Problems with Paypal Access Card / Prepay Technologies

[Chris0473]

On 28/9 I attempted to buy some Tyres from a well known online Tyre distributor, upon entering my Paypal Mastercard payment details, the payment was immediately declined. Thinking it was simply a glitch with the checkout / website I waited a few minutes and then tried again, which was also declined, finally I tried a third time and this payment was also declined. I then checked my emails, to find that I had three emails from Paypal confirming that each of those three declined payments had been individually deducted from my paypal balance, 3 individual payments totaling £736.68. I then logged back into the Tyre Vendors' website and confirmed that no active orders had been placed with them, a phone call also confirmed the fact that they have received no payment from me, and had no orders on the system.

 

I then logged into my Paypal Access card account, to see that the three declined payments hadn't actually been made, but were now appearing in a 'pending' status, and there was no way of cancelling them.

 

I then contacted the card issuer - Prepay Technologies, using the 0845 number provided by Paypal, the person I spoke to, was very sympathetic but declared that there was no way that they could manually cancel off the three payments held in pending status and return the balance to my paypal account, and I would have to wait until 25th November for the pending status to essentially time out and the balance to be returned. Not happy at hearing the news that over £700 was going to be out of my reach for nearly two months, I asked to speak to a more senior member of staff who basically repeated the same thing, but advised me to contact Paypal to see if there was anything they could do to overturn the original payments to the card.

 

So I contacted Paypal on their support number, who were even less helpful than Prepay Technologies, they stated that all they could do was escalate my complaint to an "Account Specialist" who would let me know their decision within 48 hours. Needless to say, that was almost a week ago and no email has been received. A further call to chase it up with Paypal has resulted in them simply washing their hands of the problem, stating that obtaining the refund is an issue between me and Prepay Technologies, and I should contact the card support 0845 number, and so the circle continues.....

 

Obviously having £736 gone from my Paypal balance and tied up and out of reach for nearly two months simply from what are essentially duplicated declined transactions, is a problem, and the lack of funds is also now preventing me from making the purchase I had originally wanted to do in the first place. I'm guessing that the rules for prepayment cards differ from normal credit cards, but are they really able to hold a refund from what were immediately declined transactions for that long?.

 

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[citizenB]

I suspect that you might need to make an official complaint to their Head/Registered office. Send to both PayPal and Prepay Technologies so you hit the right people.

 

I doubt this will obtain a swift result for you, but an escalation of your complaint to the FOS might.

[ericsbrother]

can you get to the bottom of the reason as to why the payment was declined and then I think you have some leverage to make them move quicker. A LBA to prepay technologies may speed things up as you can get in a claim well before 2 months are up and they will have to pay your costs even if they cough up. The problem then will be having an actual address to serve the letter on. One of the reasons why online isnt attractive. They are London based so your lba can go to the HQ

[Chris0473]

Thank you for the prompt replies.

 

can you get to the bottom of the reason as to why the payment was declined and then I think you have some leverage to make them move quicker.

When I contacted the Tyre vendor they said it was because they don't accept payment by prepaid credit cards. I asked them if they could confirm this on an email, along with the fact that they have processed no orders from me, nor have any pending, which they have done.

[Migster]

Sounds to me as though the tyre company might be at fault. They don't accept payment by prepaid card, so obviously must have a process in place to identify the card type and reject the transaction. From what you have said, it sounds as though this check takes place after the payment has been authorised and the funds in question ring-fenced (we operate a similar process for credit cards where I work, but our check takes place prior to authorisation, so we reject the order before any funds get ring-fenced).

 

If the above is correct, I can see why Prepay Technologies are unwilling to act, as for all they know, the tyre company still intends to put these transactions through for settlement. That said, it is somewhat bizarre that these auths will remain on you account until late November, as typically they age off after a week or so.

 

I'd check with Prepay Tech that they did in fact authorise the three payments. If they confirm that they did, I'd go back to the tyre company and request that they contact Prepay Tech direct, to confirm that they will not be putting the three payments through for settlement. Hopefully Prepay Tech will then be OK to release the ring-fenced funds (assuming their systems allow them to).

[Chris0473]

I suspect that you might need to make an official complaint to their Head/Registered office. Send to both PayPal and Prepay Technologies so you hit the right people.

 

Hi,

 

I sent a letter by recorded delivery to Prepay Technologies at their London address, however today it was returned by the Royal Mail, with a label stating that it has been refused.

 

What is my next course of action?

[citizenB]

I didn't think they were allowed to refuse mail at their Head/Registered office ?

 

I will try and find someone who might know.

[citizenB]

I am sorry, I cannot find anyone who can answer your question.

[Ethel Street]

I didn't think they were allowed to refuse mail at their Head/Registered office ?

 

According to their website they are a UK Ltd company formed under the Companies Act with a London registered office.

 

http://prepaysolutions.com/legal/

 

By law (Companies Act 2006 s86) " A company must at all times have a registered office to which all communications and notices may be addressed."

 

So assuming their website information is correct I can't see how they can legally refuse to accept "communications" addressed to their registered office.

 

I see that they are also registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. I'd have thought that refusal to accept "communications" addressed to their registered office. would, in itself, be grounds for a complaint to the FCA

 

I'd send the letter once more by Recorded Delivery, another copy by post not recorded, and another copy by email to their 'Compliance' email address on the website page.

[citizenB]

Thanks for this Ethel Street