WARNING: Getting Money Back From Venmo After Mistake Not So Easy

I made a mistake.

I have the Venmo app and I have paid people through the app without any problems.  I have to say because I am old school, I am a little apprehensive with this.  I don't care if I'm labeled as "old," there are just some things that I wish didn't change and writing checks is one of those things.  BUT, I have used Venmo in the past and it, to my surprise, worked out quite well.

Today, I had to pay someone for some work on my house.  It was a few hundred dollars and I really like this guy, so I wanted to get him his money as soon as possible, so I "Venmo-ed" him the money.  THEN, the app said, "there was a problem and it didn't go through."  So, what did I do?  I sent it again.  WTH.  Sure enough, when I checked my balance in my account, it went through, not once, but twice.  Well shhhhugah.

I contacted the guy who I paid and he sent the $$ back.... thru Venmo.  Okay, all good, right?  Well, when I went to check my balance in my account, I didn't see the refunded amount.  I waited and still didn't see it after about an hour.  Mind you, the money that I doubly paid came out instantly, so I was concerned.

First, I called my bank to see if there was an amount that was pending.  Nope.  Okay.  I saw that this guy had refunded the money, so I know he sent it.  I then called Venmo.  There's a number if you Google it.  No go there.  No one was available.  They did encourage me to go to their CHAT feature on the app itself.  I did that and was able to text with someone who told me that I could transfer the balance of my Venmo money to my bank account.  Okay, all cool.

When I followed the mysterious Venmo Chat Guy/Girl's instructions, it gave me two options:  1)  If I wanted my money back in to my account instantly, they would CHARGE ME 1% of the TRANSFER amount  or 2)  I could transfer the money and it would be available in 1-3 days.  What the ever-loving-hell was this about?  They'll take your money right away, but make you wait 1-3 days to put it back?  C'mon now.  That's just not good business.  I know they have to make money, so I'm okay with that, but this just seems shady.  I should have read all the stuff that nobody reads before they download the friggin' thing.

According to the latest, I should see the money back in my account by Tuesday.