AIBU to think this is dodgy and demand refund

[shggg245]

Ordered gopro helmet camera for DS1's Christmas present. This was sold as next day delivery by a French company with a seemingly good reputation. Sold out in the UK at the time of ordering, hence the French connection. Created an account and paid £160 by PayPal.

Heard nothing - so emailed via my account asking when I'll receive the goods. The answer I received back:

They are refusing to dispatch goods until I send them proof of my ID (they've not specified what type of ID) which I'm not at all comfortable with.

Has anyone experienced similar requests? They say it's anti fraud apparently. I've said I'm not comfortable with this and replied 'either dispatch the goods you've already received payment for or refund in full'.

Am I being over cautious and therefore unreasonable or is this perfectly normal practice? Maybe it's a French thing?

Anyway - thought mumsnet will know.

If you only created a paypal account for that transaction then your paypal account won't be verified

From there point of view you could be a fraudster using a stolen card and creating a paypal account that's unverified to use it

More cautious than normal probably if the camera is going overseas as once they despatch it they will never see it again and stand a very real chance of PayPal taking the money back off them if the account is unverified

Sounds like a standard part of their screening to reduce fraudulent transactions

If you verify your PayPal account that should make them happy

Who wants your ID?

Pay pal or the company you have bought off?

Ask them why? Could it be for customs?

Could it be that they want to make sure you aren't scamming them?

We had a few people order from us last year, wanted next day delivery, using dodgy cards.

Luckily our system flagged the payment as dubious so we never sent anything. But one person ordered £500 worth of stock. Big loss if we hadn't have caught it

It could well be a French thing. There are a lot of weird regulations in France (and even if they're not actual regulations, French people love rules and officialdom so maybe the shop has just invented their own). I had to type up a revocation of contract to get a refund for something I bought online in France once!

I recently made a PayPal account to get the money for tickets I was selling and they asked me to do this. It's just to verify that you've not created a fake PayPal account to scam someone as they have no previous record of you.

No it's the French company asking not PayPal, I use PayPal all the time. They've asked for my ID card so I'm thinking it must be a French thing. Thanks for responses.

is your paypal account verified?

Shouldn't be anything to do with Customs. There should be no customs checks between eu states.

I've had a reputable Spanish company ask for ID when buying goods online. All fine once I provided ID.

Yes PayPal is verified. The payment shows on my PayPal account as debited on the 10th December. When I've asked why they need ID and they just say it's anti fraud. What do they mean by ID to me that's ukpp or driving licence? I don't have a scanner so will just ask for a refund.

I wish they'd told me this when I ordered. They only mentioned it when I emailed them to chase delivery.

Not happy.

I had this with an order a few years back, I didn't feel comfortable and requested a refund (about 10 times, but that's another story!) Lots of people use that website and have no problem though, and apparently it's random who they ask, every so many orders, but if they ask then it can't be sent without the proof

It was when identity fraud was mentioned everywhere and I just couldn't bring myself to do it

I would go with your instinct, maybe Google the company and ID and see what comes up, could be other similar to this and saying the outcome? Might put your mind at rest

Name the company OP and we can help you dig about.

Ekosport

The website checks out OP...what I would do is call PayPal for advice. Their phone lines are very good and they will tell you if this is a reasonable request or not. It seems off to me...but who knows because the shop is in France.

I was shopping today and was asked to show ID for a credit card transaction (around $800AUD transaction). Apparently the company has had lots of attempts with dodgy cards so they check ID for large transactions now. They just wanted to see the name on my photo ID matched the one on the card.

Retailers have to be very careful. Especially with next day delivery. Especially in another country.

It has to be picked and packed so quickly and it can be up to 2 weeks before PayPal clear the funds in the retailers account and they can be sure.

I would guess that they are wondering why you are ordering it from them and not in the UK. They may not be aware of the problems people here have trying to get it.

I had to use is to set our payment system up, took a photo of my passport and uploaded that. But I have dealt with this company before, so was happy to do it.

I second ringing PayPal and seeing what they say.