Holiday booking

[scenicroute79]

Hi,

My girlfriends dad has just booked a holiday and paid using paypal. His paypal account is linked to his bank account rather than a credit or debit card.

At the moment he has no booking confirmation, just a pending authorisation from Paypal.

I understand there is a delay in payment of 3-5 days when funded by a bank account, however what happens to goods with limited availability that can sell out while the payment is in limbo? Say a holiday, flight, concert tickets etc?

[sharpiemarker]

@scenicroute79 

The authorization is pending because the merchant has yet to process/capture their payments. They have up to 3 days to capture the payment and then the clock starts on PayPal processing the bank payment. If there is no card linked, then then it may go as an eCheck payment which is super slow so be patient. The bank payment clearing dates, if any are posted, are estimates so you have to give it a day or two extra.

If the trip is sold out, then the merchant should notify the customer and cancel the order and/or refund whichever applies. An Item Not Received dispute can also be filed on the transaction by clicking "Report a problem" in the transaction details.

[scenicroute79]

Thanks for the reply @sharpiemarker

So in this case there is no card linked. Just the bank account (with funds available to fully cover the payment).

When you say "they" have 3 days to capture the payment, do you mean Paypal capture this on behalf of the Merchant?

Provided there are no funding issues can you safely assume you have made your purchase at the point of transaction, or is this always in jeopardy during the interim authorisation period?