Online credit card purchases are NOT as safe as you might think!!!!!

akahomer

I would be grateful if you could let your readers know about this problem I have with both Paypal and Barclaycard.
It is a very common belief that should you make an online purchase using your credit card you are safe and that if things go wrong you can get your money back. How wrong can that be in this instance!
Before Xmas I brought a bike from an online shop Smarts Department Stores when it arrived it was not as described on the website. To purchase the bike I put in my credit card details into their website and as the transaction went through they directed me via paypal who they were using as an intermeadury to deal with credit card payments. Now at this point I thought using both paypal and Barclaycard my purchase was a safe bet.
Now it appears that the Smarts Department stores no longer exists and I am stuck with a bike that was incorrectly described on their website.
Both Barclaycard and Paypal both refuse to do anything regarding this matter. I think your readers should know that even using a Barclaycard through Paypal that your internet purchases are not safe and that the common belief that you are safe is far from true.

jonesMUFCforever

The fact that the website 'pushed' you towards Paypal would have made alarm bells ring for me.

What is exactly wrong with the bike?

Are you able to resell to recover your costs?

akahomer

I am amazed that you think that way about paypal millions of transactions every week are made through it and most people regard it as a safe way to pay for goods online.

With regard to the bike it was the wrong colour and didnt have some of the features that were on the one we thought we were buying.......and you know how fickle kids can be about the smallest of things.

On top of that the bike received was prob worth around 10-20 quid less than the one we expected.

PBA

It's Barclaycard that you need to deal with. If the goods you ordered aren't received as described then Barclaycard as the card issuer can claim the money back for you. You will need to have proof that you've sent the wrong item back before they can start a claim though.

dazza.mk

per Barclaycard / Paypal you didn't use your credit card to purchase the bike. You used your credit card to buy e-money from Paypal and then used the e-money to buy the bike.

Its this 'transaction flow' that Paypal have come up with to enable them to avoid some circumstances that are laid down in law for Credit Card processors.

A grey area which (as far as I am aware) still has to be tested in the courts.

BenL

I think the above cannot be done as the payment was made via Paypal.

Barclaycards agreement is with Paypal and they have done exactly what was asked of them.

Paypal have acted as an agent collecting money for the bike supplier.

Barclaycard cannot get the money back from paypal as between these 2 companies there have been no issues.

If the transaction was directly done between barclaycard and bike supplier there would be a course of action to take.

Good luck with sorting out the problem but I hear its a nightmare with Paypal being involved.

PBA

Normally I'd agree, if OP had bought an item off eBay, separately logged in to his Paypal account and transferred the money then he's requested Paypal to provide a cash advance, which they've done so nothing for Barclaycard to do. However in this case it sounds like the website were using Paypal as their merchant services provider. If OP wasn't given any other option of how to pay, was just given a screen to enter his credit card details which was then processed by Paypal, then he's not requested a transfer of e-money to anyone, he's requested to buy a bike on his credit card!

BenL wrote: »

If the transaction was directly done between barclaycard and bike supplier there would be a course of action to take.

But there would always be a middleman there, as the merchant would be using a merchant services company like Streamline or Worldpay to process the payment. The fact that in this case the merchant services company is Paypal shouldn't make things any different.

akahomer

At the end of the day I have had an email from paypal ruling in my favor in this dispute and they have said they can do nothing to help.

So using the trusted Paypal is NOT safe when making purchases online.

I used my Barclaycard to make the purchase and they are unwilling to do anything regarding this dispute.

So using your trusted Barclaycard is NOT safe when making purchases online.

I am extremely annoyed because I did what is widely considered the right thing in making an internet purchase and contrary to popular belief you are NOT safe when using trusted and recommended (even via this website) methods of making an online purchase.

I do not expect to get anywhere with getting my money refunded I am only posting so that honest people don’t fall into the same trap as I have.

chappers

I think this highlights a lot of the problem buying online. Many online suppliers may have just set up selling from their garage etc. There needs to be some responsibility taken on ourselves as consumers to use reputable companies.
My analogy would be if you buy from say Debenhams you would expect to be able to go back next week and complain(whether online or in store) however if you buy off a guy down the market don't expect him to necessarily be there next week when you want to complain.
Too many people just shop on line willy nilly without haveing any idea who they may be dealing with