Pay in 4 didn't go to merchant and was asked for payment again

[Justin_R_A_1]

I was buying a new laptop from Dell and at the beginning I saw the option for pay in 4. I selected that option and paid my first payment of 225.25 (Laptop is around 901 dollars). But after I went through the rest of the ordering process I was asked again for my payment info and I selected PayPal. Then after finishing the order i was charged the full 901 which got declined due to insufficient funds, but my bank account still shows the 225.25 payment taken from it. I called Dell customer service and they saw the 900 dollars transaction and I cancelled my order. I still see the pay in 4 plan on PayPal though and I just want to know if since my order is cancelled I won't have to pay it through and if I'll get my first payment refunded.

[PayPal_JonK]

Hello @Justin_R_A_1, 

Welcome! Thanks for visiting the PayPal Community Forum. I can understand how Pay in 4 can look a bit confusing at first. You shouldn't have been charged the full transaction, but PayPal does provide the full amount to the merchant - which would explain why Dell saw the $900 transaction. However, if you cancelled the order with Dell, then yes, you should see the original $225.25 returned to it's original funding source. Here are a couple resources on how Pay in 4 works:

Why is there a pending authorization shown in my PayPal activity for my Pay in 4 Transaction?
How does a merchant refund work for my Pay in 4?

I hope that clears things up a bit, 

 - Jon K