Heads up re: Gofundme

[sholio]

So here's something you should know if you use Gofundme: they can charge a credit card, then decide ~for reasons~ to refund the card and take the money away weeks later. Which I now know because when I went to check my end-of-month credit card statement, it looked ... not as expected ... and trying to track down what was wrong, I eventually figured out that all the charges I'd placed on various fundraisers on Gofundme this month had been reversed at the end of the month and re-credited to me for NO REASON.

I contacted Gofundme about it, and the answer I got was that this usually happens when they're unable to verify that a transaction is not fraudulent, and I need to send them a scan of my ID and a link to a realname social media account such as Facebook to prove that I'm me.

First of all, what the actual hell. Especially since I've been donating to them just fine for years.

Second, wow, way to fuck over the people I donated to! Even if I get them to start accepting donations from me again, this doesn't automatically restore the donations I made; I'd have to go back and find those fundraisers and donate again.

So basically, yeah, that sure is a thing that happened, and something you should be aware of if you use Gofundme on either the donation or the fundraiser end. Just because the card has been processed and the donation credited to the fundraiser total doesn't mean the money is guaranteed, even if (as in my case), there is absolutely nothing hinky and no reason why it shouldn't go through.

Comments

[sovay]

Second, wow, way to fuck over the people I donated to!

Seriously! And they didn't notify you there was a problem at the time? That is not cool.

[sholio]

NOPE. Not an email, not the slightest attempt to contact me. I wouldn't have any idea there was a problem if I didn't pay close attention to my credit card statement. Which means this could have kept happening for who knows how long. And there's no telling how many other people it happens to.

[sovay]

Which means this could have kept happening for who knows how long. And there's no telling how many other people it happens to.

I'm just going to leave this icon here.

[sholio]

ACCURATE.

[ride_4ever]

Thanks for the warning.

[trobadora]

Wow, that's seriously fucked up. :(

[glorious_spoon]

WOW, that's fucked up! I don't donate all that often through them, but seriously, wtf.

[lunabee34]

That really sucks. Wow. I'm sorry.:(

[sheron]

I've read about a similar thing happening in other cases (like the stupid wall thing, all those millions end up being returned because the person collecting the money changed the contract after the donations) which I thought was reasonable at the time. But this is ridiculous! Why wouldn't they at least notify the people donating that they're refunding money? Wouldn't that be the absolute bare minimum you'd want to do? *Especially* if you suspect fraud. Bizzare!

[madripoor_rose]

That is criminally idiotic!

[settiai]

Yeah, I had that issue with the GoFundMe I set up to help with my vet bills. Someone made a large donation a few months ago, and GoFundMe sent me a message saying that it was on hold until they could verify that it was legitimate. It was then up to me to post on social media and the like in the hope that the person who made the donation would see it and get in touch with them. They didn't initiate any conversation with the person who made the donation.

[recessional]

It is good to know that they at least notified you; that partly implies that there's at least SOME chance the person setting it up could mend the issue. But yeah.

[sholio]

Oh no, that's awful! Were you ever able to resolve it?

[settiai]

I was, yes. I'm not entirely sure who it was that made the donation, but they apparently follow me on Dreamwidth as they left an anonymous comment letting me know they were verifying everything with GoFundMe.

GoFundMe transferred the funds a few days later.

[umadoshi]

Well, that's horrifying. :(

[vicki_rae]

What the fuck!?!?

[jb_slasher]

What the actual fuck.

[gwyn]

That is unbelievable. It makes the demise of YouCaring seem even worse, because they're the only game in town. (I say that as someone who's been on the fence and really freaked out about even having to think of using them for my current crisis.) They are so poorly run if they do that!