but how the heck can things like this happen?
As far as I know that's how it's always worked. A buyer can send an "instant payment" which is a payment funded by a bank account BUT it is backed by a credit card on file.
If the bank withdrawal doesn't go through PayPal charge the credit card, if the credit card is no good you get the "transaction review" followed by a reversal. An eCheck is simply a bank funded payment where no credit card is available for back-up.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.