Failure to return money paid due to the receiver being unable to transfer the payment into his bank

[DavidsGrandma]

My mother died on January 19th 2016, she left £1700 in her will to my son who lives in China, we thought the best way for him to receive his inheritance was through Paypal, this has been the biggest mistake we ever made.  I made this payment to him on April 14th 2016 and to this day he still has not received it, all sorts of excuses including that he had the wrong bank.  We have both made phone calls to our respective helpdesk numbers and raised queries but nothing has happened, I travelled to China last month and we both were in the same room speaking to a Paypal advisor named Priya who is in the call centre in Malaysia; she promised to return the money to my account, we emailed immediately to the office the documents and information she requested to return the money, this was 20th July 2017, We still have not received the refund or a response

[kernowlass]

@DavidsGrandma

Did the funds hit his paypal balance?

Is it just that the withdrawal failed?

What currency did you send the funds in?

Is his chinese account set up to accept that currency?

Is or was it marked as unclaimed or completed on your paypal account?

[DavidsGrandma]

The money went into his Paypal account, it is still there.

The transfer to his Chinese bank account is prohibited.

I sent the funds in GBP.

Originally the account stated that his bank was not recognised by Paypal, he opened another account with the Bank of China, this has also failed to be a suitable choice. 

My account states 'money sent' and 'repeat this transaction'.

As far as I am aware the chinese banking system has severe restrictions on foreigners residing in China, there are very few transactions he can make and is unable to set up any kind of financial transfer, direct debits, epayments etc. He only uses his account to receive wages and takes cash from a ATM, internet banking is not allowed.

[kernowlass]

@DavidsGrandma

ok so can he just 'send' the funds back to your paypal account?

[DavidsGrandma]

No he cannot, the account has some sort of freeze on it, set by paypal and he has no functionality on the account. He cannot accept to put into his bank and cannot return it.  The advisor we spoke to in the Malaysian call centre, Priya, said it would have to be done by paypal which is why they required the letter of authorisation, my bank details and a copy of my passport.