Gift/Personal payment sent to an incorrect email

[LRK]

While sending a very large gift payment, the prefix of the email address was missed.

After this payment was sent, I immediately called PayPal, after speaking to 3 different representatives within the next 24 hours, I was advised by PayPal to file an unauthorized dispute which would freeze the funds in the recipients account. And if the person is unresponsive for 7 days PayPal would then rule the dispute in my favor and reverse this transaction. Meanwhile, PayPal has also informed me that they have not able to reach the reciepent via telecommunication or leave a voicemail or via email and this account seems to be abandoned and I still have to wait 7 seven days to allow the receipent to respond.

7 days pass and now after speaking with yet another representative PayPal is now changing its story to me and telling me that they cannot do anything and I need to continue to contact the recipient via email which they have not been responding to for the last 2 weeks.

What are my options? PayPal is obviously unwilling to provide me any contact details of the receipent, and has literally told me "too bad".

[DPCreations]

YOU authorized it so it would be fraudulent to claim it was unauthorized.  Such a fraudulent claim could limit your account.

Check the status of the transaction.

If it is  completed, then the recepient has a nice gift and under no obligation to return it.  You could contact the recipient and ask for a return.

If there is an option to cancel, then do so.

If it went to a non-PayPal email address then it would return in about 30 days.

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@LRK

To add to @DPCreations advice I would only add that 'if' you funded that payment via a card you could try and do a chargeback via your card issuer but it 'may' not work as it was a 'gift' payment.

[Quandary]

Some thoughts:

You can usually cancel a PayPal payment that is in a "pending" or "unclaimed" status.   These payments will have a status of “Unclaimed” and will show in the “Pending” section  of your PayPal account.   This does not apply to an "order" you would like to cancel, you would need to contact the seller to discuss options for a cancellation and request a refund.


If the payment is completed, you won’t be able to cancel it. You’ll need to contact the recipient (or seller) and request a refund

To cancel a "pending" payment:
* On the Summary page, locate the pending payment
* Click Cancel under the pending payment.
* Click Cancel Payment.


Additional stuff to know:

* You can only cancel a pending payment that has a "Cancel" link next to it.
* If the payment you sent is pending for 30 days, it will be canceled automatically and refunded to you.
* If you sent the payment using a debit or credit card, the refund will be credited to the card you used.  It may take up to 30 days for the card to be credited.
* If you sent your payment using a bank account and the payment is canceled, it will be refunded to your PayPal balance.  If the payment has not cleared your bank yet, please allow 3-4 business days for the money to appear in your balance.  Once the payment is in your balance you can withdraw the funds to your bank account.
* If you are unable to cancel the payment and need a refund, please contact the recipient
of the payment.
* If the recipient doesn’t agree to refund your money, you may be able to open a dispute
in the Resolution Center, where you'll be able to communicate directly with the recipient/seller
and try to resolve any issues.