Are they .... just hapless?

[greenfrog]

Hi all,

I had an inquiry three weeks ago from ...(names removed). After some toing and froing, nothing out of the ordinary, they said they wanted to book.

They were a bit high-maintenance about some things but I wasn't seriously concerned until they started dragging on payment. Now they say they've paid by PayPal but I have no record of it.

I've already put their dates back up as available and will happily take any other inquiry that comes in for those days but as it's a short period and quite soon I'm reluctant to drop them entirely (pending payment of course!).

I was just wondering if anyone else recognises the names and has had a similar experience.

It may just be that they're hapless but I find it suspicious that all the normal e-mails go through but they say none of my paypal emails got through and now they claim to have paid when I have no record of it.

Thanks for your input, as always.

[Fil]

Ask them to fw to you the pay pal message they received confirming the payment.

[greenfrog]

Ask them to fw to you the pay pal message they received confirming the payment.

I did that this morning. Now in the "wait and see" stage.

[vrooje]

If the payment doesn't show up in your PayPal account when you log in and check the history, then I would just tell them to take it up with PayPal. If PayPal has made a mistake, there's nothing you can do to help them sort it out. If they do have the confirmation e-mail then they should be able to have PayPal fix it. If they don't, then they haven't paid and they won't be charged. But bottom line, you can't consider the week reserved until you have an official confirmation from PayPal (sent to you from PayPal) and have verified that the funds are in your account.

I would think that if they are cons, the confirmation e-mail would be pretty easy to forge. Forging a forward is pretty simple... forging a direct e-mail would be much harder.

[greenfrog]

I would think that if they are cons, the confirmation e-mail would be pretty easy to forge. Forging a forward is pretty simple... forging a direct e-mail would be much harder.

Great! Something else to worry about!
Good point. Thanks for the warning...

They've now told me there's a delay at the paypal end but as an account holder I know that what they're suggesting doesn't apply to personal account holders. It does at least mean they tried to set up an account (as paypal now requires for all payments) so I'm leaning back towards hapless.
I'm just concerned that they may be pushing payment back in the hopes of somehow getting out of paying or getting me to accept a dud cheque or hand over my bank details. Probably being over-cautious but I don't want my bank account emptied!

[Nessie]

I had big problems with paypal, as i bought something and the seller wanted me to pay by paypal , i did not have an account so went about setting one up, but then had to wait from them to transfer the one euro from my bank as a test. Then i could not get the confirmation number from my bank , was going to have to wait for my next statement, which in my case was going to take a month. In the end i had to pay by cheque, it was a right mess :evil:We never use paypal now , if somebody says thats the only way then we dont buy the item

[greenfrog]

I had big problems with paypal

Was this recently, Nessie?
I just opened a new Paypal account and it was very simple and, unlike the first time round, they didn't take that first payment. I was surprised at how easy it was this time round!

I realise my inquirers may genuinely have had problems setting up the account but they told me for four days they didn't get any of my paypal request emails and then said they had paid and then said they couldn't open the account. It just seems like there's always a new excuse for why I haven't been paid...

I'm concerned about suggesting a cheque at this late stage and I don't think they have a euro cheque account. Perhaps I'll suggest they wire my bank.
I just really feel like saying "forget it" at this stage...

[Nessie]

It was last december as i was wanting to buy the wife a present, as it happened when we finally got it sorted and i got the item , she hated it so really went to all this bother for nothing.

Its funny because i am sure that before this , i had used paypal just using my normal credit card with no trouble at all but this time i got the sellers paypal emails ok but then had the dam problems.

Think i would get the to wire the money into your account that should only take about 5 days depending on where they are coming from, when the booking are you in a position to be there for them to pay you cash

[Fil]

[quote="greenfrog they didn't get any of my paypal request emails and then said they had paid and then said they couldn't open the account. [/quote]

Have you received the email from pay pal confirming the requests have been sent ? If so, I am sure they have received them. Have you checked the email ? Maybe there was a typing mistake ...

I think that payments on request and without request have diferent regimes with pay pal. I don't think buyers have to open an account if they are paying on request.

[KathyG]

I'm concerned about suggesting a cheque at this late stage and I don't think they have a euro cheque account. Perhaps I'll suggest they wire my bank.
I just really feel like saying "forget it" at this stage...

They don't need a euro account Greenfrog, they can just do a bank to bank transfer in any currency that you choose - I suggest they use xe.com for the exchange rate and then make sure they make it 'net to beneficiary' then they pay any charges. Recently did one from Sweden which was no problem. Good Luck!

[greenfrog]

They've finally paid the deposit!!
So, verdict - hapless!

Thanks for all your support and advice. It helped me to keep relatively cool about it all.

[Nessie]

So glad for you , hope you now dont have a problem with the balance

[greenfrog]

So glad for you , hope you now dont have a problem with the balance

Don't! I'm trying not to think about that!!