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.

[GaryRoss]

Where did you get the information that this issue has been resolved?  I am reluctant to give it a try without some sort of confirmation from PayPal. Chase has given me credit for three $10 charges but said they won’t give any further credits. 

[1kjp1]

Hi Gary, Confirmed by PayPal and my credit card issuer that new transactions are being processed without a cash advance fee.

[leggatmagmaca]

Why is Dec 31 posting showing up in Dec 20 on page 3 of this topic, which is currently showing Dec31 postings on page 5 or later?

If there is proof that transactions are successfully carried out with aliexpress. through paypal, on a credit card, without cash advance fees, then please specifically state as much in your posting.

RL

[Jay75043]

If this issue has been resolved then PayPal should make it clear.  I tried to get PayPal to confirm it has been resolved but I've had no luck whatsoever.  I contacted them by phone and through their message center so many times I've lost count.  I last contacted them on Dec. 12.  That day I exchanged 5 or 6 messages with them.  If this was resolved on Dec. 3 then why didn't they say so?  PayPal says it's a problem with my bank (Chase).  But it's not just my bank.  People have reported this problem with other banks (TD and Capital One come to mind).

I will not risk using PayPal again.

[vj2050]

As of Dec 29, 2020 this has NOT been resolved - at least NOT with TD Visa.    In fact, it gets crazier.     I received a refund for incorrect Aliexpress merchandise and the refund transaction via Paypal was also treated as a cash advance which is nuts.    It makes even less sense that a refund is treated as an "advance".     Money is being credited to my account - yet I am being  charged a fee!    Madness!    TD have reversed the fee plus interest - but it is time-consuming and extremely frustrating to have to deal with this nonsense.        Avoid Paypal and Aliexpress.  

[stozzz]

Had the same issue after buying a product on AliExpress and paying with PayPal using my Credit Card. Got the $10 cash advance fee + interest (accruing daily at 26% APR). The representative at Capital One refused to reverse the fee, or lower the cash advance limit, or prevent cash advances on the SPARK credit card despite me being a "valued customer". I guess they like to collect those fees. Capital One Bank blamed everything on the merchant (AliExpress) saying that they requested the transaction to go as the cash advance.

AliExpress suggested contacting PayPal as the one who handled the transaction. 

Contacted PayPal via messages and waiting for the explanation (reading other posts, I guess there would be none or denial). Lesson learned - DO NOT USE YOUR CREDIT CARD WITH PAYPAL + ALIEXPRESS!

If anyone finds a solution, how successfully use a credit card + PayPal + AliExpress, please let me know.

[stozzz]

///// UPDATE + SOLUTION

So I called Capital One Bank 2nd time and the Cash Advance Fee was REVERSED. Thank you, Capital One!

HERE IS WHAT TO SAY (politely) to the representative of YOUR BANK:

"There was a mistake with the transaction, which was accidentally processed as a cash advance. I'm not able to cancel it with the merchant as the items were already shipped. I kindly ask you to reverse the cash advance fee and interest, as due to COVID the situation is already too hard for me, and paying extra fees is unbearable right now."

Hope it helps right now!

[leeyoda]

I just find myself in this situation as well and super mad about it.

So basically the 5% chase freedom + Paypal is a huge scam organized by Paypal which is not just disappointing but also disgusting.

I am opening up cases and trying to dispute in chase which the websites don't allow.

Hope everyone finds a resolution on this.

I am not ever going to use this terrible blood sucking service any more.

[vj2050]

I've run into this also via TD - Visa in Canada.    Beware of Aliexpress merchandise purchases paid via Paypal.      The title is a little misleading as the actual purchase appears as a merchandise purchase according to the  Paypal transaction summary and includes the purchase detail and any currency exchange charge.    All good.   But then there is an undocumented/hidden ADDITIONAL cash advance fee that occurs that is not subject to cardholder approval.

Aliexpress payments are handled via Alipay Singapore E-Commerce Private Limited and for reasons I don't understand, they get treated as if they are a cash advance.   The TD rep I spoke with says they are treated as a "cash" or  "gambling like" transaction which makes no sense to me.     The transaction is for merchandise;   furthermore at no point in the payment/authorization process is there any notification of this charge or opportunity to approve or deny same.     There seems to be a bunch of finger-pointing and buck-passing going on between the credit card companies,  Paypal and Alipay.   From my perspective it's borderline fraud - no unauthorized charges should be occurring without notification and cardholder approval.     

Hopefully this gets sorted out - until then I would avoid using Aliexpress and Paypal.     It would be interesting to know if the same cash advance charge occurs if you make Aliexpress purchases WITHOUT Paypal.  

[ChuckEF]

I purchased multiple items from this site as a new user in November, finally got my bill and am also getting several cash advance plus daily interest charges on my statement for each transaction.  I am pretty sure paypal is the processor of the credit card entry and am not sure why they are processing merchandise orders as cash advances.  I am sure that they know it would be wrong to do so.  I am having trouble finding a link to make the enquiry on paypal or aliexpress, I just keep getting the stock help web sites.  Has anybody got a clear answer or is it best not to be using their service any longer?