need some advice...re: money sent to my paypal

[ramshackle]

hello,

a week ago i was sent an email from cicero group - a survey company operating from Utah state - who emailed me this:

"You recently completed a technology survey from the Cicero Group wherein you indicated you would be willing to participate in a 30 minute in-depth interview about technology purchase decision making.  Are you still willing and interested to participate in such an interview, which will be conducted by telephone? 

I am writing to schedule a time that would be convenient for you.  Preferably in the next 2-3 days if possible.  For your participation you will be paid GBP 150.

Let me know if you are available for such and if so, what times would work.  If you have any questions you can reach me at this email or via telephone at the number below.  You can also find more information about our company at the web address below.

I look forward to speaking with you.

Thanks,

 "

- there was nothing else written no terms and conditions etc,

--after a message from me, i received this:

" received both your phone message and the email below.  Thanks for the reply.  I’d be happy to speak to you today if possible.  Feel free to write me back or give me a call to coordinate if for some reason your emails still aren’t making it through. 

Thanks,"

----

I had a web-ex meeting where i spent 43 minutes talking about a company logo and gold membership - all of which was well informed and received glowing appreciation from the interviewer.

--he recorded the web-ex conversation and told me he would pay me 150 for my time.

a day later he abruptly told me he couldn't confirm my job title with the company he phoned - none of which he stipulated he would do in any of our previous correspondence - hence he would not be paying me a jot.

flash forward today and i check my paypal and i've received a 150 payment from an unverified account named: 'cicero group'.

I receive a very frank and rude email from cicero group telling me to refund the £150 -

i reply with the following:

'i'm sorry i did a 40 minute interview with ****** under the belief i would be paid for my time, nowhere did he state in his emails he would check my job background,
nor was i sent any terms of conditions denying my right to payment or confirming beforehand payment could only be made with confirmed jobrole -
i know the subject matter of the survey very well and believe i provided mr.berbert a number of good views on the company logo and tagline, which he recorded on web-ex (and probably used) - i have all emails, phone records and web-page evidence proving these interactions took place.

- there is no legal requirement for me to return the money as we had a verbal and written agreement which in UK jurisprudence is good enough.

i would like some recompense for the 40 minutes valuable time i spent answering ******'s questions please, only then will i consider refunding your company.
thank you'

--- i have the money in my paypal do i need to refund them, as i did a service for them all of which is on record - of which i have yet to receive any money or apology for wasting my time

any advice would be greatly appreciated

thank you!

[kernowlass]

The company would have to file a claim to recover the money and only PayPal would know what they would decide. 

However this is the UK board and you are talking about a us company so not sure which country you are

in.

Uk folks can file a claim against a service but not sure if it has been introduced in the USA yet. 

[ramshackle]

hi thank you ever so much for the prompt reply - 

i am based in london and i communicated with the cicero group survey interviewer via web-ex and we talked on the phone for 40 mins

it was basically me signing up to a technology survey group - i received an email from cicero stating they would pay me for my time

- i answered all their questions, conducted the 40 min interview which they said they would record - then the interviewer thanked me and said he would paypal me £150 

a day later i receive the message they have been unable to confirm my employment with whatever company they phoned - even though i did not convey any employment numbers - (i work on technology from home)

i did not bother chasing it up as i imagined they would be a pain in the neck to argue with...

suddenly i receive £150 - obviously an error on their part - but i feel i am owed some money for the 40 minutes they wasted,

why should i return it? i offered a service which we both agreed on, then they reneged on the deal, a day after the interview.

their account is unverified and it was an instant payment of £150 no paypal charge

[kernowlass]

I can't comment on who is right and who is wrong.

If you decide not to refund then all they can do is file a dispute BUT they may not be able to do that for a "service" in the U.S if the payment came from there.

If the payment had no charge then odds are they used the family / friends option to send it and again you can't file a claim against that sort of payment.

HOWEVER that does not stop them trying a chargeback if they used their paypal account funded via a credit card.

If you don't want to refund then I would just play a wait and see game and see if they do try and recover the funds one way or another.

[ramshackle]

the payment came from the cicero group so notsure if it was family/friends,

and not sure if paypal charged them any fees,

they probably will chargeback - unsure of that

i will just allow it to stink up my paypal account, i won't withdraw it as i'm sure they'll find a way of taking it from my bank account - it's just annoying conducting an interview where the interviewer says numerous times how useful everything youre saying is, only for them to pull out of paying money - out of greed or whatever - i feel they were patting themselves on the back - who knows how many others they have scammed -

if they really doubted my credentials surely they should have done all that in the pre-scrren instead of wasting my time.

ah well they'll have to wait to get it back,

thank you for all advice though kernowlass, 

muchos gracias to you!

[ramshackle]

ok i received this message from paypal now -

Dear --------,

My name is ----- and I can sense the urgency and importance of this matter to you.

I understand from your email that you are asking about the £150.00 GBP that was paid into your PayPal account by --------.

I can see from your email that you are asked to return the money to the sender since they are not able to verify some information which you didn’t provide them.

Since the only agreement that you had is to have a 40-minute interview, you need not to return the money to them. The money will serves as a compensation for the interview that you had with them.

Also, please ignore the email that you are receiving from them regarding the said transaction. If they will file a case against you, you may find the details of it through the Resolution Centre on your PayPal account.

As of this time, I can assure you that there is no open case on your PayPal account.

I hope I’ve explained this clearly to you and put your mind at rest.

It is my pleasure to assist you. Thank you for choosing PayPal.

Yours sincerely,

-----
PayPal

-----

does this mean i can withdraw the money? or will i still have to pay it back if cicero group files a complaint?

[kernowlass]

It means that you do not have to pay the money back as they have not filed a dispute. .....yet.

As I said if they do then you may have to pay it back as per answers already given. 

If they do and only if PayPal find in their favour then if the funds are not in your account they will put the account into negative until you pay them back. 

Seems unlikely but wanted to give you all options. 

[ramshackle]

ok paypal have just sent me this -

Dear ----- ,

Hi --- , this is ------- from Pay Pal and I am glad to help you today.

Need not to worry, you may now withdraw the money to your bank account. Rest assured that it will not be taken out from your account.

Should they file a complaint, you may get back to us and we’ll be more than happy to help you out.

Thank you and I wish you the very best in using PayPal.

Yours sincerely,
------
Pay Pal

--- 

i'm gonna leave it for now as i imagine they will file a complaint - i think i have got good grounds to keep the money as i did what was asked of me to earn that money - i am just collecting the evidence now,