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My wife bought something via Marketplace, paid by PayPal Friends and Family and now the seller has called, saying they cannot send the item. They have offered to pay back via PayPal Business (claiming they have to do it that way because they are business account holders and blah, blah, blah, what sounds like ballcocks to me).
Anyway they have sent a refund request from their business PP account, but it shows as -£60, with a button that says 'Pay' rather than refund. I am concerned this means if my wife accepts (ie, presses 'Pay'), she will be down another £60.
I have never seen this, it might be (probably isn't) legitimate but the last thing I want is to lose another £60.
Has anyone been here?
Does sound fishy, there’s no “refund” option on F&F payments for obvious reasons. Lesson learnt, perhaps unfortunately, although I would phone PP and ask them if that sounds right, I’ve found them really helpful in the past.
My wife bought something via Marketplace, paid by PayPal Friends and Family
I've never seen this particular scenario either, but I would share your concerns. If they need to blah blah then why weren't they using that account in the first place?
Also, what Z said.
They need to pay her back via “Friends & Family”, there is no non-business “refund”. So they need to pay her, with a fresh transaction… they can’t refund the original transaction.
That sounds dodgy. Id raise a ticket with PayPal and ask for advice before you do anything.
Yeah I’m sure it was meant tongue-in-cheek. Friends & Fanily should only ever be used for exactly that though, as there’s (intentionally) no comeback.
So Cougar has edited his post and someone (I assume Cougar again) has removed my response.
Not a good look from a Mod…
So Cougar has edited his post and someone (I assume Cougar again) has removed my response.
Thought something had been amended.
Let’s just close this thread then - gonna have to suck up £60, it’s not the end of the world.
Must admit I've used Friends and Family when I shouldn't have a fair few times and been lucky and gotten away with it. Well, more to the point, I've been lucky and not been scammed by some sh*t head!
Sorry to hear your Mrs came across such a person op.
My offer still stands - I was being serious. 1-100p? I don’t know if there’s a minimal threshold for transactions.
Are they issuing a refund or just trying to send money via PP business?
EDIT - if you go into PayPal on the website, not the app - what does the transaction request come up as?
Why have you not just asked PayPal?
https://www.paypal.com/uk/smarthelp/contact-us
Can’t answer some of this now - my wife has gone to bed so I can’t access her phone to check PP. I do feel frustrated though - she said she wouldn’t bother me as she knew it was a risk, but they ‘seemed nice’. I so wish she’d asked me 🙁
At least it was not a new car. Look on the brightside. £60 quid you will survive. £60 000 would have been a real ballache
yes I am half cut and stupid
I do feel so frustrated though - we’ve talked about this stuff loads, I keep asking her to get rid of obvious / repeated passwords, yet we’re still here. To go ahead ‘with my own money’ makes me sad as it felt so wrong from the outset for me.
Its just a gnat bite. Where you head is right now it seems huge but gain some perspective and you can laugh at her for it.
me - Id be reminding her of it for years in a lighthearted way. Remember the time yuo did............
then duck and cover!
finest local brewed real ales my friend. I was raising a glass to a departed pal who drank tenants lager and I couldn't bring myself to have a pint of it
Johndoh
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So here's a screenshot of the transaction request - the person claims it is a refund and we have to click 'Pay' for it to process. Surely a company of the size of PayPal wouldn't have a shonky UI that says 'Pay' when you are being refunded would it?
Its minus £60 shown as the amount. Does that make a difference?
That's the thing – I don't know and I don't want to press 'Pay' and for us to be down more money.
Well why don’t you take up @Daffy ‘s offer and find out?
Because it's on my wife's phone, she wasn't in a great place last night and she's now at work (at a school so unable to get to her phone). I'll try tonight if I can.
And sorry @Daffy – I should have responded to you yesterday – thank you for the offer.
The “minus” sign indicates that you will be paying them £60. They’re doubling down on the scam I think.
Thank the lord she at least asked me before pressing the button then – I am still lost as to why she fell for it in the first place though. It's really not like her but she has been under lots of stress recently.
So Cougar has edited his post and someone (I assume Cougar again) has removed my response.
Not a good look from a Mod…
I haven't been a moderator here for, what, three years now? I didn't edit anything.
The point stands though, albeit in the cold light of day perhaps a little more diplomatically. "Friends and Family" is, well, the clue is in the name and this crops up again and again and again in regards to Paypal. People use it to swerve PP fees (which would be like £2 here) and sometimes they get burned.
As for this new transaction, I don't know either but it looks fishy. If I sent you £60 then I'd expect it to appear on PP as £60. So minus 60 must be the opposite? But in any case, she's F&F paid the seller, there's no reason I can think of why the seller can't do the same right back; that alone stinks regardless of any weirdness around minus signs.
The other thing which crops up again and again is, if you find yourself having to ask "is this a scam?" then, well...
Johndoh - be kind to yourself and to her. That stress and grief does weird things to your head. Its only with hindsight I realised how poorly I was functioning at times. I cost myself thousands by not doing stuff properly.
Thank the lord she at least asked me before pressing the button then – I am still lost as to why she fell for it in the first place though. It’s really not like her but she has been under lots of stress recently.
Remember those scams where you get a text saying you have to click a link and pay a delivery fee for an order?
When they started to be a thing I even called my lad to give him a heads up, typically he already knew. Lol
Anyway... When I was in hospital last year getting "that news" I clicked on the link and diligently paid the delivery fee from my mobile. Just did it almost robotically.
It took 2 days for something to click in my head and go "oh shit". Sure enough around £100 had gone. Bizarrely in various takeaway food orders! Cancelled card etc and felt really low about it. The money didn't ruin me but it really got to me. I **knew** about this bloody scam but my head was in another place.
I didn't mention it on here as I felt a bit bloody stupid in all honesty. Anyway, yeah, if you're head is a bit preoccupied you just aren't always prepared for some of the low lifes out there looking to profit from it.
be kind to yourself and to her.
Be supportive
Yeah, after the initial shock at finding out what she'd done, I tried my best to support her. She's okay today – just frustrated at herself.
Pay it… TJ said he will pay if it’s a scam.