How to get a refund for a gift I sent?

[Ladyhawkeisfine]

I sent a payment as a gift versus a regular payment for a service. The seller did not provide me with the service. I want a refund now. Can I do this and how?

[kernowlass]

@Ladyhawkeisfine 

A friends / family (or gift payment) is intended as a transfer of funds from family or friends to one another. For this reason, there is no processing fee when payment is made with bank or PayPal balance.
However as it is a gift payment, there is also no Buyer protection as no goods or services should have been exchanged.

If he was not a close mate or family member you should never use that option as it enables the seller to evade paying his paypal fees and negates your buyer protection at the same time. You would also not be able to open a dispute apart from one citing an unauthorised transaction but that would be automatically closed as you did authorise the initial payment.

You also 'risk' having your account limited as using that option for purchasing goods is against Paypal rules.

If you funded your paypal payment via a credit card then contact your card issuer and see if they will help you but unfortunately they may decline as well as it was a gift payment.

[Ladyhawkeisfine]

Thanks for the information! Can you tell me where to find PayPal’s rules about paying a seller via regular payment and not via gift. I have not seen this before and due to Covid-19 and lack of telephone access to PayPal’s customer service, I can’t actually ask this question. And it is not covered in their Help section either. Thanks.

[kernowlass]

@Ladyhawkeisfine 

If you don't believe me then i will post this link below, but i know for a fact its against their rules and i have been on this forum for years and seen many folks buyer and sellers banned for sending or receiving f/f payments for purchases, paypal do not like being denied their due fees.

https://www.paypal.com/ca/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full?locale.x=en_CA#send-money

  You must not use the “send money to a friend or family member” feature in your PayPal account when you are paying for goods or services.

[Ladyhawkeisfine · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the link about the rules, much appreciated. I do believe you but I also like to see rules written down too. I have now read the whole user agreement for my own protection. Hindsight being 20/20, I wish I had read it before now! Live and learn! Thanks again.