"Looking for Pay in 3? Unfortunately, Pay in 3 isn't available for this purchase" - Why???

[Fowler1966]

I have recently tried to make several payments to merchants using the Pay in 3 option. I have been able to use Pay in 3 with each of these merchants in the past. I am now getting this message:

"Looking for Pay in 3? Unfortunately, Pay in 3 isn't available for this purchase"

I have not missed any payments and have always fully paid off the previous Pay in 3 plans that I have been on.

For some reason, Paypal likes to keep secrets from its customers and is refusing to tell me why they have decided to impose these restrictions on my account. Does anyone know if Paypal have ever actually published the criteria that they use to assess people's eligibility for Pay in 3? There are no issues with my credit rating and it is genuinely a mystery to me why this has suddenly changed.

[cainshiro]

I have been having this issue since May 2023. It vanished and I was not able to use it since. I completed like 30 payment plans without any issues before. I made several calls to PayPal, contacted them through their messages centre and it got me nowhere. They keep saying they checked me account and I'm eligible to use it and asked me to: use other merchants/stores, clear web browser cache, remove all debit/credit cards and then add them back, use different web browsers and nothing worked. It's clear their automatic security system is broken because it's preventing good customers from using this feature. When will this be addressed? How many more people will be denied to use it?

I have never missed any payments, I have excellent account history since 2006 and my credit score is above average.

[fionathefrog]

I’m so glad I jumped on here because every time I contact support, they never give me an answer. I agree, they are steering everyone to PP credit to make money. I’m paying off what I owe, then binning PayPal for good.

[Nobody83]

I've had the same issue and was told to check back in a month I've paid for over 100 items and never missed a payment Bit unfair as I've relied on this for a while I was told by PayPal because of my credit score And they note I was a good payer. Take note I've got me self 2 mobile phones from sky (not PayPal) s23 ultra that are over 1000 each I'm starting to think they check ya affordability now I am very disappointed at this loss and PayPal should look at a better way of showing us or credit and balance if that's the case

[ihmugu]

Same problem here, suddenly stopped working because some payments were delaying due to I change the card number, then I paid it and updated my debit card. Then, the Pay in 3 option dissapear and no more eligible... Very sitty, the way Paypal manage the features to their costumers by adding dumb algorithms that not work properly because the ban good costumers... Very dissapointed

[Torz78]

Mine vanished due to them just not taking a payment. They even emailed me and said sorry they had an error and they would take the payment on a new date and sorry. It cleared as i make sure i gave the money but they took away my pay in 3. Hours of phone calls i get told its error they dnt know how to fix. Its joke

[PayPal_Meghan]

Hello @Torz78, 

Welcome back to the PayPal Community! 

I'm sorry to hear that the option to use Pay in 3 isn't showing after your recent payment wasn't processed in time due to an error. When Pay in 3 isn't presented due to a decline, it's typically offered again in around 30 days. In your situation, it should be about the same timeframe. I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused. 

I hope you have a lovely week! 

- Meghan

[Mei728]

It usually works with eBay and my favorite shops, but now none of them have pay in 3 !!! What going on! I Had been contact the customer service and no solution at all! Very frustration!

[Kelbie1983]

Was this an issue resolved? I’m having this problem now it’s really frustrating.

[JimmyMcGill]

No, unfortunately it’s not resolved and doesn’t look to be anytime in the future. PayPal say things like “check again in 30 days” or “some merchants don’t offer this service” but all of it just tries to make you use it again, fail and then have to use PayPal credit or normal payment. The customer service is nonexistent at this point. It still shows as an “offer” on mine, but never ever works. Sad times that they aren’t prepared to help customers that have used and kept up with payments on the service for years

[Kelbie1983]

Thanks for your reply and I completely agree. I think I’m just going to use Klarna from now on. I have used PayPal for years and really benefited from PayPal pay in 3. Oh well.