PayPal puts spoke in eBay sale

Will Formby West Yorkshire

You would think that Paypal has some liability, wouldn’t you? In fact, what it has is a bunch of technicalities in its buyer and seller protection schemes, which means that, in many cases, customers will not be covered, even in situations that seem as though they should be. Motorcycles are “technically” covered by its seller protection policy, but PayPal told Troubleshooter that the usual postage requirements apply — specifically, that the seller must post the item using a delivery service that can be tracked online. It admitted that this “is unlikely to be practicable for many motorcycles”. In other words, your seller protection depends entirely on what you are selling. Stuff that is not posted, and not tracked online, is not eligible; a fairly significant hole in the terms and conditions for thousands of sellers.

There is a fundamental point of principle here that should not be overlooked. When banking customers are the victims of fraud, the bank must pay out unless it can prove that the customer was liable through negligence. When a PayPal customer is the victim, he or she is not subject to the same protection, but is instead reliant on PayPal agreeing that they can claim based on the terms of its heavily conditional protection schemes.

Furthermore, you acted on PayPal’s advice, waiting until you received the go-ahead before accepting the payment of £350. For this reason, PayPal should have accepted full culpability in your case. It didn’t, until Troubleshooter intervened. It has now refunded you £350 as a goodwill gesture, with an admission that it didn’t handle the case as well as it should have done.

I recently arranged for £500 to be converted to Danish kroner using NatWest’s online service. Its website states: “There are no card handling fees charged if you choose to pay by debit card or Visa credit card.” I appreciate that not being charged handling fees for what is, in essence, a cash advance is unusual, but as the website states this, I took advantage and used a NatWest Visa card.

However, a £15.21 cash-handling fee has been charged to my card and, despite seven phone calls and taking the evidence to a NatWest branch, the charge is still there.

Chris Saint West Midlands

NatWest’s reply to you may as well have been “Doh!”: you “did not read down far enough”. Had you continued to scroll down the web page you would have noticed a clause that says the fee does apply, despite the clause you quote above, which appears to contradict this.

“This issue has now been dealt with directly,” NatWest told Troubleshooter, and the bank has now refunded you the fee for any confusion caused.

My former husband and I closed our Barclays current account in January 2003. It later emerged that my husband, who was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder after serving in the Gulf War, had not told me that we were £2,351 in debt to Barclays from our overdraft.

When we were separating, I found unopened letters hidden in our garage, including details of fraudulent loans that my husband took out in my name without my knowledge. I also discovered letters from Barclays and a debt collection agency about the overdraft, which I immediately arranged to repay in full. However, by then a default notice had been placed on my credit record.

I understand that Barclays may be willing to cancel the default if I can prove extenuating circumstances. I have provided the bank with evidence of my situation, but I have had no response. Can you persuade Barclays to remove the default notice? I have a mortgage offer that is in danger of being withdrawn as a result of the default.

Julie Barry Hampshire

Barclays did not reply to you because it automatically redirected all your letters to the debt collection agency. The involvement of debt collection agencies is the kiss of death for a successful resolution for even the most compliant customers, mostly because it means that the bank has effectively washed its hands of you, and the debt collection agency is paid to care about only one thing.

You had tried contacting the debt collection agency, but only Barclays has the power to remove the default. The bank admits that your problem has identified a “process shortfall”. It has now removed the default notice from your credit record and has also given you £200 to apologise for the inconvenience.

On the brightside

Julia Rowley, from Bath, writes: “We have an open fire in our living room but have been running low on logs over the cold snap. I trudged through the snow to our local garden centre, Fred Daw, to get more firewood last week. I knew I’d have trouble taking the logs home as they were so heavy, so I asked a man working in the garden centre whether I could borrow a wheelbarrow. Instead he offered to carry the logs all the way to my front door. He wouldn’t even accept a tip at the end of the slippery journey. Brilliant service.”

Readers to the rescue

I’m a banker and I feel a little guilty about the size of my bonus this year. I would like to donate 5 per cent of it to charity, but my wife doesn’t agree. What should I do?

Oliver Parsons

If your employer is one of the banks now part-owned by the UK, how about making the percentage you give away the same as the percentage the UK now owns of your bank and has kept you in your job?

Michael Wires

£25 voucher winner

You have no obligation to give away any of your bonus, However, it would be a kind thing to do, as many charities will be feeling the pinch from a lack of donations and council cuts. If you pick a community project that will allow you to see tangible results from your donation, you may even feel like making it an annual thing. Maybe your wife will show better spirit if it affects the community in which you and your children live.

Major Alan Leggett

Enjoy your money. Spending it will help to keep others in work and ease the burden on UK-based charities.

F. K.

Your wife married a banker; what response do you expect? Forgive her and move on. You should donate 10 per cent of your bonus and then support our beleaguered economy by spending like a madman. A few choice gifts may appease your wife.

A. L.

You should do what feels right for you. However, if that really is going to cause marital upset, why not compromise on the percentage and donate some of your time to a local charity as well? If you can persuade your wife to join you, all the better.

Clare D

Oliver, get off the naughty step right now. In accepting a legitimate Christmas bonus, you have done nothing wrong. By all means make a donation to charity if you wish, but not with any feeling of guilt. You’re not an MP, for heaven’s sake.

Frank Greaney

Presumably your bonus will be paid in cash and your employer will deduct income tax at the higher rate. If you treat your donation as gift aid, the charity will be entitled to reclaim tax at the basic rate. The difference between this basic-rate tax and the higher-rate tax you will have paid will be refunded by HMRC when your tax liability for the year is finalised. Promise to give this refund to your wife; she might then change her mind.

A. C. Balchin

Can you help?

E-mail troubleshooter@thetimes.co.uk with your answer to the following problem for the chance to win a £25 bonusbond.com multistore voucher.

I am due to inherit £200,000 and would like to know the best way to invest it to help my pension pot. I am 56, with my own house and a work pension. Any ideas?

Caroline Allee