Currency Conversion

[aklinz]

UNBELIEVABLE !  Not only does PayPal extort large "user fees" on every transaction, they are currently adding a 8% surcharge on Canadian users !   By this, I mean the fact that PayPal currently values the Canadian dollar at 94 US cents.  EXCUSE ME ????   The bloody Canadian dollar has been at 1.02 (or above that) for over a month !  At what point are you going to "get with the program" and actually adjust your currency values ?  Maybe a year from now ? I will simply refuse to use your fraudulent company from now on ! 

In disgust,

Andrew

P.S.  With policies like these, no wonder why the rest of the world hates Americans !

[POdCanadian]

I am officially done with Paypal! They are crooks and their support personnel is absolutely WORTHLESS (IF Vincent Vargas, see's this, I'm talking about you!). <-- All he did was repeat was I saying, and did not even address my issue.

The issue being: had $859 USD in the account. Wanted to transfer it to my CAD bank account, only to find out that Paypal is converting each USD to a mere 0.93 CAD. This is absolutely BULL@#$% as the CAD is much stronger than the USD. And I've been reading what these "moderators" have been saying, and did anyone here get a solid answer or clarification as to where our money goes? 2.5% = 10%??? Excuse me??? All moderators here, if you see this message, please clarify this:

- If 1 USD = 1.04 CAD in the market, why is it that in Paypal 1 USD = 0.93 CAD? You say there's a 2.5% fee, so how come the conversion rate is costing us Canadians so much more??? Unless you can quanitifiably breakdown the conversion rate for us, then I call nothing but BS on you and the whole Paypal organization.

I sucked up the significant loss for this one time only. But for now on, unless Paypal addresses these fraudulent activities, I am boycotting Paypal and will encourage all others to do the same. I may even go as far and take action by whistle blowing to various members of the media.

So to the Paypal organization, my final message to you is: "YOU ARE CROOKS!"

Thanks but no thank!

[POdCanadian]

I should also note that if any moderators or representative from Paypal does not address this or even avoids replying to my message above, then they're basically admitting their guilt by avoiding the situation. So I encourage you (moderators or PP reps) to speak up otherwise, it will be clear to me, as well as others (as shown by this thread) that you are indeed crooks and proving nothing but your cowardice!

[humptydumpty]

Just signed on to this forum.  As a Canadian ebay seller, I'm fed up with the outrageous exchange rates. i.e. today $200.00 US conversts to $ 186.00 Can. while the Can. $ is a healthy $1.05. I have a US bank account in my Can. bank, but Paypal will not allow me to transfer MY money into it.  As of today, I list my ebay items in Can. $.  Maybe other Can. ebay sellers, should do the same.  I have no problem paying the exchange, but this is out and out usery.

[LadyShael]

Why does PayPal charge me MORE for my Canadian dollar when eBay shows the amount will be LESS in Canadian funds.  eBay and EVERYWHERE ELSE shows the Canadian dollar being worth MORE than the US dollar, which it IS.  So why does PayPal charge me MORE?  That's ridiculous!  Obviously this is not a 'life altering' problem, but it's still very annoying! 

Thank you

[karcon2009]

I just completed a transaction in CAD currency and was charged the wrong exchange rate. I agreed to pay a Canadian vendor a US price which means it should have been slightly less in CAD funds. Instead, I was charged the rate as if I was paying in US funds and converting to CAD.  When I tried calling customer service, I was put on hold several times and then when I asked for clarification on the rule, was told, I accepted so I was basically out-of-luck.  I then requested to speak to a manager, I was again told they would need to put me on hold to figure out the problem.  Since the call was long distance on my dime, I asked them to call me back when they figured it out.  So far no call back, and from the previous posts here, I suspect they are taking advantage of this and keeping the difference in exchange rates.

It will be interesting to see if the seller receives the full amount that I was charged.  Thanks for the vent and I hope it helps others when making offers and or counter offers on items for sale by Canadian sellers that can be purchased immediately. BEWARE!

