Ebay granted me a refund but Paypal have paid it into someone else's account

[Seren13]

I opened a dispute for an eBay item that I never received and a refund was granted.  I then received an email from Paypal saying that I had received a refund, with a transaction number, but the refund never appeared in my account.  I used the messaging service to ask where my refund was, and I was told that I had checked the item out on Ebay as a guest and the refund had gone into someone else's account so they could not help me.  Firstly I did not check the item out as a guest, the item is showing in my eBay account, and secondly, if they have sent the refund to someone else surely this is their fault and they should rectify it?

[sharpiemarker · Accepted solution]

@Seren13 

No, guest checkout meaning that you did not log in with a PayPal account when you paid. Of course, your order will appear in eBay but when paying its different. You can choose to pay with saved credit/debit card through your eBay account directly, your PayPal account or through PayPal Guest (no PayPal log in via debit or credit card). Look for the original PayPal email receipt for the purchase, does it have a receipt id number on it at all? That is only way to tell if you paid as PayPal guest or not. Then the refund would be issued to the email address that was used at PayPal Guest checkout.

Click on the transaction ID number on that email if it is hyperlinked, it should take you to the transaction. Then again, that would depend on the right email and password the transaction is associated to in order to access it.

Contact customer service again and give the transaction ID for the refund to trace where it is because you receive email about it:

Log on, click HELP on top menu, scroll down to click CONTACT US, and then scroll down to click CALL US or other contact options.

Call early, during business hours, west coast time to try to get a US rep. 

Or contact via social media:

Facebook (US): https://www.facebook.com/paypal

Twitter (US): @AskPayPal 

Also check the funding source of the transaction for the refund as well because issued refunds go back to original funding source. Arrival times may vary:

- Bank payments, 3-5 or 5-7 days, depending on your bank. 

- Cards, about a week, up to 30 days depending on your issuing card. 

- PayPal balance, fairly instant. 

- Split payments between PayPal balance and card/bank, see above.

[Seren13]

Thank you so much!  This explained things to me way better than the online messenger.  I have found the refund in a random bank account that I hardly ever use.