My card was blocked due to suspected fraud. A new card was sent to me. Prior to receiving it (took 10 days via USPS) I needed to make a major purchase. I attempted to transfer money from Paypal to my bank but per a few different customer service reps. Some internal security feature was not allowing me to transfer my money to my bank. I explained my situation and asked for a solution. If the purchase wasn't made I would have been charged a 20% restocking fee or inconvenience fee, I can't remember what it was labeled, I just remembered not wanting to pay it. One rep said that the only way to make my purchase was via a paypal to paypal transfer. I contacted the seller and luckily she said she would accept this form of payment. A few weeks later I was still waiting to receive my purchase. I contacted the seller several times and the first few times she responded quickly and apologized for the delay and said she would get right back with me on a delivery day. After being put off for 10 days I called the seller and left a message that I wanted a full refund and if I didn't receive the refund I would contact paypal to assist. The seller never returned my calls or emails. I contacted Paypal to dispute the charge. Within minutes I received a message that because of the way my purchase was made the cost was not covered. I couldn't believe what I was reading. I explained that no other option was available to me. I explained that if someone would review my account they'd see that I called into customer service 3 times trying to transfer funds to my bank. Each message back to me stated that because of the type of transfer done, it was not insured. It finally clicked. The type of transfer was friends and family. I didn't even select that option. The seller had to assist me in making my payment to her via this Paypal transfer and she chose that option. I don't even know what the other option were available. The paypal rep that told me to make the payment via this paypal transfer never explained that i must select a certain option or category in order to be covered by payment protection. The rep didn't explain the process at all that's why the seller told me what to click on. So I'm out $2250 because paypal wouldn't allow me to transfer my money to another financial institution and the only option I was given wasn't fully explained to me. I am contacting an attorney today. Not only is it upsetting that Paypal can block the transfer of your own money to another financial institution, no one that i spoke to could tell me why. And the only option that was given to me came with major disclaimers that weren't told to me. If you are going to tell me that the only way to make a payment while waiting for your debit card is in transit, would be to pay doing a paypal transfer, the next sentence should have been TRANSFERS THAT ARE MADE CHOOSING "FRIENDS AND FAMILY" ARE NOT COVERED. This seems like common sense. Shame on Paypal for holding my money hostage and then not accepting responsibility for not fully explaining the repercussions of the the only way to make a payment when there is expected fraud on your debit card and an internal security feature blocks any transfer of your funds to another financial institution. $2250 is a lot of money to me. I worked very hard to earn that money. It's amazing how easy it seems to be to access people's debit card numbers by some thief but law abiding account holders can't access their money. What is going on that there is so much fraud happening to paypal debit cards? This is the 2nd time this year already that Paypal has had to send me another debit card. I will be sure to have the attorney ask that question. I'm going to post all Paypals responses to me on every social media platform available to me.
