Money Not Refunding To My Banks Account

[JessicaRobyn]

I'm a little ticked atm.

I bought something and had it refunded the next day and noticed that while the money sure has been taken out of my bank account, I have yet to recieve it back.

I did some research and apparently it can take anywhere between 7-30 days for my refund to go through?

What on earth paypal?

I need my money, why does it get held so long? There is no issue taking it away from me, so give it back already.

This just seems rather ridiculous.

[lubecktech]

You have every right to me MORE than a little ticked as there is no reason your money should be tied up formore than 24 hours. PayPal has a problem which they need to fix and it CAN be done if they will just decide to put the effort into it. That might happen when they lose enough customers. If you use a VISA or Mastercard to fund your Paypal account it generally takes a couple of days for them to take money out and deposit it into the seller's account THIS NEEDS TO BE FIXED!!!!! Every other transaction I make with my visa card happens right now and if a merchant refunds money to the account it happens that day. Paypal basically will hold you refund until it is certain it can get funds from the merchant's account only then will it give your money - this usually takes a few days which is totally unacceptable. If the funds were withdrawn from a credit or "debit" (no such word as debit just a way the BANKSTERS try to make you feel like a second class citizen ) they are supposed to go back to that account BUT that does not always happen frequently the money goes to your PayPal balance which you can use to make paypal prchases. Were I you I would go to my  PayPal account on the websstie and check (and keep checking ) my PayPal Balance to see if the money appearsthere. I think it is possible to transfer it to a account from there. After you get your refund you might give seroius consideration to closing your PayPal account. There are alternatives to Ebay where you can find the same stuff from merchants who accept other forms of payment like VISA or Mastercard that don't mess with your finances like PayPal. Hope this helps.

[JessicaRobyn]

I absolutely will be shuting down my account after this experience.

I've worked a customer service job for 2 years now, and if I treated people like this and held their money it would be a disaster and people would be **bleep**.

I can understand it taking 24 hours, but past that is just ridiculous.

The thing that really **bleep** is that now ANOTHER seller has to refund me through paypal and I'm just dreading it.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Welcome to the forums, JessicaRobyn and lubecktech! I can see that you're both frustrated by this, and I hope I can help by clearing up any misunderstanding regarding timeframes.

When you send an Instant Transfer, PayPal actually pays your seller up front for you, immediately. That's why paying through PayPal is such a fast way to pay!  We then wait the 3-4 business days that it takes for your funds to clear in the background. This typically goes so smoothly that most people don't even realize that there's more to it than just clicking and sending their payment. 

If the seller refunds the payment before the funds have fully cleared from your bank, PayPal notes that in both accounts. PayPal hasn't actually yet received the money from your bank at that point, but the funds are already en route. That's why when a payment is refunded before the funds have finished making their way to PayPal from your bank, the refund is "held". As soon as the money comes from the bank, it's released for you to spend or withdraw, as you see fit.

Let me know if you have any more questions!

Olivia

[Ranger63]

Olivia.. I ran a business for 20 years.

I'd have been OUT of business in 2 days had I waited till a customer complained before informing he or she about why service would be delayed or payments for parts would be late.

Pay Pal HAS some serious issues.

Accd. To the Buffalo NY District of the SAG there's more than a few folks who have been waiting well over 'a few' days' to have funds restored into their bank accounts.

In a day and age where many folks are going with Debit cards vs Credit Cards Pay Pal NEEDS to issue a disclaimer with every pay pal transaction which lets the user know that if-for any reason-the transaction isn't completed and a refund is issued by the seller, their accounts will not be automatically credited.

Thank God I called HSBC to verify my account status!

What if I'd written checks on funds I thought were back in my account but wern't?

[lubecktech]

The bottom line is the situation needs to be corrected but this won't happen until they lose enough business. Twenty-Four hours is MORE than a reasonable amount of time to provide a transfer of any kind. When I was a child things were different and transfers taking 3 or 4 days was understandable but we now have a technology that makes even twenty-four hours a very long time. The problem is, in great part greed, on the part of PayPal and the other companies who facilitate money transfers. The longer the amount of time they can hang on to any amount of money the more interest they can collect. In some cases these companies loan out the money they are transferring so if the transfers were instantenous they could not do this. PayPal pays the sellers up front because if the didn't they entire sales process would take too long and their service would would have little value. In other words they have to - but when it comes to they customer they have you by the short hairs. The loss of a few customers pales in comparison to the expense of refunding their money in a timley fashion. The best solution is not to do business with them and let the sellers who accept PayPal exclusivly know it.

To the original poster watch your PayPal balance not your bank account as it is likley the refund will appear there first.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi everyone!

lubecktech - PayPal, like many other money transfer services, uses the ACH (automated clearing house) process to clear funds. This is a process that helps keep the cost of transferring money lower, which enables us to keep our fees lower for our customers. Because transactions are grouped together and processed in batches, this process typically takes 3-4 business days.

lfruth13 - Refunds for bank-funded payments are returned to your balance. If the refund is performed by the seller before the funds have cleared from your bank account, the refund is held until the original funds clear. At that point, you can withdraw the funds to your bank or spend them, whichever you prefer.

Ranger63 - PayPal does put the funds back into your bank account upon request. For security, this request is made by logging into your PayPal account and initiating the withdrawal process.

I hope this helps!

Olivia

[lfruth13]

Thats the problem the money had already been pulled from my bank account before the seller requested a cancellation on the item i ordered. So I do not see why i would take 30 days to give it back to me...

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi lfruth13,

You're right, it shouldn't take 30 days, and it doesn't! If you paid by bank, it takes 3-5 business days for the funds to clear from your U.S. bank (the timeframes differ in some other countries) all the way through to PayPal. If the seller refunds before that process is complete, the funds are held until it does. You then have access to your funds right away after that. You can spend the funds immediately, or withdraw them back to your bank (which would take another 3-5 business days).

I'm not sure where the original poster heard the 30 day timeframe. If it was a credit or debit card funded payment, it might take the card issuer a full billing cycle to update their records, but if it was a bank-funded payment, then the timeframes I mentioned above will apply.

I hope this helps!

Olivia

[Ranger63]

Olivia (and everyone else who's posted)

Here's the line by line from my PayPal account.

Account Bal. 0.00

Credit to credit card unique transaction ID# 40-------------------3V

Date Feb. 17 2011  Tyoe Payment to _____ _________    Status recieved        Amount $111.00 USD

Related transaction

Date                                                  Type                                  Status                                    Amount

Feb 17,2011                                charge from Credit card           completed                     $111.00

Feb.18,2011                                Refund                                         completed                     $111.00

Feb  18,2011                               Credit to Credit card                   completed                     $111.00

Total Amount    $111.00 USD

Fee Amt. $0.00 USD

Net amount -$111.00   (please note the minus)

Date Feb. 18,2011

Time   07:49.01 pst

Status   Completed

Ok everyone, What does this say to all of you?

Says to me the money was credited back to the HSBC debit card..right?

Wrong.

The HSBC account is still minus the $111.00

Care to comment Olivia?

Cause in my neighborhood this is called ...theft.

Ranger63