Take that PayPal!
Friday 26th September, 2008 - £7,926.83 in debt…
Yes, this is my second post of the day - that’s how angry I am. You know I said Barclaycard was my least-favourite financial institution? It’s been bumped into second place by PayPal.
According to a series of emails I received this afternoon, ten payments were made from my PayPal account to Skype (a partner of PayPal, suspiciously enough), totalling about £80. This was news to me - I hadn’t made any of the transactions myself.
About two hours later, ten refunds were credited to my account. But the refunds have been placed on temporary hold until the payments themselves clear. The money has to come out of my bank account and then be paid back in.
I emailed the PayPal complaints department explaining all this and asking why it had happened and whether I could ever trust PayPal again. I got a standard, template response explaining why my refunds were being held back.
This made my blood boil.
So, I phoned the PayPal so-called “help” line. Apparently, no one knows why the payments were authorised or who by, and the money is definitely going to come out of my account whether I like it or not. I explained that I simply can’t afford for the money to come out at this stage in the month - if it does, my rent payment won’t go through.
The PayPal employee (Julie from Resolution Services, just in case anyone’s got a spare five minutes and the ability to hack her bank account) told me that when the money comes out, and when my rent doesn’t come out, PayPal will cover my bank charges. However, if I have the nerve to go to my bank and ask them to cancel the dodgy transactions so they don’t go through in the first place, PayPal will CHARGE ME for an unpaid transaction! The same thing would happen if I cancelled my Direct Debit at this stage.
At this point, I “Hulked out”.
Julie also helpfully pointed out that, if I cancelled the Direct Debit, I wouldn’t be able to use PayPal again. I assured her that I would never use PayPal again for as long as I live.
And, what’s more (oh yes, there’s more), when I get my refunds they’ll be paid into my PayPal account. Because apparently it’s okay to take money willy-nilly straight out of my Barclays account, but paying it back in is against the rules.
The only thing I can do now is to get in touch with my letting agent and explain why the rent will be late this month, and wait for the whole thing to take its course. The PayPal agent didn’t say anything about the level of compensation I’d receive if my landlord decided to evict me for breaking the terms of my contract but, as long as I get my £8 bank charge back, that’s apparently all that matters.
Deep breaths. Go to your happy place, Olivia.
I can understand that sometimes PayPal can’t prevent dodgy transactions from going through, and it’s to their credit that they noticed quickly and put the refund procedure in place on the same day. However, the customer service I’ve received has been horrendous. Via both email and phone, PayPal’s agents have answered the questions they’re expecting to hear and not the ones I’ve actually asked. And, if I can prevent the unauthorised transactions from going through by talking to my bank, what gives PayPal the right to impose a charge of their own?
Apparently I can complain to the Financial Ombudsman, and I will be doing that, but I can’t imagine it doing any good after the event.
This has got to be the worst thing about being in debt. When something like this happens, the only thing I can do is let it happen. Or borrow cash from my family, inconveniencing them and embarrassing me. I’ve never felt so completely at the mercy of a financial company. What if each of those transactions had been £100..?
