Hi kind PayPal Community,
Please be gentle on a newbie. 😉
I am NOT a seller on PayPal - or anywhere, really. Yesterday, a stranger unexpectedly credited £111 to my a/c. Yes, it was really there - not just a scam email saying I'd been credited.
I raised this with PayPal as unexplained/unexpected, and asked them what to do, but have still not received a reply - except the automated nonsense, which didn't help.
In the meantime, the sender emailed me, apologising, and saying it had been a mistake, and pressing me to send it back.
At this point I'm a little uncomfortable, as I don't know much about how PayPal works, and wasn't sure if this could be a technique used for fraud - i.e. send money, get the recipient to refund it, then rescind the payment - collect twice!
I explained I'd already contacted PayPal for advice, and would like to wait for that - which he seemed OK about.
This morning, he pressed me AGAIN for a refund, and urged I phone PayPal - which I did. I don't think they really understood the situation, or why I was wary, but DID say he wouldn't be able to cancel the payment from his end, as it was already in my a/c, so should be safe to send it right back.
Used the Refund button, checked the form, added a little msg for him, and requested to make the refund - I THOUGHT. Wrote & told him it's done and on the way.
But now, when I look at the a/c, the £111 is still sitting there, the Refund button is still available,and the activity is NOT showing I have an outgoing payment pending. So, IS he being refunded? Where can I see?
I'm concerned he'll think I'm trying to con him and keep the money. But I don't want to hit the Refund button again, in case it goes twice.
As an aside, I gather there may be a small handling fee for refunds. Is this true? If so, it may be why it wouldn't go, as I have NO balance on my account for fees - only the £111 I'm trying to send back. And why should I pay anything to return something that was paid to me in error in the first place? I'm the innocent party, just trying to do the decent thing.
Advice please?
