Money sent no goods received

[transylvaniafor]

Hi, i have sent 100,- to an individual who claims that he received an email from Paypal, stating that due to an error he can't accept my money and it will be returned to me within 21 days. I have never received my goods and the money was deducted from my account. Was this a scam or i really receive my money in 21 days? Thanks for the answers

[PayPal_JonK]

Hello @transylvaniafor, 

Welcome to the PayPal Community Forum. I'm glad you reached out on this issue. Normally, if a seller can't accept the funds due to some kind of unclaimed status, the funds would be returned to the buyer in 30 days. The receiver may be a bit confused about a 21 day hold on their end, where the funds are released to the seller after 21 days, but I'm not exactly sure that's what's happening here. 

Did you send these funds as Goods and Services or by Friends and Family? If you sent them by Goods and Services, you may want to see if the option to open a dispute is available. If you sent it by Friends and Family, and you funded it by a debit / credit card or bank, you may want to reach out to your funding source to see what kind of options are available. 

As always, you're welcome to reach out to our Customer Support teams for assistance. 

Best wishes on this and future transactions, 

 - Jon K

[transylvaniafor]

I opened a case in PayPal but no one helped and they closed the case. I also called but haven't received a proper answer. The seller is stating that he can't get the money from his PayPal account and he sent me a screenshot in which it was written that i have sent him 100€ and he can't get it due to some security reason. That's why I will receive the money back in 21 days. From my PayPal account the money was deducted and also from my credit card. Do you think i will receive the money back or it was a scam? That's what i am trying to find out. Thanks and regards, Balazs!

[PayPal_JonK]

@transylvaniafor, thanks for reaching back out. I'm sorry to hear that dispute didn't go as planned.

Depending on what kind of transaction you sent, Friends and Family or Goods and Services, you may be limited in what kind of dispute options you have available. If you sent it as Friends and Family, you'll probably only see the option to report the transaction as unauthorized. And since the transaction was completed by you, that's most likely why it was closed without a refund. 

With that in mind, your best bet would be to reach out to your funding source to explore what options they have available. Unfortunately, I can't say how likely you'll be to get your funds back or not. 

I can just say that in the future, if you're making a purchase for a good or a service, you'll always want to send it as a Goods and Services transaction so you have a higher likelihood for the transaction to be refunded if something goes wrong with it. 
 

Also, there are more ways than just calling Customer Support in that article link above. I'd recommend Facebook PM or Twitter DM for situations like this. 

Good luck and best wishes!

 - Jon K