Paypal problems

[Hells Bells]

I am using an online booking facility, linked to my website, which has successfully taken several bookings for me in the past. However, someone used the system last night, and is now saying he was unsuccessful in making the payment. It is linked to Paypal, and you do not need a Paypal account to make the credit/debit card payment. As it is only for a 20% deposit there should be no problem. Has anyone else had difficulty, or have your geusts had difficulty. We did have on problem last year, but that was because he paying a larger amount, and using his paypal account, which wasn't verified.

[janskov]

There are certain countries that paypal will not accept – could that be your problem?
I know about some East European countries and the Middle East

[Hells Bells]

No, they are British guests. The problem turned out to be their inability to enter information correctly. Also, when they finally got it right it told them they needed to open a Paypal account. I guess they had exceeded the number of times they can use the 'account optional' facility. They are going to sort it out today I hope.

[Hells Bells]

Well, they finally managed to pay their deposit yesterday!! Meanwhile we had another couple book successfully, so the system does work.

[ashtondav]

Helen

Which "booking facility" do you use?

Regards

Tudor
www.frigiliana-apartment.com

[Hells Bells]

holiday-bookings-online.com

It is currently being updated, you can also check it out from my website.

[Mountain Goat]

HelenB
That looks a really good system.

Could you explain one thing? We've never taken a 'normal' booking for our place (but only been going since mid-Feb. this year). Each one needs quite a bit of negotiation, they need reassurance, as we do, tweaks on extras, slight change in arrival dates, ski guide, use of car, do they need use of phone, etc. etc. but eventually we do a deal and 9 times out of 10 they send us a cheque (deposit, full payment whatever).

Only one guy has wanted to pay by credit card, and it went through Mrs G's business c'card system.

Does one ever get a 'cold' booking? i.e. no communication beforehand, just a straight booking via one of these booking systems? I would feel slightly curious, and a bit uncomfortable without having a bit more info. on who they are.

So do you feel this sort of system increases bookings? Maybe a relief for punters who don't want to have to deal with a picky owner etc.

Or is there something I don't see on this?

Goat

[Hells Bells]

Goat, most of my enquiries have been by email. I have rang a couple of them that I was concerned about. They can then either book using the booking system or i can email them an electronic invoice if I have altered the price in any way. I can still reject the bookings if they book 'cold' so to speak, and refund the deposit. The system is set up so arrival date is any day, except in high season with arrival day of Sunday, and mimimum of 7 nights, also 3 night minimum for short breaks. So far, most of my bookings have filled in the enquiry form, and then booked using the booking system, or by the invoice I send them. I prefer not having to spend my Saturday mornings banking cheques that I then have to transfer to my French account to pay the bills. I have accounted for the paypal charges in my prices, and encourage them to use e-cheque for the balance which is cheaper. I will accept a cheque if they prefer, but I try to get them to use the system. The management is what helps most. I can log on from anywhere, and email balance reminders, invoices, and process the payments. That way, I can enjoy my own ski trip.

[Ben McNevis]

I use paypal myself, but only for small amounts of money on ebay. Before you use it for large amounts such as rentals, there are dangers you should consider. For a brief overview, have a look at:

http://paypalsucks.com/PayPalFormerEmployee1.shtml

I have personally been in dispute with paypal and have seen that as soon as a problem arises, you just hit a brick wall and that their buyer-protection and seller-protection schemes are in fact just a merry-go-round of emails that go nowhere.

[Hells Bells]

Ben ,I've been using it for Ebay for ages too, and haven't had any problems. A merchant account is too expensive, and my sister had som many problems with moneybookers, I;ll stick to paypal thanks.

[Mountain Goat]

Helen

I have to admit I'm with Ben on this one.

When things go wrong with eBay or PayPal, you're up a creek without a paddle; they have no interest in helping, even if you can battle through their 'service' channels.

