This is stupid, embarrassing and has now cost me $70! I'm really mad about this too.
I made a little mistake using PayPal. I needed to pay an invoice for products from China, PayPal is easy so I decided to pay using PayPal.
I had recently setup a bank account and integrated my new bank account with PayPal.
When I go to pay the invoice, which I've done many times in the past, I blazed by the screen (second one when sending money) that asks "which account to use?" Mine, after the bank integration, defaulted to my new bank account. I really wanted to pay with my credit card and before, that was the default. Now, my newly integrated bank is the default.
No problem, I caught my mistake within seconds so I just cancelled the transaction and then created a new payment using the proper payment method, my credit card.
Well let me tell you, PayPal doesn't actually cancel transactions like it says on the screen!
This happened on Friday a week ago. The following Monday, PayPal attempted to withdraw money from my new bank account, knowing the transaction was cancelled - it said so right there on my account. Non-sufficient funds.... bank charges me $35 and calls me about the transaction.
I explain my mistake and the bank says "it's your mistake, not ours so we are charging you the $35." I'm not happy but I kind of understand.
I call PayPal - after discussing the issue, PayPal assures me the transaction was cancelled but also tells me the transaction happen immediately and they can't stop it once I clicked the button. I think this is a bunch of crap, but it's a done deal and it's cost me $35. I have now learned a valuable, $35 lesson. I hate I lost $35 on this but now I know 2 things:
1. PayPal always tries to get the money into PayPal's account, even if you cancel the transaction. Cancelling a "send money" transaction only cancels the actual sending of the money, not the retrieval of the money for another source. PayPal wants the money in my PayPal account and I authorized it by clicking the button. There is no cancelling that. Grrr - OK, lesson 1 learned.
2. My bank has no sympathy - it's a new bank to me and they don't care about how PayPal works. They only care that I "authorized" the transaction without funds in my account and PayPal attempted to collect those funds. So they are fully allowed by the terms I signed to slap a hefty fee of $35 on my.
Now, just a week later, on the next Friday, PayPal attempts to collect the amount again! What the.....
I called PayPal, they told me it was cancelled but they couldn't stop the collection. The bank refused the first attempt so they attempted again 4 days later.
I still didn't put those funds in my account because I had already created another "Send money" transaction and paid using my credit card.
Bank still charged me another $35 and still has no sympathy. Now, it's a $70 lesson.
I'm not without action, so here's what I'm going to do now:
1. Post this in hopes someone else can avoid this mistake
2. Look for a bank that has my back. I can prove and have proven that I cancelled the transaction. In my eyes, cancelling the transaction should cancel ALL the transaction involved, not just one side. My bank didn't even offer me anything except: don't do that again, it'll keep costing you $35 each time. Duh.
3. Look for another way to pay the China factory that doesn't involve PayPal. I know the invoice has wire transfer instructions and something called TT. I'll look into that.
I hope you learn from my mistake.
I made a little mistake using PayPal. I needed to pay an invoice for products from China, PayPal is easy so I decided to pay using PayPal.
I had recently setup a bank account and integrated my new bank account with PayPal.
When I go to pay the invoice, which I've done many times in the past, I blazed by the screen (second one when sending money) that asks "which account to use?" Mine, after the bank integration, defaulted to my new bank account. I really wanted to pay with my credit card and before, that was the default. Now, my newly integrated bank is the default.
No problem, I caught my mistake within seconds so I just cancelled the transaction and then created a new payment using the proper payment method, my credit card.
Well let me tell you, PayPal doesn't actually cancel transactions like it says on the screen!
This happened on Friday a week ago. The following Monday, PayPal attempted to withdraw money from my new bank account, knowing the transaction was cancelled - it said so right there on my account. Non-sufficient funds.... bank charges me $35 and calls me about the transaction.
I explain my mistake and the bank says "it's your mistake, not ours so we are charging you the $35." I'm not happy but I kind of understand.
I call PayPal - after discussing the issue, PayPal assures me the transaction was cancelled but also tells me the transaction happen immediately and they can't stop it once I clicked the button. I think this is a bunch of crap, but it's a done deal and it's cost me $35. I have now learned a valuable, $35 lesson. I hate I lost $35 on this but now I know 2 things:
1. PayPal always tries to get the money into PayPal's account, even if you cancel the transaction. Cancelling a "send money" transaction only cancels the actual sending of the money, not the retrieval of the money for another source. PayPal wants the money in my PayPal account and I authorized it by clicking the button. There is no cancelling that. Grrr - OK, lesson 1 learned.
2. My bank has no sympathy - it's a new bank to me and they don't care about how PayPal works. They only care that I "authorized" the transaction without funds in my account and PayPal attempted to collect those funds. So they are fully allowed by the terms I signed to slap a hefty fee of $35 on my.
Now, just a week later, on the next Friday, PayPal attempts to collect the amount again! What the.....
I called PayPal, they told me it was cancelled but they couldn't stop the collection. The bank refused the first attempt so they attempted again 4 days later.
I still didn't put those funds in my account because I had already created another "Send money" transaction and paid using my credit card.
Bank still charged me another $35 and still has no sympathy. Now, it's a $70 lesson.
I'm not without action, so here's what I'm going to do now:
1. Post this in hopes someone else can avoid this mistake
2. Look for a bank that has my back. I can prove and have proven that I cancelled the transaction. In my eyes, cancelling the transaction should cancel ALL the transaction involved, not just one side. My bank didn't even offer me anything except: don't do that again, it'll keep costing you $35 each time. Duh.
3. Look for another way to pay the China factory that doesn't involve PayPal. I know the invoice has wire transfer instructions and something called TT. I'll look into that.
I hope you learn from my mistake.
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