Recently I bought a gift card and added it to my paypal, and decided to use it to buy another gift card online. The first time i purchased it everything went smoothly and I was emailed the gift card instantly, but when i tried to buy another one today, it didn't work. I first received an email from the website i bought it from saying they were unable to process my digital gift card order, and that my charges would be refunded to the original form of payment. Then another email saying my order had been confirmed, despite still having not gotten the code. When I checked paypal, it just says authorisation in progress. The gift card I linked has already been charged. I'm not sure what I should do now, and where the money is.
Welcome to the PayPal Community and thank you for your post!
I do understand your concern with this. When you attempt to make a payment, the amount can be temporarily charged to your bank/card. This is an authorization charge.
It sounds like your transaction with the merchant was not successful. If the merchant does not process your order, the temporary charge will be removed from your card within 72 hours. This is normal practice for online payments, so no need to be worried if this happens again.
Hi, I was just wondering since the money has already been charged from the gift card, if the transaction gets refunded, where would it go? My gift card doesn’t allow money to be added back to it. Thanks, Jasmine
When an order is not accepted/processed, the authorization would be released back to your card. A authorization is just a temporary charge, therefore, it would not show as a refund on your card. The funds would simply be taken off hold, and placed back into your avilable card balance. This is an automated process.
If you have any concerns, please reach out to your card issuer directly.
