eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

A week ago I made a buy it now purchase on eBay. I had just loaded funds onto my Visa with the intent to purchase this item. During the checkout process, I was told that the payment had been refused due to lack of funds. This confused me so I looked into my visa balance and not only were there funds available, but the purchase price had just come off my card, the money had been taken after all. I then returned to ebay to try to sort out the problem by contacting the seller and paypal about it. I then went on to test my card by purchasing a number of inexpensive items. Those purchases worked just fine. I then went back to the original item and tried to purchase it again, thinking that perhaps my card needed a bit of time to adjust to the funds I added, but I got the exact same response... the payment was refused but still came off my card. Now I'm down $25 for laptop parts I will never receive. I've contacted eBay, Paypal, Visa, and the seller several times. Visa are the only one's who've responded and they say the purchase went through.

What should I do?

Message 1 of 15
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14 REPLIES 14

Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

Have you phoned Paypal or just emailed them? I find that phoning them is the best way to get resulsts.

Message 2 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

"had just loaded funds onto my Visa"


 


Are you using one of those prepaid VISA bank card?  or a regular VISA credit card?  Is the card linked to your PayPal account?


 


"eBay/Paypal stole from me"


 


Neither eBay nor PayPal "steal" from their members.  You are obviously facing a technical problem caused by the card.  A solution is at hand if you contact PayPal and let them investigate the exact nature of the problem.


 


Words like "PayPal stole" do nothing to solve the problem and return your money..

Message 3 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

I've emailed Paypal, eBay, the seller and my titanium visa... only the visa people have responded at all! It really blows my mind. They tell me the monsy is on hold and I can't get to it until it's released by either paypal or the seller, but I can't get anything from either of them.

The card is pre-paid and attached to my paypal account... I use it all the time and used it to make other purchases that same day.

I don't own a phone. I work at home, online 12-15 hours a day and found it was a waste of $100 a month for me so I let it go a few years ago. What's the point of having chat lines and internet based support if you need to resort ot sitting on hold for 2 hours on a phone after trying to get help online. I don't want to use a phone and I don't think I deserve to be discriminated aganst because of it.

All I get from ebay chat is that they see no sign of the transaction. Paypal has recieved probably 6 emails from em at this point... It's infuriating!

Message 4 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

it is indeed obvoius that I'm facing a technical problem... the bigger issue is that I can't get anyone to try to fix it!

Message 5 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

That is why they have a phone line for customer service.

Message 6 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

What's the point of having chat lines and internet based support if you need to resort to sitting on hold for 2 hours on a phone after trying to get help online. I don't want to use a phone and I don't think I deserve to be discriminated aganst because of it.


 


Paypal usually answers the phone fairly quickly.


Ebay has support through chat again? I thought that was eliminated a while ago.

Message 7 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

Ask a friend or a family member for the use of their phone.


Find a pay phone.


The first step in a solution is in your hands. Refusing to take that step will not resolve the problem.


FWIW, we have a cheap cell phone we bought outright for $70 a few years ago. When we go on vacation, we buy a $20 card from Rogers and load it into the phone. Our cell phone bill averages $40 a year as a result.

Message 8 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

If you have msn messenger, log in to it. Now they integrated with Skype and have offer, call anywhere in the world for free. The offer is still going on this month, but honestly I haven't tried it.


 

Message 9 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

You can also make calls from a gmail account. There are many options for you.

Message 10 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

 


I can make free long distance calls using Magic Jack on my iPad; no phone required! 😉

Beware of kittens with red bows, bullies in bandannas, and whining broken records.

€ Lucifleur

~Lucifleur
Message 11 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!



 


I don't have an Iphone and am totally net-speak illiterate.  I've been puzzling over this, and will be doubtless end up thinking about it all day.  Please tell me what "FWIW" stands for so I can carry on with my day!  :8} 

Message 12 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

 


*for what it's worth

Beware of kittens with red bows, bullies in bandannas, and whining broken records.

€ Lucifleur

~Lucifleur
Message 13 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

Let's go back ten or twelve years ago when users (buyers and sellers) could only contact eBay and PayPal through email and messaging service (unless you were a PowerSeller and had direct access).


 


Folks were begging eBay and PayPal to institute a customer service where they could call with their questions, problems and inquiries.


 


eBay and PayPal spent millions of dollars setting up telephone customer service. And it is toll free.


 


Not good enough for some. 😞

Message 14 of 15
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Re: eBay/Paypal stole from me, getting no help!

lilbama911
Community Member

Your recourse would be to do a charge back through your credit card company and have the deducted funds returned to you.


 


 

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