Possibly, but don't tie the two matters together.

maxwilkes

Browntoa said:

So basically you owe PayPal £595 that you haven't paid back.

The security deposit needs to be refunded to PayPal by the people you took the contract with , it's nothing to do with paypal

They are correctly chasing the debt .

I have no issue with them chasing the debt, in fact I've been trying to get hold of them via their message centre to come to an agreement whereby the issue is resolved as amicably as possible...

The issue I do have though is how rude they were and how unwilling they were to resolve the situation. Most companies will try to help you to resolve situations like this with helpful advisors, payment plans, etc etc.

This particular lady was very rude and aggressive and told me on numerous occasions during the call that they don't agree payment resolutions and they don't operate like the other companies I described. She even raised her voice at me at one point as I was trying to explain my situation along with the steps that I can reasonably take to resolve the issue and she didn't seem to give a toss...at all. That, is VERY unprofessional.

Aylesbury_Duck

maxwilkes said:

Browntoa said:

So basically you owe PayPal £595 that you haven't paid back.

The security deposit needs to be refunded to PayPal by the people you took the contract with , it's nothing to do with paypal

They are correctly chasing the debt .

I have no issue with them chasing the debt, in fact I've been trying to get hold of them via their message centre to come to an agreement whereby the issue is resolved as amicably as possible...

The issue I do have though is how rude they were and how unwilling they were to resolve the situation. Most companies will try to help you to resolve situations like this with helpful advisors, payment plans, etc etc.

This particular lady was very rude and aggressive and told me on numerous occasions during the call that they don't agree payment resolutions and they don't operate like the other companies I described. She even raised her voice at me at one point as I was trying to explain my situation along with the steps that I can reasonably take to resolve the issue and she didn't seem to give a toss...at all. That, is VERY unprofessional.

And?  You owe them £595 and have done for three months.  Why should they agree to an "amicable solution" when you've already had a free loan?

Again, you seem to think that perceived rudeness releases you from some or all of your obligation to pay them £595.  Now.  Not in some sort of payment plan over several weeks or months.  If they don't want to entertain that, that's their prerogative.

As advised above, you can complain as much as you like about the manner of their dealings with you, but that's nothing compared to the very real effects of a trashed credit history.

Browntoa

You still haven't answered "why has the security deposit not been refunded "

Spank

This should be in PVW as a vent.
You've put yourself in a £600 overdraft and you need to pay it off. They don't have to be nice and understanding about it, they don't care if they hurt your feelings, they care that they get their money back.

Not what you want to hear, but it's the truth.

maxwilkes

Browntoa said:

You still haven't answered "why has the security deposit not been refunded "

The debit is just under 2 weeks old...the security deposit will be refunded in 3 months from 2 weeks ago if that makes sense.

Browntoa

With PayPal checkout there is always a summary of what you are paying before you authorise it . It appears you failed to read this .

maxwilkes

Browntoa said:

With PayPal checkout there is always a summary of what you are paying before you authorise it . It appears you failed to read this .

At the time of placing my order it said £20.00 to be paid today. After that the amount showed as "Pending" in PayPal. About an hour later that amount changed to £595.00 and I got an email informing me about the security deposit.