Paypal Pay in 4 glitch, no confirmation, pending authorisation transaction disappeared.

[Emu-95]

Hi all, I used Paypal Pay in 4 for the first time the other day, to buy a few things (in one transaction) online from JB HI FI. However, after going through the motions at checkout to use Pay in 4 as my payment method, once completed, I received no kind of purchase confirmation or any correspondence from the vendor to show the transaction had gone through. In my Paypal transactions, the first payment was listed as "pending authorisation", however the money for the first payment had already been instantly taken from my account. I tried googling what was going on and saw an explanation about the funds pending until the vendor accepts and processes the order, otherwise the money is refunded after a certain amount of time. I made this purchase 4 days ago, and I just logged into Paypal to find that the pending transaction has disappeared altogether. There's no mention of it having been processed nor refunded, it's just entirely ceased to exist, and I checked my bank account to see maybe if the order didn't go through and the money was refunded without notification, but this is not the case, either. I also contacted the vendor's support service the other day to try and confirm whether the order had been received, but I've not received any correspondence. I can't use Paypal's resolution centre as the transaction in question has disappeared and so I can't select it. I'm at a complete loss on what I should do or CAN do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated, TIA.

[PayPal_RachelK · Accepted solution]

Hi @Emu-95,

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. 
 

The authorization charge will remain pending until the merchant accepts/processed your order. As you mentioned that the authorization has disappeared from your PayPal Activity, this would mean that the authorization expired, and the merchant did not accept it. Therefore, you will not be charged for this order. 

An Authorization is just a temporary charge. This means you won't see a refund in your bank account. The charge will simply be removed from your bank, and the funds would be returned to your available balance. This should reflect on your bank balance within 72 hours.

I hope this helps!
 

- Rachel 

[Emu-95]

I see, that all makes sense - thank you, much appreciated!

[NCT2]

How long does it take for the authorisation process/temporary hold to be cancelled automatically if the vendor does not respond? The same thing has just happened to me (codibook order) and there is no order history at all so I cannot ask the vendor as well since there is no order number issued. I just want to make a repeat order today since some items on sale will be gone soon but I don’t want it to be a duplicate order and end up paying for the same things twice. Thanks a lot in advance.

[asclarke]

The same thing has happened to me and now the pending authorisation has even disappeared from my bank and I still have not received my money and I haven’t been able to get help through paypal. Has anyone figured out how to get their money back?

[PayPal_JonK]

Hello @asclarke and everyone, 

Thanks for visiting our Community Forum! I can understand how pending authorizations can cause a bit of concern. Temporary authorizations can last up to 30 days if not processed or refunded by the merchant. Before that 30 days is up, you would want to work with the merchant with any questions on this authorization. After, you can reach out to our Customer Support teams to see what options may potentially be available. 

Good luck and best wishes!

 - Jon K

[asclarke]

 @PayPal_RachelK Hi, this happened to me as well with the authorization disappearing from my paypal activity however I was never given my money back. It's been 12 days for me. How can I get my money back?

[RavenZombie]

in terms of Ebay, who is considered 'the merchant not accepting'? Ebay Commerce Inc, or the actual item seller...

my transactions normally go through Ebay.

why would the option be there, if the seller wasnt accepting?

[PayPal_JonK]

Welcome @RavenZombie, 

Thanks for visiting our Community Forum. If the merchant doesn't it accept PayPal Credit, it would be considered the actual seller of the item, not eBay. eBay is the marketplace and the seller would be the merchant. Depending on their settings or location, they may or may not accept PayPal Credit. 

I hope that clears some things up. Best wishes on your next transaction!

 - Jon K

[RavenZombie]

well, the seller says he hasnt heard anything on their end, and that it is Ebay... and thats what its looking like to me.