Paypal

[jadyn]

Eight days ago, I opened a Paypal account to buy some stuff from ebay. Paypal state that I should allow three to five working days for them to put the two small deposits into my bank account after which I can verify the deposit amounts and the link can be activated.

I've been checking my bank account online three times a day to check for these deposits to no avail to date and I'm getting concerned about it.

The thing is that I "bought" an item on ebay for my daughter three days ago on the assumption that everything would be up and running by the time payment was due. I've been in touch with the seller and explained the position and he's very sympathetic. All the same I don't think it's fair to keep him hanging on indefinetly.

Has anyone else had a similar experience and can anything be done to speed this up?

Many thanks

Jadyn

[Ethel]

Verification can take days - I really have no explanation as to why it can take so long.

You have two choices - ask the seller to wait or offer to pay by alternate method acceptable to the seller, such as a cheque or direct bank transfer.
Be aware that using these methods means you will lose and buyer protection that eBay and PayPal provides.

I would wait until at least Tuesday before contacting the seller again - it is doubtful the money will arrive over the weekend.

[jadyn]

Thanks Ethel. In some respects it's reassuring that this is happening to other people too.

Fortunately the seller is being very understanding about it and is prepared to wait. Unfortunately he doesn't accept credit card payments directly and I can't help but feel that if I sent him a cheque, the Paypal account could become active before the cheque clears, causing further delays. A direct bank transfer might well be the answer even with the attached risks.

I'll contact him on Tuesday as you suggest. Your comments are much appreciated.

Thanks Ethel.

[koster]

Surely if you've got money in your Paypal account you can make a payment, even if your Paypal account isn't verified.

When your Paypal account is verified, that means you can make a payment even with no money in your Paypal account. Paypal takes the money from your bank account. This takes 9 days.

The next stage is to add a credit or debit card to your Paypal account. Then you can make immediate payments without funds in your Paypal account.

Paypal verification ensures that your name and address are genuine.

[jadyn]

I'm not quite with you over this koster. I can't see how I could make a payment to a seller without the account having been verified by Paypal and as I understand it, they have to place the deposits into my account and wait for me to give them the figures before allowing transactions.

I've already added my credit card details to the Paypal account as this was the method I wanted to use to pay for the items. However, the deposit amounts still have to confirmed to Paypal before I can proceed with the transaction and those deposits have not been put into the account to date. Until they do this, I'm stuck.

I thought Paypal verification provided evidence that the bank account details belonged to the applicant as well as verifying the name and address.

[Fitzer]

Have you checked your Paypal account to see whether they think they have claimed and repaid the amounts. Recently when I had my old Morgan Stanley card converted to Barclaycard, Paypal's amounts only ever showed on Barclaycard as pending transactions and then disappeared, they never did show up on the actual statement but you could see them in the account activity section on Paypal

[jadyn]

Thanks Fitzer. There's been no activity in the account since it was set-up.