AliExpress Purchase Coded as Cash Advance

[orrly]

RESOLVED/// 

I reached out to AliExpress, and they say they didn't change their payment methods on the backend so to take it up with PayPal, who is also not taking ownership. I called my credit card's affiliated bank (Chase) again, and the rep waived the fee for me this time--I have good credit history and have been a customer for 10 yrs so YMMV. Also, my previous call to Chase was unsuccessful so you might need to call a few times and hope to catch a nice rep. Good luck to everyone except PayPal, who NEEDS TO STEP UP WITH THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE.

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I'm in the US and recently purchased an item off of AliExpress for the first time. I couldn't find the item I was looking for elsewhere on the web, and since they had a PayPal payment option, I thought maybe it would be safe enough. I paid just shy of USD 7 for the item.

Fast forward a few days later, I noticed that the credit card affiliated my this PayPal purchase had a USD 10 transaction fee--I called my bank, and they said it's because it was coded as a Cash Advance.

I reached out to AliExpress and they said to talk to PayPal who processed it. I filed a dispute with PayPal under "billing issue" because none of the other choices seem any better--I included a copy of my purchase receipt and a screenshot of my credit card statement showing the extraneous fee. Today PayPal just denied my name because it's "not a billing issue". Could someone advise what I should do? Out of principle, I do not this it's right for me to be charged this fine because some weird billing on the back end.

[KimSmith]

i've had the same issue - twice

i'm on the phone with TD bank right now.

TD is finger pointing to PayPal

[Livingmicrobizl]

I tested this out last year when I was trying to purchase items for a project I was working on. it doesn't matter if you go through paypal, or directly enter your credit card, the cash advance fees are charged in both cases.

[tlinn]

I experienced this same issue. It's disappointing but perhaps not surprising that PayPal doesn't want to put in the effort to help its customers with this. I suspect the issue ultimately sits with Aliexpress or Alipay. I'm not sure if this is a scam or just incompetence but if Alipay is able to charge any kind of fee to PayPal or Chase for the "cash advance" then my money is firmly on scam. These buy-direct-from-China portals have always struck me as sketchy. I will never be using Aliexpress again. Fortunately, Chase waived the fee and I paid off my balance immediately to stop further accrued interest (which doesn't amount to much on an $8 transaction, even at 25%).

[1kjp1]

Effective November 3rd 2020 - This issue has been addressed

[simonthebrave]

I can confirm that it is not as of 11/29/20. I'm having a really hard time to get Chase to refund the fee. This is taking a very long time. I'm a very unhappy customer Paypal and Chase are supposed to be protecting me but they are taking advantage of me.

[1kjp1]

My apologies. Still grappling with the fact that it’s December already. That was meant to say that effective Dec 3rd (today).

[vj2050]

1kjp1 -  addressed Nov 3, 2020?    As of  Dec 1, 2020 this definitely was not addressed.     Even though Paypal was provided with a fairly comprehensive explanation of the "cash advance" charge problem (from a customer perspective), the only response I received 2 days ago was a template "denied" without further explanation.    How exactly has this been addressed?   

[simonthebrave]

Talked another person at Chase. (Secret customer service can only reverse 1 fee, but the supervisor can fix all of them). The lady at Chase said PayPal is the one who changed how they processed transactions and it is a new thing with them. There we have it is PAYPAL YOUR FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[1kjp1]

So sorry. Still grappling with the fact that it’s December already. That was meant to say effective Dec 3rd (today).

[Robertotoledo]

Thanks but what is PayPal going to do about all the wrong charges we had during this period so far?