PayPal refusing to payout a refund

[jeanninel]

I refunded a client 80$ but it happened that the client paid PayPal using his creditard as he didn't had a PayPal Acccount. So what happened PayPal refuses to refund the client  because he has no account.  Called for 30 minutes PayPal speaking with some unhelpful people. Finally the client set up a PayPal account, so that he could contact PayPal giving my refund transaction#, hoping he gets his funds. NO, PayPal can not see if they paid the client......

Getting nuts.. 1./ Is it normal PayPal is not simply refunding on a clients creditcard?  2./ Is it normal PayPal has no capable people seeing they did a refund. 3./ Is it normal after sending 3 questions to PayPal, None of them are answered.

[jamesashcroft2]

I have had this exact problem but from a buyer's standpoint. I accidentally ordered an item and got into contact with the seller ASAP to request a cancellation and a refund, explaining why. They replied almost immediately, canceled the order, and sent through a refund.

Good so far?

Well, only part of the price was paid by PayPal balance. The rest was drawn from my bank account as it was my 'backup' method and I didn't have enough on my balance to pay for it. Paypal listed all £32.95 as being refunded on my statement/summary, but only £13.96 of that was in the balance. I check my bank balance, and the other £18.99 isn't there. It's just gone, poof. 

As a university student, £20 is extremely important if you're on a limited budget. PayPal has been very unhelpful so far in seeking out the £19 missing, and all of their 'help' section answers have no mention of this problem. Apparently, any refunded payment through Paypal SHOULD be routed back to the original bank, but that hasn't happened.

[PayPal_JonK]

Hello @jeanninel, @jamesashcroft2, 

Thank you both for reaching out on our Community Forum for help. These are actually two completely separate issues I'd be happy to shed some light on. 

@jeanninel, if the buyer uses a credit card to fund the transaction, we will always send the funds back to the card. We do not require the buyer to create a PayPal account unless they are receiving a payment. Refunds would process back to the credit card normally within 3 business days of completion. I would recommend the buyer to reach out to us over the phone again or his credit card company to investigate the matter further. 

@jamesashcroft2, this happens because we are unable to stop the request of funds being pulled from your bank. If the funds are pulled from your PayPal balance, they are refunded immediately (like you saw with your £13.96). However, we need to wait for the remainder to clear from your bank before refunding it back to your PayPal balance to then be sent back to your bank. Unfortunately, this is a limitation of all banking systems and how money moves in and out of a bank. That being said, I completely understand how far £20 can go as a student. I'm sorry we are unable to expedite that process. 

Best wishes to you both! Thank you again for reaching out on our Community Forum. 

Cheers,

 - Jon K