Payment to an account, learnt it is deactivated and I can't cancel payment or get a refund.

[Trend__K]

A few days ago I sent a friend money, who is currently travelling abroad. 

When later messaging him, I told him, and he informed me that that email paypal account is deactivated.  I tried to cancel the payment by google searching the answer, but there was no option to "Cancel" like what the google answers were.   Maybe that option was there years ago, but not now.  

I'd like to cancel the payment, and send it to his correct email address, but unfortunately can't find anyway to do this.  I tried creating a case, but there's no option for this.  As a paypal shareholder, I'm absolutely disgusted how hard it is.  It would be one thing if I sent it to an account that someone accepted, but it was sent to a deactivated account, that the person hasn't accepted it, and there's no way in the account section to be able to cancel it. 

Can anyone help me with this? 

[kernowlass]

@Trend__K 

Well before being disgusted because you don't understand something, why not wait for help on your issue first?

What does it say ON the transaction in your paypal account?

Sent.

Payment.

Completed.

Uncleared.

Pending/unclaimed.

Pending/unclaimed with a cancel option.

[Trend__K]

All it says is "Money Sent"

You need to work on your condescension.  Seems like "Esteemed Advisor" tag has gone to your head.  

I asked for help and not insults, but you chose to issue the latter. 

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi @Trend__K and @kernowlass, 

Thank you both for your posts, and welcome to the Community, Trend__K!

I need to provide a small reminder of the Community Rules and Guidelines, and ask that everyone review it and help prevent any interpersonal disputes. 

@kernowlass - thank you very much for getting us started with troubleshooting. @Trend__K - I'm very sorry that you've had difficulty with a sent payment.

In a situation where a payment is sent to an email that is not associated with an account, the Cancel option is typically available. I understand that this is not the case in your situation. In a circumstance where the Cancel option is not showing, it's likely that the recipient's account is still active, even if they cannot access it. 

The recipient would have to contact Customer Service for assistance in either regaining access to the account, or request that the Customer Service teammate manually refund the payment for them. They can find the contact options by clicking Contact at the bottom of the PayPal website.

I hope this information is helpful and that your friend is able to get those funds reversed to you swiftly!

Olivia

[Trend__K]

Hi @PayPal_Olivia

The problem is, the recipient I sent it to, is in Colombia travelling, and doesn't have access to Two Factor Authentication on his registered phone number to log in and accept the payment, as his number is at home, and using a foreign nuumber while travelling.   He has contacted Paypal numerous times, but since he doesn't have access to the number, he can't claim the money.

Paypal terms say money is refunded after 30 days if it has not been accepted.  It's now almost 90 days since I sent the payment, and it has yet to be accepted, or even returned to me. 

Could you please advise what someone must do? 

Thanking you Olivia.

Regards.

[PayPal_Meghan]

Hello @Trend__K, 

Thanks for reaching back out on the PayPal Community Forum!

I'm sorry to hear that your friend still hasn't been able to access the account or been able to authorize a refund. If a payment sits unclaimed, it is automatically returned after 30 days. However, the payment will automatically be claimed if an account is open, verified, and has a confirmed email. The recipient does not need to log in manually and claim it. When you don't see the option to cancel a sent payment, that's typically an indication it was automatically claimed. From what you've mentioned, I believe this is why your payment wasn't automatically returned. 

In this situation, your friend would have to log into the account to either process a refund, withdraw it, or authorize Customer Support to initiate a refund. For the first option, since they're traveling, they may need to wait until they return home. However, if they have a device they've marked as trusted, like a laptop, they might successfully log in without using the 2-Factor Authentication. If they'd rather continue trying to request a refund through Customer Support, we have a few different contact options available. Please have them review this Help Center article to see if a different option might work better from what they've tried previously. 

I apologize for the innocence this has caused and hope this information helps! 

- Meghan