Never received refund to bank (over 30 days)

[theEssDee111]

Hello community, I made a payment to a friend of mine on August 13th, 2021, and used the wrong email address for their account. My friend gained access to their account and attempted to refund the payment from this email address, and Paypal's feed states that the refund was completed. However, I received an email shortly after stating that the refund was not able to be processed, and I never received the funds back into my bank account.

This was a direct debit from my bank account. The funds are listed as being in my paypal balance, but they never showed up there either. Payments after this refund still came from my bank, not my balance, and this money appears to just be.... gone. It has been over 30 days since I sent the payment out, and according the Paypal, if money is not claimed within 30 days it goes back to the sender. I cannot open a case to resolve this, and my friend claims that they contacted paypal for help processing the refund when it was cancelled and they were also told to wait for the funds to return. Did paypal just eat my money or is there any other action I can take to resolve this problem? 

[PayPal_JonK]

Hello @theEssDee111,

Welcome! I'm sorry to hear you're running into some issues regarding a recent transaction. It sounds like this may be involving some kind of unclaimed payment - whether on your account on your friend's account. Confirming your email or phone number will claim any unclaimed payments that are currently pending. Have both of you confirmed your email address yet? If not, here's a Help Center article to walk you through that process: How do I confirm my email address?

Once the funds clear into your balance, you should have the option to transfer them to a bank or card or use them to fund the next transaction.

I hope that helps, good luck with your refund!

 - Jon K