Temporary Hold placed on my refund!!!!

[slhixsons]

So I'm guessing that the problem that I am having with getting my refund put back into my paypal account is happening to a lot of others!!!!! I purchased a pair of shoes from ebay on the 16th. On the 19th the seller contacted me and said that one of the shoes was damaged so she was going to refund the money. I told her to refund the money on the 19th, and she did. That's not the problem.....the problem is.....It is exactly 4 days till Christmas and I need to order another pair of shoes, but until paypal takes the temporary hold off of my refund I won't have the money to purchase another pair of shoes!!!!!!! If paypal can front the money to the seller in order to get them paid in a timely manner, then they should be able to front the money to me, so that I can order another pair of shoes!!!!! This is the first and last time I will ever attempt to purchase something as a Christmas gift over the internet using paypal!!!!!  This has been an awful experience!!!!!  

[meleady88]

hey my item is still placed on hold but the funds have left my bank account and the refund is still placed on hold. could u please explain. cheers

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi meleady88, and welcome to the forums!

The bank will mark the funds as no longer being in your bank account and then they will send them in a batch to us. In between, they will go through an Automated Clearing House to be processed. This processing is also done in batches. This is done under the oversight of  NACHA - The Electronics Payments Association.

Because there are multiple steps in the process and because it's done in batches, there may be a few days between the time that the bank deducts the funds from your account and the time that PayPal actually receives them. Batch processing is slower than wire transfer, but far more cost effective. It's the process employed by many other financial services as well. Using this method allows us to keep the costs lower for customers and even offer some services for free.

To offset the delays caused by batch processing, PayPal offers the service of "Instant Transfer". When Instant Transfer is used as a funding method, PayPal pays your seller up front with PayPal funds and waits for reimbursement on the back end from your bank. The only time it even becomes something one would notice is when a refund is performed before the original funds settle, making the funds unavailable until they've arrived from the bank.

There is more information about this process in the FAQ I mentioned.

I hope this helps clarify!

Olivia

[meleady88]

yes this does help a bit but i am waiting on a refund from the seller which on my activity list the seller has refunded the money to paypal and it has been place on hold i am just wanting to no how long it could take to refund the money to my account sorry if this sounds stupid cheers.

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi meleady88,

That doesn't sound stupid at all. 🙂  It was confusing to me the first time I saw it happen!

What date did you make the original payment?

The best way to figure it out is to look at the date you originally made the payment, and determine how many business days it's been since then. For instance, if you made the payment on 11/4, the first business day after that is the 7th, and today would have been the 4th business day. US banks take 3-5 business days.

I hope this helps!

Olivia

[Crowdsurfer]

Olivia,

Here's the issue I'm having with the temporary hold:

I understand that not everythign happens as soon as I press "send"...that makes sense....but my purchase was made on the 16th, the refund was issues almost instantly by the seller (I bought something that was priced wrong, and was on the phone with the seller who then issued teh refund as soon as my order showed up in their system) Hold was placed on said refund on the 17th (even though it shows up in my papypal account on the 18th) on the 21st, teh money cleared and got taken out of my bank account, nothing pending, the money is now gone and in paypal land. It's now the 22nd and the hold is still on my refund and I have yet to get contacted by paypal!?

To Sum up:

16th - Order placed, payement entered into paypal

16th - partial refund issued

17th - seller gets paid, refund is applied

18th - temporary hold placed on refund

21st - money clears out of my bank account, Paypal has their money now

22nd - Refund still on hold, paypal now owes me money!

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi Crowdsurfer, and welcome to the forums!

I understand where your confusion is. I hope I can clarify for you.

On your timeline, you show that the funds cleared from your bank on the 21st. The thing is, that doesn't mean that PayPal has them yet. The funds show as removed from your bank account, but they are still in transit through the Automated Clearing House process. They can take another couple of business days to appear at PayPal.

I hope this helps!

Olivia

[Crowdsurfer]

OK, well then when can I expect to have access to my money?

[offerocker]

So what your saying is,my money IS being held hostage.I bought something that was not available AFTER I paid.

It cleared my bank the next day,then it was refunded by the seller,THEN held by PayPal for 4 days now!

What would you possibly be reviewing? He didn't have what I ordered and sent my money back.I truly fail to see why I must wait 8 days now to purchase another.I'm like the others I can't afford $157 twice!

[jameshayes]

---

@PayPal_Olivia wrote:

Hi slhixsons and ihinpa,

Welcome to the forums. I can clarify things for you.

When you send a bank funded Instant Transfer payment, two things happen simultaneously:

• PayPal sends a request to your bank for the funds for the transaction. It takes 3-4 business days for funds to come from your bank. 
• PayPal pays the seller up front for you, instantly, so that the seller will not delay in processing your order.

When a seller refunds that payment within a few days, the funds that PayPal paid up front for you are returned. However, the funds from your bank account are still in transit. They haven't reached your PayPal account yet. As soon as those funds clear, they are available for you to use or withdraw.

Olivia

---

I paid the seller  in  good  faith , upon  receiving  it  , he  immediately  returned  it , but  I  do  not  have  my  money  to  spend  elsewhere .  I  am  mad  as  **bleep**

[hlbeard]

This explanation would be fine and dandy but It has never taken 3-4 business days for paypal to have my initial money from my bank account.  It is taken out of my account first thing  in the morning the next day...never 3-4 days.