That's the way the refund process works.
If you paid using your PayPal Account Balance or Bank Account, the refund is credited back to your PayPal Account Balance. Times can vary for many reasons, it can take from 1 day to several days depending on the funding source used by the party doing the refund.
If you paid using a credit card, the refund is credited back to that card. That process can take up to 2 weeks for the credit to appear on your card statement
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If you paid using a prepaid type card, the refund is credited back to that card however, as many cards are not reloadable, you have to contact the card issuer for assistance with getting the credit reapplied to the card.
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As for old cards:
When PayPal refunds money back to a card, the card issuer/bank receives the funds and will post them back to the appropriate account. If they do not do this, the funds are usually sent back to Paypal. PayPal will then post them into your PayPal balance. The bad news is, the process can take 30 days or longer before PayPal gets the funds back. PayPal recommends you contact your card issuer and let them know a refund was sent to the old card so they can assist you by locating that refund and/or expediting the return of funds.
