‘My 17-year-old nephew’s exam money disappeared after he transitioned from being female’

A dispute over a £250 payment through PayPal has led to the refunding of the amount by both the payment company and Barclays banking group. A technical fault was blamed for Barclays’ decision to refund the payment as a “gesture of goodwill” to the sender, who had been left out of pocket. PayPal said that the payment, sent to the sender’s nephew, who had changed his name, was successful and had not been raised as a dispute under its chargeback rules. However, neither company was able to confirm where the payment had gone.
 
The complaint was relayed to The Guardian newspaper, which itself runs a consumer advice section. The person making the complaint said that he had been advised to go to his bank, Barclays and request a chargeback against the original payment. The bank offered to refund as a gesture of goodwill but was unable to proceed with the chargeback. Later, the second payment was removed after the sender said it had been received, leaving him unable to retrieve the original payment.
 
PayPal and Barclays both denied raising a dispute. PayPal said account details were easily changed and should not lead to account locks. It also issued a goodwill payment so that the sender was not out of pocket. Barclays reminded customers to double-check payment details, saying once a payment had cleared its sight of the transaction was limited.
 
The Guardian warned customers to ensure they were sending payments to the correct email address, as once a payment was sent, it was unlikely that it could be retrieved. The issue of payments has been a contentious one for PayPal, with the company looking to broaden acceptance of its services to physical retailers, while also coming under more scrutiny over its security standards.



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