Refund Pending

[higgsy26]

I sold an item but the buyer was not 100% happy and asked for a 50% refund. I issued the refund on 28/12 but it is marked as PENDING and the buyer is now upset that he has not received his money. The money has been taken from my account. What can I do to ensure this transaction completes and the buyer receives his refund? At some point, my paypal balance had gone negative (no idea how or why!!!!) and I had not received notification of this from paypal. I have now transferred money so the balance is zero again. In that time I have continued to be able to purchase items with no problems. Is this linked? Will the refund now get processed? If so, when?

This is a very non friendly situation!!

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@higgsy26 

Pending refunds can only happen for two reasons.

1. The seller has issued a refund from their bank account which takes time to process.

2. You funded the payment to the seller using bank transfer. What PayPal do here is credit the recipient on your behalf (so there is no delay in despatching your item). Then if you receive a refund in the meantime they are unable to issue this until the original bank transfer completes.

[MichaelTav]

"a refund from their bank account which takes time to process." .... and how is that different than a direct payment that is processed instantly?

[kernowlass]

@MichaelTav 

Transfers from bank accounts are never instant, that is why when you buy something paypal credit the seller upfront for you and paypal take the wait for the funds to transfer to pay them back again, this is so you get your item without delay.

Thats why we get confused buyers on here saying that there item is on the way but the funds hadn't left their bank account yet.....(because paypal credited the seller in advance).

Takes several working days to transfer as Paypal use the slowest (cheapest) transfer option.

BUT paypal do NOT credit refunds in advance, this time its the seller / buyer that have to take the wait for the funds to transfer from the sellers bank account.

[Gemmasouliqande]

I have a stroppy customer who I have refunded on the 24th June via PayPal from my bank account. Its still showing as pending on paypal although on my statement its left my account on 1st July.

[kernowlass]

@Gemmasouliqande 

Takes up to a week to transfer from your bank account to paypal > buyer.

It has to go via electronic (slower) not wire (quicker) transfer via ACH in batches (cheapest option) but leaves your bank account from a few hours up to a few days after refund made.

[Gemmasouliqande]

Thank you. Apparently there is also a chain of 3 processing it. Ridiculous.