Folks, Yesterday, I have contacted PayPal by Twitter, (both by DM and its @AskPayPal feed). fill in the email form... in the end, I called in for help with a live human agent. The agent has tried to troubleshoot with me i.e. log in, log out, clear the cache, using different browsers... And I have got 2 different computers in 2 different OS (Windows and Mac) with 2 different internet connection from 2 different ISPs as well... still no dice. So the agent has escalated to the "technical team". Hopefully, they would resolve the issues within 24 hours. Meanwhile I have tried again myself several times... same error message. I have searched for discussions of this specific issue and it seems not something new - tracking all the way back since 2010. Unfortunately, most have not updated with their outcomes. Among all PayPal users, I do not know how significant it is because not everyone needs to issue refund at all. My objective is to honour my promise to issue the partial refund to my buyer with the difference of actual shipping and handling. But knowing the issue could be dragged on for days if not weeks like one has experienced before, I told my buyer that I would send him the fund directly instead of the form of partial refund. A workaround but the prorated fees involved may not be recovered as with the refund facility... This is the story I told the PayPal agent on the phone about half an hour ago. Though he has been sympathized with my situation and insist "all the options are exhausted", I have a hunch the "technical team" should able to do more than just the scripted responses i.e. issuing the partial refund to my buyer. So the agent agreed to transfer me for a try. I also have a feeling the agents are told not to attempt for the refund on behalf of the affected PayPal users... it is a valid concern from the perspective of security. After comparing notes with another agent, he understood where I am coming from and simply want to resolve the issue with the access on his side. Then he tried, it worked. While I appreciate all the help and efforts from the 3 agents I have contacted with, PayPal should take this specific issue more seriously. I acknowledge that nothing is 100% fail-proof but based on my own experience along with others affected, I do not believe PayPal have done enough to mitigate underlying issue (for whatever it is) and offer viable alternatives as backup. I post this topic here is to allow other affected PayPal users to discuss, to share with their own experiences; rather than "read this notice sign and be patience". Surely, there are procedures and checklists for troubleshooting we are better to go through first... this community message board is part of the resources for us to troubleshoot in my point of view. Hopefully, someone would find it useful with this thread and able to offer some insights of the viable alternatives or resolutions.
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