SNAFU by PP err by Scrooge McFuferDuck

[Exasperated2]

I am so frustrated by my most recent experience I will be looking for future options for sending payments. And also, I was about to sign up a non-profit for an account (I am a Board Member) I am seriously rethinking all my relationships with PP as a result of this cluster of **bleep**-ups.

1) The (new to me) webpage for sending payments seemed like an improvement.  The vendor I most frequently send payments to was right there for me to click on to begin a new payment.  End of the good news!

Next there appeared a window with two payment boxes.  How much I wanted to send in USD (or other currency) and another to the right how much they were to receive in USD or other currency.  I entered the amount I wanted to send in USD.  A window popped up telling me there was a problem and I should call customer service.  I tried a couple of more times since this didn't seemed logical. All failed, so I called PP CSR.  The person who answered had some difficulty with the english language.  I try to be kind in these situations but when I am calling a US company about a problem in the US, I really think I should be able to speak with somone with better or at least better than average language skills.

He was not very helpful and didn't understand the problem I was having.  He checked my account and there was nothing wrong there.  I went back to the page to recreate the problem so that I could spek as clearly as possible about the way I experienced it.  This barely helped.  Then I accidentally clicked on the other box for how much I wanted them to recieve in USD and the problem was gone.  The payment went through. So this was a problem created by PP web design.  Not a problem with my account or anything the CSR could have fixed.

2) I thought (assumed!) that since I had over $600 balance in my account and I was sending over $700. that PP would take the $600. in funds and debit one of my two banks accounts for the balance <$100 USD.  WAS I EVER WRONG.

Instead PP debited one of my bankl accounts for the entire $700 amount.  WHY?  WTF?

3) PP thereby over drew that particular account.  I found this out also accidentally...  read on...

4) I am used to sending funds and was not aware that there is such a thing as an E-check or that this is different from a funds transfer.  HELLO !!!  Big difference.  E CHECKS take time to clear and on foriegn transactions this can be lengthy.  SO NEVER use an echeck if you expect to have something shipped within a week or two.

My overseas vendor **bleep** up and delayed a delivery by several weeks. One that was due before Christmas.  It was finally ready I sent the payment as above.  Then he tells me he has to wait for the check to clear...  WHAT?  I had over $600. in cash held by PP, the balance was $76 USD and I had two bank accounts from which they could secure payment.  I thought I was sending funds that would be available right away. And therefore the shipment would go out immediately.  NOPE

The payment was made E-CHECK because of the $76 difference.

So I call PP CSR, they tell me that I need to have a debit card registered to make a funds transfer. I thought I had one in the past but it was no longer showing on my account.  So I tried to add one.  The card would not go through.  I asked the CSR about this, she said it was rejected by the bank. 

So I call my bank.They told me my account was over drawn. This is how I find out that instead of using the $600+ available cash on hand in my PP account they decided to debit my bank account for the total >$700.00  - -  -  OVER DRAWING MY BANK ACCOUNT!

Thanks Paypal.  Merry Freakin Christmas!

Now, I will have an overdraft, I have been on the phone three times with PP CSR's and it is 8pm overseas so there is no chance my shipment will be sent out today.

The seemingly best option is for my vendor to cancel the payment because as it turns out the ECHECK won't clear anyway.  That will immediately return funds to my PP account but not to my bank account.  WTH is this? It will take 3-5 business days to send the funds back to my bank.  THIS IS NUTZ!

I want to send the funds asap BUT, I can't add my debit card to the PP account because my bank account is overdrawn. So I can't send funds at all so I am now caught in Paypal and Bank transfer **bleep**.

And there is no way I can foresee getting my merchandise before Christmas.

Therefore  Paypal is this years SCROOGE!  Thanks FOLKS!

[sharpiemarker]

PayPal changed the way payment methods work a couple months ago.  

"As of October 31, 2016, you will be able to select a preferred funding method for payments made through the regular checkout process as well as Goods and Services via Send Money. You will also have the option to select a different preferred method for online purchases vs. in-store purchases."

The recent change may also have reset payment methods but may not on the checkout page due to site cookies or some such so do not assume that the payment method you see during checkout is the one PayPal will use. You have to make sure you select or double check your payment method as you are making payment.  To make sure you’re using the payment method you want, check the Review Your Payment or Information page while making payment.  I suggest, even though it may say the payment method you want, to click the Change link to make certain you got the right payment method.  I would even select something else and switch it back to the method I want to be certain.

PayPal recently used my credit card as payment method for shipping labels but on the shipping form, it said that the money will be from my PayPal balance and has always taken money from my balance.  I did select my credit card as my preferred method in my account but that didn't reconcile the problem. So I prepared a test label and when I got to the part where it says payment method, I clicked edit, a pop up appeared with the only option being my balance.  My card was not listed so how could it be my payment method, right?  So then came time for me to ship again but this time, I clicked the edit link and selected PayPal balance and sure enough this time, payment was taken from my balance.  Therefore, I would have to go in and select my preferred payment method each time I make a payment.

You can have the seller cancel the payment.  Hopefully, that will stop PayPal making multiple attempts to take money from your bank, if the initial one fails.  Then get your bank to refund the NSF.  

Read about how eChecks and instant transfers work:

https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/what-is-an-echeck-faq1082