US dollar transation in ebay mobile app and Paypal, exchange rate applied despite USD primary

[JohninOttawa]

Hello everyone.  This is a strange one to me.  I've made plenty of USD transations in ebay before, have specified USD currency, the transaction shows up as USD and my credit card handles it.  Way cheaper.

Today, I used the ebay app.  linked to Paypal, made the transaction, it shows up in Paypal as USD, but to my surprise, Paypal has gone ahead and applied their exchange rate.  It's a double hit for me as I get the high exchange and lose out on a US dollar discount.  Not happy.

I called Paypal and they said, yes, they can see I was trying to make a transaction in USD but did I click on manage currency conversion in the app?  It doesn't exist there, at least for me.  I walked the customer service agent through that, they basically said, 'oh well, nothing can be done, the transaction has been processed'.  Apparently I would have to cancel the payment to the ebay seller to get this backed out.

Two questions:  One, can anyone find a way to manage currency conversations in paypal when coming from the ebay app?  For me, it just kept bouncing back.  Two, since Paypal handles two transactions, first to the vendor, then clearly a separate one to me with the exchange rate, is it really true that they cannot correct the transaction with me only? 

Thanks

John

[PayPal_david]

Hey JohninOttawa. 

Welcome to the Community!

I'm sorry to hear of the confusion when you were trying to process a payment recently in USD on your PayPal account.

The option to change the currency conversion options should show any time you are completing the checkout process to make a payment. If this is not showing on your account, I will forward this feedback to the relevant teams so that this can be investigated.

If you would like all of your payments to be charged from your card in USD, you can request us to change the currency that is set for your card. This will ensure that you will only be charged in USD to your card in the future. This can be done by sending us an email through the 'Help & Contact' icon at the bottom of any PayPal webpage. 

In your email, please include the last 4 digits of your card and your authorization for us to change the currency of the card. Then we can complete this request for you when your email has been received.

I hope this helps.

David.

[JohninOttawa]

David.  Thanks for your reply and your offer to adjust the card currency.

My card(s) are already set for USD primary currency.  I've made USD transactions successfully in the past. 

What was different this time around was that the transaction was done through the (updated?) ebay app, which, when I tried to access the paypal page, simply bounced back to the ebay app itself.  Paypal payment clearly worked, but there was no option offered to adjust currency options like there is on the normal desktop based access.

So if the missing step is showing the currency conversion option with the purchase, then yes, I think the feedback here is that the ebay app and paypal interface do not do this, at least on an iPhone with the current iOS standard and all apps updated.

What really bugged me about this event though was that, even after I called Paypal to say,  my intention was to stick with USD, the transaction showed me it would process in USD and the conversion happened anyway, the response was, in essence, too bad, the transaction is done.  I have never had a merchant take that approach.  There are two steps to this transaction, payment to the ebay vendor and charging to me.  The 'charging to me' transaction should have been in US dollars, I don't know why Paypal would be intransigent.  I called within minutes of making the transaction.  Simple goodwill would have suggested a different response.

The customer service agent I spoke with (Ash #43631) left me with the impression that I was not being straight or with him or perhaps lacked the ability to comprehend the system.   All I can say to that is that I seem to have figured it out in the past and if someone with a degree in Computer Science can't figure out the subtleties required to get this right, maybe there is a design issue or and update has introduced a new issue.  But in the end, I'm stuck paying more than I planned to. 

So yes, please, if you can take the technical concern back, that would be great.  Along the way, perhaps someone can hear that when a customer takes the time to try and correct a surprise $35 surcharge, insulting their intelligence or integrity in reporting the issue might not go over great.

Cheers

John

[PayPal_AshleyM]

Hey JohninOttawa,

I sincerely appreciate you explaining in such detail, this helps understand the issue so we can ensure it's reported and resolved. Regarding your experience speaking with us about this matter, although it doesn't sound like it was explained appropriately, the basis behind the premise is correct: there isn't a way for us to change the way the transaction was charged only on your end.

Transactions through our system are considered as a whole, therefore there isn't a way for us to split payments into one side or the other. I understand why this is frustrating, especially after your immediate effort to resolve the problem. If you'd like to change the specifics of this transaction, you would need to request a refund from the seller and to send the payment again.

Like you said, it sounds like the root problem is with accessing PayPal from the eBay app, so I'll ensure we get this reported right away. In the meantime, if you do decide to request a refund and to pay again, you may want to complete this through a web browser on your phone or on a computer instead to ensure you have the option to choose who converts.

- Ashley M

[JohninOttawa]

Thanks Ashley.

Ironically, after completing the call (and associated wait times) with the Paypal call centre, I did attempt to cancel the transaction, but by then it had been over an hour and ebay would not permit it. 

Perhaps as an additional request - transactions are considered as a whole.  This sounds like a Paypal policy.  Perhaps that could be reviewed so that things like this aren't a permanent problem like it became for me.

Thanks for your consideration

John

[OrangeLeahy]

I feel your frustration JohninOttawa. I am looking back on three months of CC statements. I always choose to have my CC handle the exchange when paying on my iPhone app (yes I see the option MOST times). Out of 24 transactions 12 they went ahead and applied exchange after I choose to have my CC handle it. A 50% error rate is beyond deplorable. I won't do the math on what it cost me since it's clear PayPal won't make right their errors and it will enrage me further. Time to find... ANY other WAY than using PayPal to PAY. Go ahead and use my jingle PayPal I will only charge you an un-agreed on amount for the privilege.