Paid with PayPal Pay in 4 but got charged the full amount

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I am so upset because I made a purchase on mercari with paypal pay in 4, abut it charged my debit card in full which was completely unauthorized and now my bank still has TWO charges for the supposed first payment of the installments! I doubt the issue was PayPal as I’ve been able to make other purchases but this is incredibly disappointing and would appreciate if someone from paypal can confirm if there was an issue on their end? The purchase doesn’t show up on my PayPal account at all

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Hello @Diabolista,
Thank you for visiting our community help forum!
I understand your concern about the Pay in 4 charges. With Pay in 4 purchase, we will conduct a pre-authorization hold on your payment method for an amount equal to the initial down payment or one-fourth of your total purchase amount which will be in pending status within your PayPal Account Activity and also at your financial institution.
Once the merchant completes your order, the pending authorization will be removed, and the initial down payment will be withdrawn from your specified payment method. Any duplicate authorizations will be removed and money released back in your bank. This may take up to 1-5 business days to process through your financial institution. More information about Pay in 4 authorizations can be found here.
I hope this information helps,
Bindu
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I am very confused as I am having the same issue. But my payment shows as Completed. I have excellent credit rating. I am very confused and now hesitant to use PayPal

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Hey @ix4j,
Thank you for visiting our community help forum!
I certainly understand how concerning this can be for you. PayPal Pay in 4 is not available for certain merchants and goods. We may also decide not to offer PayPal Pay in 4 as an option based on our internal checks. You will get a instant decision when you choose the Pay in 4 as an option at the time of check out. If the payment is completed by Pay in 4, you can see the details of the plan under Pay in 4 in your activity. Please keep in mind, you may be eligible in the future and are able to checkout using another form of payment. You can also reach out to our team through the available contact options at the bottom of PayPal page for any additional assistance.
Best wishes,
Bindu
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Yeah! Same here! I'm so confused! I think this happened before too and I was never given the payment in 4 options but rather I was charged the full amount and THAT WAS THAT! I didn't receive a partial return like these paypal representatives are claiming and I'm concerned now that it has happened again!
The first time I thought *I MADE A MISTAKE* and clicked something by accident, this second time I KNEW I didn't make a mistake! Now It's gone and messed up my finances because the whole point for me was to only make a small payment on a purchase, because if I wanted to pay in full I wouldn't have even bothered with PayPal. Im not sure what the point of it even is honestly.
Ill wait a few days and see if I get 3/4's of my payment back or what...But last time... I didnt!
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If you have your paypal credit set to pay clear the balance in full every month you will be charged the full of your paypal credit balance even if it's supposed to be part of one of these deals.
The only exception is pay in 3 which goes into it's own seperate balance.
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Just had the same realization. Why would you charge (pending) me the full amount when I'm trying to pay in 4 payments? If the money is in my account I'll just buy it. Luckily it just pulled it from my savings, but that charges me a few bucks. This is a pointless service that I will never use again.
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