I had a PayPal transaction go awry today. Over the weekend I made an eBay
purchase using BuyitNow and then immediately paid.
PayPal transferred the funds to the seller's account that day. Today, when
the transaction hit my bank, it erroneously rejected the transaction even
though there are sufficient funds. PayPal then attempted to use my VISA
backup funding source, but the one on file had expired, and so the charge
was denied. The seller subsequently received an e-mail from PayPal
indicating that I had used "unauthorized funds" (Filthy Liars) to pay for
the purchase and that the money was being debited from his account.
Naturally the seller is inquiring as to what's going on as he has shipped
the item.
My *PayPal* account balance is now in negative territory and according to
them it will be credited within 3-4 business days. I still owe the money to
the seller.
I had two 10-minute phone calls with PayPal and both customer service agents
could not understand plain English, nor could I find a plain and clear
answer after searching the PayPal site for the same length of time.
The question is (and I think I know the answer): When I *add funds* to my
*PayPal* account, is the money transferred (debited) from my bank balance at
that time and held in abeyance by PayPal just waiting for me to make a
purchase, or am I merely *authorizing* PayPal to allow purchases up to that
amount?
It's been a long time since I originally set up my account, so I really
can't understand why I need to add funds to begin with, but I assume the
latter, that I am merely authorizing the use of funds, not transferring
them.
Tom C.
- OT - Dumb PayPal Question Tom C
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