I would feel very uncomfortable with any dispute, before or after a rental via eBay or PayPal, especially if the punter was already resident in the property.

It's not clear to me whether 'selling' a rental on eBay via a 99p entry is a valid contract on either side of the transaction. I just don't see it.

I think what's seriously unnerving is that when a fraud does occur, and I've been involved in two bad cases (OK, one for £800 and another for £1200, both with laptops) even if you can progress beyond their autorbot replies from Customer Service (they really are robots, picking up keywords in your enquiry to attempt to answer your question) there will be no solution which involves them lifting a finger - they just sit back and watch the fight, and laugh all the way to the bank.

I don't want to hijack the theme of this post, but I got into trouble on one of their forums claiming, and I still believe this, that 99% of the software on eBay is sold illegally, whether pirate stuff or the seller is not the legal owner. How 'they' (eBay / PayPal) get away with acting as knowing agent (or whatever) in the sale of such large quantities of illegal software* is a mystery, but legally they claim their position is watertight.

It would need Alan K. to brief us on this - it's out of my field.

Goat

* I suppose the moral position of choosing whether to pay £12 on eBay or £450 for the latest version of PhotoShop from a legal supplier would be an interesting new topic. Is using pirate (or 2nd-user) software any different from shoplifting, how to explain it to a kid etc.....one could drone on.

[Alan Knighting]

Goat,

It would need Alan K. to brief us on this - it's out of my field.

I never was a lawyer working in international sale of goods so I would be of no more use than a snowball in Hell.

I’ve only used eBay and PayPal once and that was to buy some software which did turn out to be a legal copy.

I was less than impressed with the PayPal registration system and I was doubly less than impressed when I started to get spam e-mails pretending to come from PayPal and telling me I hadn’t paid. The e-mails were an exact representation of a PayPal message and contained exact details of the transaction. My credit card had been debited and the seller had been paid, I checked with her.

I wouldn’t trust PayPal’s security as far as I could throw it.

Alan

[Hells Bells]

All very valid points guys, but until I find a more convenient solution, which doesn't cost me the earth to set up, it's the best I've got. It's also an extremely useful way of refunding the damage deposits. You no longer have to register with Paypal to use it occasionally. As for the 99p auction, it wouldn't happen anyway as the reserve price is set much higher than that, and the item therefore remains unsold. I have had one problem with goods from ebay, and it was resolved to my satisfaction.

[Hells Bells]

OK guys, now you can all laugh. I logged into my Paypal account, only to be told that I now neede to send by fax copies of my passport, bank details, and a recent utilities bill, owing to the level of transactions going through my account. The information I send must state my first name on them. Thing is, the registered bank account is a French one, and is held jointly with my husband. The name on the account shows only M. ou Mme. Julian Beaumont, and not my own name. The electricity account was sorted out by our estate agent and is only in my husbands name. I think they may accept other account details, but I can't be certain. I do, however, have to say that the email I sent them was answered promptly, by a real person.

[janskov]

It is not PayPal who are “crazy� it is the eBay people.
I had a similar experience when I tried to use eBay to advertise my property.

I am in Denmark. All papers are with my accountant in Croatia and the house is registered to a company – which I own 80%.

Can you imagine me prove that with documents all having my name on?
After a long and fruitless discussion with the UK bureaucrats I gave up and told them that I would never use their services again.

That resulted in me being banned by eBay. I can no longer get an ID with them and I do not care a bit.

But there is no problem with PayPal. I used them before and I am still using them now two years after the incident.

Probably eBay have been “burned� by crooks, and are rolling out full scale fraud prevention.
But really – if you are just a half-good crook you will be able to fake all the documents they require.
With PayPal (an eBay company!) having information on your verified credit cards and bank accounts you would think that a better reference than a silly utility bill that anybody with a computer can fake in minutes.

It gave me a valuable insight in the mechanisms that has made a mess out of bureaucracy in the former British colonies in Africa.