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Original poster

Refund on hold by paypal?

28 replies

Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 10:04

I am really annoyed and upset.
I bought a couple of things to try on and returned them. The shop that I bought them from has refunded the money to paypal. However, paypal have taken the money off my bank account 2 days ago. They have placed my refund on hold. This implies that not only are they sitting with the money that has been refunded by the company but from my account also. I know that the internet is full of complaints about paypal putting refunds on hold but this is hacking me off. I am now incurring overdraft fees while the sit on MY MONEY.
Does anyone have experience of how long this is going to take?
I dont have wads of cash just sitting in my account while they wait to give me my refund back. It has already been 2/3 days. I have checked and it is still pending.

OP posts:
Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 10:06

Is there anything i can do to get my money back quicker? I have tried to get in touch but they have a stupid automated phone number with a fake person that was of NO use. When i emailed them twice, I have had NO response. I am getting increasingly anxious. I have a direct debit coming off my account on Monday and will be in the red again for another day.

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AnchorDownDeepBreath · 12/12/2015 10:12

Why is the refund on hold?

It may simply be that the money from your account takes a few days to go through to your account, depending on how fast your bank are, and therefore until you've actually paid, PayPal can't refund you. Once the money from your account reaches your PayPal account, PayPal will immediately pay the amount outstanding to the shop and return the rest to you. Essentially you've borrowed PayPals money to pay until yours gets processed and they won't refund you until you've actually paid and your money goes full circle back to your bank account.

If the money from your account is already in your PayPal account, though, you need to find out why the refund is on hold. That isn't usual, unless your still in conversation with the shop?

Either way, there's usually livechat which is quite helpful, but it's not available all the time at the weekend.

Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 10:43

I have no idea.
The money was taken from my bank account two days ago.
The money was refunded from the company two days ago.
So essentially they are sitting on my money and the companies money? It does say on my refund email that the money can take a few days to process by my method of paying.
It was a pay after delivery transaction.
They paid the company then it was due to be taken off my account if i decided to keep it two weeks later.
The company took longer to refund the money.
Paypal took the money from my bank account 2 days ago as if I was going to keep the item. They must have my money. The refund from the company was also given to them 2 days ago.
They put have put the refund to me on hold.
I will see if i can get on to the live chat.

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Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 10:45

Can you provide a link to live chat please? Or where will i find it?

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Tiggeryoubastard · 12/12/2015 10:48

I've got a refund that was paid on the 7th (payment had gone through ages before) and it states its pending until the 15th! I have a feeling they're just holding on. If they do that with lots of refunds imagine YHWH interest. Dodgy bastards. I'll ring today.

Tiggeryoubastard · 12/12/2015 10:48

YHWH? The amount of interest.

celestialgin · 12/12/2015 10:54

I've never had a problem with paypal refunds, but a tradesman once asked me to make a payment to his paypal account, I typed in the wrong email and the payment was shown as 'pending.'
Could the store have made an error with the refund?

Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 11:07

currently waiting in a phone queue.

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Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 11:11

no. they have refunded me before. its there but on temp hold.

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Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 11:12

what does WHWH ? mean sorry

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Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 11:13

18 mins now waiting on phone

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Tiggeryoubastard · 12/12/2015 11:14

It was a predictive text error, I meant to type 'the amount of interest'.

19lottie82 · 12/12/2015 11:25

Refunds can take a few days to go through, when being applied to a credit / debit card. Just like any refund if that method. They advise 3-5 working days. I'm not sure if this is the same as "being on hold" though?

Tiggeryoubastard · 12/12/2015 11:29

Yes but mine went through on the 7th and states pending until 15th. It should have been done by now.

19lottie82 · 12/12/2015 11:31

Ah just re read the original OP and the last line describes is as "pending". What does it actually say online OP?
If it is "pending" it should be with you shortly. And again, this is nothing out of the ordinary. The same procedure would be applied if you bought something by card on the high street then took it back for a refund. Any refund to a card isn't instant.

19lottie82 · 12/12/2015 11:40

I'm a bit confused you say the seller refunded then PayPal "took the money off your bank account"?

summerwinterton · 12/12/2015 12:00

the payment you made has not completed yet, so the refund is on hold until then. It is quite standard and there is nothing you can do to hurry it up.

Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 12:20

Paypal took the money from my bank account when i bought it. The seller refunded via paypal as that is how I paid. The money is sitting on hold in my paypal account. I will have to transfer it to my bank when it is cleared.

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Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 12:23

This is what i dont get.
It takes a couple of days for the paypal transaction to be complete [ i.e. taken from your bank]. The seller has already refunded them. It may take a few days for that to clear. So technically, they have two lots. Yet they put it on hold for 5-7 days!

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summerwinterton · 12/12/2015 12:25

the money may show as taken from your bank but it doesn't clar immediately. And they have not been paid twice.

Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 12:35

Yeh, yeh...in the land of paypal it takes 5 - 7 days. How convenient for them to have your money sitting their gaining them interest. Its the land of paypal after all. No other land is like it. Its like an island. You cant communicate with anyone or its hard and everything takes a ridiculous time to get there mmmm..

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summerwinterton · 12/12/2015 13:44

It isn't sitting there - the money has not cleared from you bank until 5-7 days after you pay. It is not instant. You do sound incredibly angry. Not sure why.

www.paypal-community.com/t5/Holds-reversals-reserves/Temporary-Hold-on-Refund/td-p/103470?profile.language=en-gb

Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 13:50

Yes, i appreciate that is what they say....
Do you work for paypal?

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Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 13:50

Yeh, i am angry. It pisses me off.

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Original poster
Greengardenpixie · 12/12/2015 13:53

and if you dont work for them, how do you know it isnt sitting there? Cause they said so? mmm...enough said.
I'm not getting at you just to be clear.
When i have a refund put back on to my account [on a normal transaction not using paypal] it take a couple of days to show up. They have had that lifting it from my bank account. So what exactly are they doing with 5-7 days!!!!

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