Temporary Hold on Refund

[fruit_fling]

I paid for something through paypal (not on ebay) but then almost immediately cancelled as I found a problem with my order. I made and cancelled the order on 17/09, got my refund back on 20/09 but it a temporary hold has been placed on it. I understand that this has something to do with the payment actually being taken from my bank account. However, the payment has now cleared from my bank account, but my refund is still being held. Does anyone know how long it will take for my refund to be released? Thanks!

[mello87]

Have a similar problem here.  Godaddy gave me refund, after it took funds out from my paypal, and also my bank account.  My online statement shows that the money came out of my bank on the 6th.  Evidently, the hold hasnt been lifted on the other part of the refund, which you Paypal mods said it would be once debited from the user bank account. 

Can anyone shine some light on this.  Does it take time for Paypal to lift the hold even after the money has left the account holders bank account? 

Thanks

[2dre]

Bad paypal

Holding a refund really takes the biscuit, you know the moneys good when the first paying transaction was made so it wouldnt make any differece to paypal (apart from getting a few days intrest) refunding it straight away.

your always quick to take a payment but it seems your not in any rush to pay it back 

I guess where all the suckers like it or lump it 

[Mkjharris]

If PayPal can front the money to the seller, why can they not front the refund back to the buyer so they can purchase another item? They know they will get their money when it "clears" the bank.

[confusedirish]

Can someone please explain to me why my paypal account states 'COMPLETED'  next to the part of the transaction which states 'Add Funds from a Bank Account'.  I have looked this up on paypal and paypal explain that 'COMPLETED' means and I quote;

Completed

• Adding funds from your bank account: Your funds transfer to your PayPal account has been completed. The funds are now available in your PayPal account.

Yet for some reason I received an email informing me that the refund from a seller to myself for the same transaction which states 'Add Funds from a Bank Account - COMPLETED'   has been put on temporary hold due to and again I quote paypal;

Temporary Hold Information: A temporary hold has been placed on funds that were returned to your account because you used Instant Bank Transfer to fund the original payment. The funds from this payment cannot be released until they have arrived from your bank account, which usually takes three to four working days.

I rang paypal customer services department to ask this question and was informed paypal just updates your account with the word 'COMPLETED' automatically, it doesn't really mean complete, it means pending. 

COME ON paypal, what does 'COMPLETED' mean?

Cause if it means pending, then why have the word pending and say it means;

Pending

• Adding funds from your bank account: You requested a bank transfer. The funds should be in your PayPal account soon.

I want my money back, you have absolutely no right to hold it and no valid reason to be doing so.

[kernowlass]

When they say completed on a bank to paypal transfer or vice versa it does not mean that the money is there it goes from pending to completed when they have completed your request to process the transfer.

They should update their advice thingies.

Hopefully when the new 2 hour transfer that is available in the U.S hits the U.K a lot of these problems will be sorted....doesn't help you at the moment though.

[ALostSoul]

And still this farcical situation hasn't had any solution.

To say it's the bank/.paypal transfer system causing the hold is exactly what others have said.. a way to earn interest on OUR money for themselves.

Pretty much any transaction can be done instantly these days.. don't believe me.. find a friendly bank worker to tell you. My friend works in business banking and assures me it is not anything to do with the banks themselves (not that they're the best run places), it's just some companies hanging on to old reasons to suit their activities.

On to my isue..

 Bought an item and was informed before it was shipped that it was faulty, so agreed to a refund.

Then I had to purchase the item elsewhere but also from Ebay.

So now I have two payments gone from my bank account (debit card so no bs about direct debits) and am overdrawn because of this 'temporary hold' .

Then when I do get a refund it will go to my Paypal account where I'll have to initiate the transfer to my bank account .

All of this time I am out of pocket and Paypal are earning from it.

As said before this is a situation that they could easily resolve if they actually cared about their customers more than the last ounce of profit.

[Beautifyme119]

Hiya, I've got a refund that has been on temporary hold since 8th February, when is the likely to be resolved please?

[kernowlass]

Two reasons for paypal holds on refunds.

1. When you pay a seller it is never instant, paypal pays the seller for you and then starts the process of uploading your funds from your funding source.
If the seller refunds before that payment has completed then you have to wait till it clears through to paypal then the refund is credited to you.

2. A seller can only issue a refund via funds in their paypal balance or an echeque So if its an echeque it has to clear through to the sellers paypal account and then it is credited to you and the hold lifted. That can be about 5 days.

This is because paypal don't "refund in advance" like they do when you pay for an item.

[JJ17]

if there's a temporary hold on an eBay payment, does my paypal balance need to equal that amount? Just curious

[jky11]

It seems to me that vast numbers of transactions being 'held' when it obvious that transfer of funds has been made - smacks of 'high interest account' hoarding by pay pal creaming the interest off the top while you wait, don't be fooled digital transactions are fast the admin is deliberately slow - millions at say 1/4 % per day will add up over time to significant amount of our money in their pockets...n'est pas