Pay in 4 Denial - Unusual Activity and Double Charge

[markusamari]

I was attempting to get in on some Black Friday deals when they dropped and went to pay with PayPal Checkout and saw the new Pay in 4 option. I accepted all the terms and linked it with my debit card then it kicked me back to the merchant to complete the transaction... but it couldn't go through. I attempted again through PayPal but I was just going to use my card and this time it didn't even present an option for Pay in 4. I proceeded like normal and again the merchant said something went wrong and couldn't complete the order. At this point I was done fooling around with PayPal so I was just going to use my Debit card BUT because of the full purchase amount PLUS the Pay in 4 initial payment still showing on my account even though no transaction was completed, my account was slightly overdrafted and I couldn't complete my purchase nor can I use my Debit card for anything.

I tried getting a hold of PayPal customer service to clear up the pending transactions and saw that the reason that they denied my initial Pay in 4 was for "Unusual Activity" despite the fact that I have been regularly using my PayPal for all of my holiday purchases. This is a very vague reason and doesn't explain why they charged me the first Pay in 4 payment AND the full amount when the order isn't even being completed. Customer Service is a joke too with the bot and phone just being in an automated loop to keep you away from actually talking to someone for immediate resolution. I probably could have gotten a faster reply sending my help ticket through physical mail.

[chibi92]

wow, what trash, what's the point of them using it on their platform if they can't even do the disputes for faulty flagging

[Vonvee]

I am having the same issues and I am soo **bleep** 😡

[Jybarra118]

Did they fix this issue I was trying to make a normal purchase with pay in 4 at a store I’ve used pay in 4 at and they didn’t let me because of unusual activity

[Kmn2021]

So I've used this feature for months, i got denied because I "didn't have enough prior credit history" I've been using this feature since Oct of 2020 and now not only was I given the run around my pay in 4 for shops I use it with is no longer showing up anywhere and both people I spoke with were clueless, this sucks. And have no idea if or when this will be fixed.

[vbsherry]

I'm going through this now. I have been waiting almost four hours for customer service to respond to my message. I only hope I will be there when they finally respond, as I missed a message earlier by 10 minutes after waiting for more than two hours. PayPal clearly regards customer service as an inconvenience. 

[vbsherry]

It's clear the customer service agents don't even understand this issue. You wait an eternity, and then they're useless. 

[vbsherry]

My case got bumped up to the global Pay in 4 people after I pointed out the option is not available for any of the merchants that accept this form of payment. The original agent just directed me to contact a specific merchant rather than acknowledge he didn't understand what was happening. It is not a merchant-specific problem. We'll see what happens. 

[Staylord]

Same here, I was told, that everything was fine according to what they saw on their end regarding my account, that I was a good customer with excellent standing The agent advised me to wait 72 hours and try again. Nothing, just the same BS. IMAO, this thing is new, and not quite up to speed in handling the usage now with so many people at home. It seems flawed in many ways and needs to be reconfigured. Thanks for your input, at least I am not the only one in this mess.

[vbsherry]

The Pay in 4 support people say my account is fine, the problem is widespread and it will soon be corrected. I have little faith, though. 

[Staylord]

Yes, same here.  I've been messaging them, and messaging is actually better than calling.  They respond quickly.  An agent texted me back and informed me that everything on my end was fine, that there is a glitch in the system and the pay pal team is working on it and the pay in 4 will be available in the "future".  Who knows when that will be.    Overall, I am happy with Pay Pal, but this situation sort of took me for a loop! We just have to wait it out I guess, and not take it personally.  This is their issue, not ours, just inconvenient and confusing--at our expense.🙄😩