As an optimistic person, I am still hoping PayPal will correct this error in chareges.  I'll be sure to post if I do. 🙂

[jna]

The same thing just happened to me. I paid for a $15 USD purchase from my Canadian balance and was charged $15.20 CAD. Shouldn't it be $15 x 0.98 exchange =  $14.70 CAD?

[LadyShael]

Yep!  I think the last person who replied is right!  They are keeping it, and as for your situation, I think you are a smart cookie!  I wouldn't be holding my breath waiting for a reply!  50 cents, 34 cents there, times 1000's!!  It sure adds up doesn't it?

Same thing when I get money transferred from my Canadian Bank account.  It takes VERY ROUGHLY 10 days.  I check my bank balance the next day and it SHOWS PayPal has been paid.  But is it in my PayPal account?  Nope!  I phone PayPal and they say that No, they haven't received it yet, 8 days (or close to it) before my bank will release the funds to them, it's my BANKS fault, NOT PayPals!  So I phone my bank and they say No, the money was released to PayPal on... and the give the day, and TIME right to the SECOND that their computer paid PayPals computer.  Ok so SOMEONE isn't being entirely honest.  And  *drum roll, please!* WHO is the ONLY one who would profit by holding the funds?  Gee.. GOOD guess!  I'm betting PayPals bank account(s) that deal specifically with funds transferred from International Banks pay PayPal a DAILY interest, and by keeping the funds 8 - 10 days, and getting extra interest, and possibly a BONUS interest if it stays 8 or 10 days.  SO, who profits?  Hmmmm iT SURE ISN'T me!  And it would COST my bank to do the computerized bookwork for keeping them doing nothing.  keep those funds 'waiting' (for what?)  and then for NO reason, pay on the 8 - 10 day!  Add that to the amount they keep by charging MORE for CDN $'s instead of the current exchange rate set by their own country, they get even more.  Pretty lucrative, huh?  Fantastic job, IF you can get away with it, and they ARE......

Of course, this is only my OPINION, and we are allowed to express those....  I have NO proof, just telling what I was TOLD by my BANK, and my OPINION of what happens.  OF course, I could be entirely WRONG, and I am betting it won't be long, before TPTB come in and tell me how wrong I am.  I'm thinking of starting a count down. 

[laminatedfool1]

Oh you are so correct!  I just had a blow-out with PayPal regarding them holding my money for 6 days before issuing to the supplier.  They must be make a nice pot of cash, in withholding funds for this "clearing" period!  Isn't this the era of instant payments?  I cannot understand why PayPal takes DAYS to make a payment, other than a windfall in interest....to their benefit!

Joan, their Manager (with whom I had the most frustrating conversation) showed  absolutely no interest in my concerns.

As a result, I'll have no interest in using them in the future...

[vanni]

Today the exchange rate is: 1.03USD for 1.00 CDN. BUT PAYPAL says: 

From amount$36.80 CAD

To amount$36.73 USD

Exchange rate: 1 Canadian Dollar = 0.998097 U.S. Dollars

Why?

Pay-pay you are hosing me. time to find another solution

[CultureOfOne]

Vanni: on July 12, I had to option to use PayPal on a purchase, and chose instead to use a direct Visa payment. The exchange rate my bank charged: "US DOLLAR @ 0.993689 CDN". In other words, $1.00 CDN = ~$1.006 USD. Not perfect, but still better than PayPal. My recommendation: if you trust the seller (ie have dealt with them before or they are an established online business) and particularly if your PayPal account is charging to your credit card anyway, then just charge directly to your credit card and skip PayPal. It'll be cheaper in the long run, and if your card has adequate security then there's little chance of it being abused. I've quite happily dumped PayPal for my recent transactions, and I estimate that I've saved 2-3% as a result. Will I ever switch back? That will depend on PayPal's willingness to drop it's hidden 2.5% surcharge on US-Canadian currency exchanges.