Do I even have a case?

[cocyclone]

Hello, I reside in Colorado and I need help figuring out if this situation is even able to be brought up in small claims.

I recently had an acquaintance that needed monetary help from me for a medical procedure. The person requested $275 and I obliged. I originally sent the money through a Venmo transaction that showed a valid account for the person. I proceeded to send the money, and then the person claimed they did not know how to use Venmo and would need the money through PayPal. I planned on the Venmo transaction to be cancelled eventually while the PayPal payment would be the valid one. The person also asked if I needed receipts or documentation from the doctor for the procedure, and I had faith in the person and said no. This conversation was entirely through text messaging with documentation. Now I only needed the Venmo transaction to be cancelled.

I waited a couple days and the cancellation never occurred. I proceeded the text the person about updates and why the cancellation never occurred. The person claimed they still could not figure out how to work with Venmo. I sent screenshots and messages outlining how to do things and for documentation back showing me actions were being taken. I had a chat with a Venmo representative confirming the money went through. I kept receiving excuses. I eventually sent my transaction history through email, and multiple other messages trough text messaging to get a response, but never heard back. I even sent a facebook messenger message to know that the person was receiving the message, and that was verified through the messenger app. I am now getting completely stonewalled, and I am only trying to retrieve the $275 Venmo transaction back. I feel as though this is something related to failure of services.

Please advise if I have enough to move forward, or if I am just SOL? Thanks.

 

[quincy]

Hello, I reside in Colorado and I need help figuring out if this situation is even able to be brought up in small claims.

I recently had an acquaintance that needed monetary help from me for a medical procedure. The person requested $275 and I obliged. I originally sent the money through a Venmo transaction that showed a valid account for the person. I proceeded to send the money, and then the person claimed they did not know how to use Venmo and would need the money through PayPal. I planned on the Venmo transaction to be cancelled eventually while the PayPal payment would be the valid one. The person also asked if I needed receipts or documentation from the doctor for the procedure, and I had faith in the person and said no. This conversation was entirely through text messaging with documentation. Now I only needed the Venmo transaction to be cancelled.

I waited a couple days and the cancellation never occurred. I proceeded the text the person about updates and why the cancellation never occurred. The person claimed they still could not figure out how to work with Venmo. I sent screenshots and messages outlining how to do things and for documentation back showing me actions were being taken. I had a chat with a Venmo representative confirming the money went through. I kept receiving excuses. I eventually sent my transaction history through email, and multiple other messages trough text messaging to get a response, but never heard back. I even sent a facebook messenger message to know that the person was receiving the message, and that was verified through the messenger app. I am now getting completely stonewalled, and I am only trying to retrieve the $275 Venmo transaction back. I feel as though this is something related to failure of services.

Please advise if I have enough to move forward, or if I am just SOL? Thanks.

First, Venmo is owned by PayPal. It is a PayPal service.

You can send money to someone by depositing money in your Venmo account and Venmo transfers the money into someone else's Venmo account. Once in the other person's Venmo account, they can transfer it out of Venmo into their personal bank account - but it often takes a couple of days for the transfer to be completed.

If your acquaintance did not know how Venmo worked, are you sure this acquaintance had a Venmo account set up for the transfer? If your acquaintance has a Venmo account, do you think the money could still be sitting in your acquaintance's Venmo account? Could you have had your money transferred into someone else's account by mistake?

You might need to handle this through PayPal - or through your acquaintance (who may or may not have received both $275 payments). But first you need to discover where the extra $275 disappeared to before you can sue over this money. If your acquaintance does not pay back the $275 you sent through PayPal, you could have a small claims action to pursue against your acquaintance for that money.

 

[cocyclone]

First, Venmo is owned by PayPal. It is a PayPal service.

You can send money to someone by depositing money in your Venmo account and Venmo transfers the money into someone else's Venmo account. Once in the other person's Venmo account, they can transfer it out of Venmo into their personal bank account - but it often takes a couple of days for the transfer to be completed.

If your acquaintance did not know how Venmo worked, are you sure this acquaintance had a Venmo account set up for the transfer? If your acquaintance has a Venmo account, do you think the money could still be sitting in your acquaintance's Venmo account? Could you have had your money transferred into someone else's account by mistake?

You might need to handle this through PayPal - or through your acquaintance (who may or may not have received both $275 payments). But first you need to discover where the extra $275 disappeared to before you can sue over this money. If your acquaintance does not pay back the $275 you sent through PayPal, you could have a small claims action to pursue against your acquaintance for that money.

I know the money went to their account. I did this by verifying with the Venmo rep. that the money went to the specific phone number I have for the person. I also requested the money back through Venmo and received a denied request email from the user.

I have had money come back to me through PayPal in another incident where I never received a concert ticket and PayPal refunded my money, but this issue seems different from my chat session with the representative. The rep. made it seem it was all in my hands to retrieve the funds rather than reversing the transaction as PayPal once did.

Thanks for replying.

 

[quincy]

I know the money went to their account. I did this by verifying with the Venmo rep. that the money went to the specific phone number I have for the person. I also requested the money back through Venmo and received a denied request email from the user.

I have had money come back to me through PayPal in another incident where I never received a concert ticket and PayPal refunded my money, but this issue seems different from my chat session with the representative. The rep. made it seem it was all in my hands to retrieve the funds rather than reversing the transaction as PayPal once did.

Thanks for replying.

Your acquaintance needs to create a Venmo account in order to claim the funds sent by you. The fact that your acquaintance has an email or phone number does not release the funds to the acquaintance without the creation of a Venmo account. You need to make sure that your acquaintance understands how to do this and/or has done that, in order to sue over a $275 overpayment.

Here is a link to small claims help in Colorado: http://www.coloradolegalservices.org/lawhelp/issues/consumer-issues/small-claims