PayPal Keeping Refund Fees

[DougEMG]

So I just noticed today that when I ended up refunding a payment to a renter on PayPal because they over paid, that while PayPal refunded the renter the entire amount, they charged me the entire fee. Apparently this has been in place for the last year, I've just never noticed as I don't have that happen very often. Now were it could become a huge headache for me is that sometimes I get sent Canadian funds instead of US funds. Previously I would of just cancelled the first transaction and have the renter send a new one with the correct amount, but with a 2.9% fee on that refund, it is going to add up fast. What a pain!

Anyone else renting have this issue or using anything different/better than PayPal?

 

[starry_solo]

Yup, sucks!

 

[suebeelin]

Venmo

 

[New Mouse]

Paypal has progressively gotten worse over the years, basically trying to turn themselves into a credit card company but only with the guise or protection on both ends.

 

[bwvBound]

I wonder if "keeping the fees" is based on the type of account, transaction and the form of payment? I manage the PayPal account of a nearby business. They've only had a few refunds over the years; PayPal has not kept back any fee on these yet.

FWIW, I processed a refund for them last week. It was sent as "friends and family" from a bank balance (not credit card). Yes, a fee was extracted as the recipient is a Business account but the refund was clean (no fees kept by PayPal). I suspect the 'clean' return was likely as it was sent "friends and family" and not involving a credit card.

 

[CarolMN]

Another good reason not to accept payments via paypal

 

[EatMoreVeg]

Interesting! I just had this happen to me, and I refunded the payment to renter as they wanted to resend via F&F. Paypal refunded the fees. I'm not sure how funds were sent (CC or bank account), or if there is a timeframe for the refund to be sent where fees are returned by PayPal (for me, I refunded within 24 hours), but maybe these are factors as well?

I am a little frustrated with Paypal though as it does default to sending the receiver the funds in their country's currency (for me, also Canadian) and the exchange rate is pretty harsh. I would've preferred to receive US funds but I guess the sender wasn't clear or didn't know this was an option, so the amount I actually received was much less once converted. I will just have to much clearer in the future if renters are sending payment via PayPal.

 

[DougEMG]

Interesting! I just had this happen to me, and I refunded the payment to renter as they wanted to resend via F&F. Paypal refunded the fees. I'm not sure how funds were sent (CC or bank account), or if there is a timeframe for the refund to be sent where fees are returned by PayPal (for me, I refunded within 24 hours), but maybe these are factors as well?

I am a little frustrated with Paypal though as it does default to sending the receiver the funds in their country's currency (for me, also Canadian) and the exchange rate is pretty harsh. I would've preferred to receive US funds but I guess the sender wasn't clear or didn't know this was an option, so the amount I actually received was much less once converted. I will just have to much clearer in the future if renters are sending payment via PayPal.

I always tell the send to make sure they select US$ when making the payment as it will default to CDN$. Super annoying that PayPal does this as I only use this account for US$ and it is attached to a US Bank.

 

[js]

Venmo and Zele is all I use for transfer of any kinds of funds.