Paypal Double dipping

[audistarelectronics]

Hi all, Have my Paypal account linked to my bank account for purchases, and today they took funds for a purchase, then took exactly the same amount again, even using the same Paypal debit transaction number. I fail to see how this could even happen with their so called hi tech system.  Maybe I am being sceptical here, but wait for it, I bet I will have to wait days to get the funds back, and it was a couple of hundred dollars too, not to be sneezed at. I will be calling them at first chance tomorrow to get stuck right into them, but they will have their excuses to read out from their little answer book. I wonder how much interest they are making from doing this new trick world wide? Has anyone else being caught up today in this one?

[peri-landlubber]

On Melbourne radio this morn (Thur), there was mention of the Commonwealth Bank had a glitch & were having problems with charging twice for any purchases made yesterday (Wed).

[lyndal1838]

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@amber-eyed-girl wrote:

Lyn, it depends which bank. Had the same thing happen a few years ago with a large international purchase. Same amount, same transaction details...rang the bank at about 3am. The rep could see it was a duplicate and removed one on the spot.

so the transaction might be able to be fixed up by the bank, too. I was told it was no problem as it hadn't gone through yet, it was still pending.

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Amber, my 2 transactions were still pending too, but they were two different transaction numbers which is why I needed paypal to confirm that they had no intention of claiming both amounts.

It was only a matter of 45 minutes (and a couple of local phone calls) from the time I discovered the double transaction till the money was released back to me for use.

[lyndal1838]

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@stay_peachy wrote:

same thing has happened to me today am so wild as they double paid my phone company who now have to review and i have to wait up to a week for a refund im so wild im flat broke now. as its so late i had a look on the paypal facebook page and yes i could see others complaining im so annoyed oh whoops i think i have replied to the wrong person!! oh who said not to be judgemental for goodness sake im a low income earner and the weekend is nearly on us i cant see any money been returned till next week and thats paypals motto isnt it safe way to shop not so safe after all. a glitch human error whatever it should not happen 

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Is it a direct debit or a direct credit?   By that I mean does paypal pay your phone bill or does your phone company take the money from your paypal/bank account?

Are you sure paypal has paid the bill twice or has the phone company taken the money twice?  Make sure you are blaming the wrong party before you fly off the handle.

I was the poster who said not to be too quick to judge and I stand by that.  First make sure you are blaming the right party and then take appropriate steps to get your money back.

If you go about it calmly you may well find as I did that your money is returned within hours.

[raylen1951]

This is from news.com.au today

FRUSTRATED online shoppers have been charged twice for PayPal transactions, prompting banks to investigate the error. Several people complained on Twitter yesterday that they had been double-charged for purchases. PayPal said in a statement that it was aware of the error affecting some of its customers. “We understand that impacted customers are concerned and will ensure all customers affected are reimbursed,” a spokeswoman said.“We apologise to those that have been impacted and are actively working with our tech team to resolve this as quickly as possible.” Commonwealth Bank confirmed their customers were double-charged for purchases made with PayPal. “This is due to an error from PayPal and we’re working with them to rectify this as a priority,” a Commonwealth Bank spokesman said. “We apologise to our customers for this inconvenience.” It was noted that this happened on the same day PayPal was fined US$25 million after it was accused of deceiving customers.

[gec2002]

While the money was taken out twice instantaneously  when paying for the item,Paypal are claiming it will take 2 to 3 business days (That means next week) to get it back.  Some customers are now overdrawn with their banks, and sellers will potentially get blamed and negs for this screw up.

[amber-eyed-girl]

Yes, the bank could only cancel a duplicate. Not had any PayPal double-dipping (yet).

[lyndal1838]

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@gec2002 wrote:

While the money was taken out twice instantaneously  when paying for the item,Paypal are claiming it will take 2 to 3 business days (That means next week) to get it back.  Some customers are now overdrawn with their banks, and sellers will potentially get blamed and negs for this screw up.

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I understand that now gec2002 but last night when the query was first posted on the boards there was no indication that it was as widespread as it has proved to be.

The responders can only answer the questions as they are presented and 12 hours made a lot of difference in the information that was available and the scope of the problem.

As paypal has been in contact with the banks I think you may find that any overdrawn fees will be forgiven.

And I personally do not understand why it takes 3 business days to reverse the transactions....it really makes little sense to me.

[lyndal1838]

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@amber-eyed-girl wrote:

Yes, the bank could only cancel a duplicate. Not had any PayPal double-dipping (yet).

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No double dipping here either and I have made 5 payments through paypal in the last 2 days.

Once the scope of the problem became obvious this morning I did a very quick check to see if I had been lucky or unlucky.

[gec2002]

I have had one of my buyers affected and they dumping the blame on me.  I have sent them emails with links to the newspaper articles but as it happened after buying from me, it must be my fault.  Logic is not part of the equation.  I do not look forward to spending hours trying trying to get the neg removed.

[audistarelectronics]

Exactly my reason for anger, anyone or institution can make an error, but why they can grab in an instant, but take several days now, with the weekend looming, to refund the money, is nothing but an interest earning scam. I bet if they were forced to pay us interest, this problem would go away.