PayPal Community

There was some confusion over the duration of the hold.     The info on the £65 trigger came from the manager I spoke to. He was ok and appeared to know what he was talking about. It was him that emailled me after I spoke to him and advised me to formally complain - and showed me exactly how to do it.   I don't think it's the monetary value that triggers a hold. My last sale before this one was £425. I believe it's the particular item that caused that. ... View more

1. It was just for this transaction. I did ask about future transactions and was told that if it was a risk category it 'could' happen again if I sold a similar item. That didn't really fill me with confidence but I won't be selling anything like that on ebay again I don't think.   2. My hold was a 7 day one. The manager I spoke to was very helpful and he confirmed that it was a 7 day hold as the amount was over £65. If it's under that amount the hold time is 3 days.   3. The same manager looked at my account status and history. In his opinion there are no issues with it that would cause any concern. His opinion was that it was the item I sold that caused the hold - an Apple iPad Mini.   I know it was only a 7 day hold but for me it was the principal of the matter that didn't sit well.   I don't get involved in anything untowards on ebay. I pay pretty much immediately when I buy and always leave positive feedback. When I sell an item, it's almost always away in 1 working day - 2 at the very most and very robustly packed.   Basically I'm not a risk.   That's why the hold felt like a virtual slap in the face to me.   I may be selling other items soon - if I can't sell them locally. Some of teh items will generate far more cash than the iPad Mini did.   Hopefully I won't be hit with a hold again but ... who knows?   I might.   ... View more

I hope things work out for you Alison.   No comments kernowlass?   I'd be interested to hear your view on my dealings with paypal? ... View more

Make a formal complaint to Paypal.   It worked for me. ... View more

I made a formal complaint in relation to my transaction to Paypal on Friday afternoon.   In this complaint I stated that I was unhappy with the situation and felt that there was no justification for my funds to be on hold for 7 days.   I outlined pretty much what I've said here - without embellishment.   Paypal have now removed the hold on my funds. I was notified of this at 0220 this morning.   That's 2 days after my buyer received the item.    Make of this what you will but this clearly appears to be a process to circumvent the 7 (or 21) day hold.   I would like to think that Paypal will try and introduce a more dynamic,  automated system that can differentiate a new or under performing seller from someone like myself.   This would undoubtedly avoid the negativity that I have experienced in this incident.   I'm happy that my efforts have freed up my funds well before the given 7 days restriction.   I'm also very hopeful that my successful  formal complaint will perhaps contribute towards Paypal altering their payment hold process which  clearly needs to be amended.   So .... in the end my complaints were heard and my funds are now in my bank account..   Make of that what you will but if someone is in my position - unfairly penalised - I would certainly recommend making as much noise as possible about it.   There is clearly someone up the management chain that can authorise a release of held funds.   If it takes a formal complaint to get your funds released before the stated number of days, I would say ..... do it - every time. ... View more

The manager has contacted me by email and has now shown me the path to make a formal complaint to paypal regarding this - by email.   I don't hold out much hope of having the funds released but I'm curious to see how far I can get before I find someone that can actually make a decision to release the hold manually.   I appreciate that this person will probably choose not to release the funds but it'll restore my faith in humanity if I can establish that at least one human being has this option and it's not entirely the decision of an automated computer process. ... View more

Ok .... I've just spoken to a Paypal agent and then his manager.   The funds will be released after 7 days have passed - not 3.   This is because the amount in question is over £65. This is the number that triggers the 7 day hold. If it was under £65 it would be 3 days.   The manager was apologetic and agreed that I didn't appear to fit into the category for the payment being held. I've sold similar items for much higher amounts already this year and my seller rating is not in question.   Despite this he is saying that the funds cannot be manually released by any paypal employee. I asked to be passed to his supervisor and was told thee was no one above him at that location.   He told me that the next stage was to make a formal complaint in writing - which is total nonsense seeing as how it'll take several days for correspondence to get through the postal system.   I'm hugely disappointment in the way I am being treated here and by the apparent lack of ability of any staff or management to rectify this.   I also queried the manager on whether this would happen again if I sold a similar type of item above £65.    He tried to avoid a direct answer but when gently pressed stated ... 'it might'.   I'm just about done with paypal I think ...........       ... View more

Again, that doesn't apply to me.   I'm in favour of the held payment system for new sellers but I'm not a new seller and have consistently performed above average for several years. ... View more

That's part of the problem.   I've called paypal 3 times.   Once when I first found out that the funds were held and I was told it would be 21 days but could be less when reviewed. I then looked for the rules to follow to make it less than 21 days. At that stage I intended to simply refund the buyer and sell the item locally. My buyer was fully aware and pretty shocked at the payment hold. He is also an expereinced buyer and seller and realised that it could possibly happen to him as well - without any warning.   Against my better judgement I opted to carry on and sent the item as I described earlier.   The second time I called Paypal I was told that the funds would be released within 3 days as I had complied with all that was asked.    I called a final time to query something and was told that the 3 day release was no longer being used and it would be a minimum of 7 days before the transaction was reviewed.   Regardless of when the funds are released .. 21, 3, 7 days ... my point is this.   What is the reason that the funds are being held at all?   I've fully complied with all that was asked.   The buyer has the item and is satisfied with it.   What do paypal have to gain from denying me access to my funds?   I can see no advantage for them. The only effect it has is to make me unhappy and less likey to use ebay/paypal to sell anything in the future.   Take my situation and multiply it by every member who's also in my position.   Prior to this I would have no hesitation in praising paypal for the seller and buyer protection process.   Now ..... I will be very hesitant in in using them to accept payment - in fact I'm pretty sure that I won't be any time soon.         ... View more

The buyer received the item yesterday morning and left positive feedback around lunchtime, once he had fully tested it to ensure it was as described by me. ... View more