Paypal wanted me to pay back the refunded money

[Victor_yt]

So here’s what happened from start to end.

I bought a product on a website on 19th December 2022, costs 369.99, it was through PayPal with my linked bank account.

I later tried to contact the seller for a refund, but did not receive any response, so I asked my bank if I could do refund through them, they later raised a claim with PayPal.

I received the refund by the seller on 29th December, they told me that the product isn’t sent and the money hasn’t been received, so they have canceled the order. This was weird because my money have already been deducted from my bank.

But I got my money back from PayPal that day, so I didn’t think too much, cuz I got the refund.

Approximately a week later, I found out my PayPal account balance was on negative 369.99. I asked the support, they told me that it was because they falsely sent me another refund, and failed to recover it from my account.

PayPal also states that I did not pay through my bank so the money shouldn’t go into my bank. (Which is not true)

I showed them my bank statements, they did not bother read that.

I have asked them for a solid evidence, anything that in a form of receipt or have some exact number for that second refund. They cannot provide that.

They have conducted a trace of fund, which today, it turns out to be that they are tracing the original refund which I got on 29th of December.

PayPal support told me that If I do not pay the money, they will escalate this case to a Debt Recovery Company. How am I supposed to be paying this “ghost” money, if PayPal can’t even show me any proof that they have sent it to me, while I have been actively giving them all the evidence that I did not receive any form of a second refund.

[Traew13]

Going through almost the exact situation and PayPal is absolutely inept at resolving it. May I ask what happened with your case?

[PayPal_Olivia]

Hi @Victor_yt and @Traew13,

Thank you both for your posts, and welcome to the PayPal Community Forum. I'm sorry to hear of the circumstances involving a payment that was disputed with your bank. 

When a dispute is made with a bank directly instead of with PayPal, the timeframes get wonky and funds can seem like they're in limbo until it's all resolved. If the bank pulls back the funds, that does not stop the payment from going through to the seller, and that causes a negative balance in your PayPal account. If you simultaneously open a dispute directly with PayPal, it's possible that there was a dispute refund that overlapped with the return of the bank funds, and that caused the double credit. Given that bank timeframes are generally several days for funds to settle, it can look like you did not receive the refund until the dust settles, when you will see that the refund has been posted.

Please take a look at your bank statement a few days after the refund has been posted, and you will see that not only has the bank stopped the payment of taken back the funds, but there was also a PayPal refund. If this is not what happened and 14 days has passed since the refund was supposed to have happened, PayPal can investigate further, and statements can be used as evidence to show that there was no double refund. To find your contact options, click Contact at the bottom of the PayPal website. Alternatively, you can reach out by DM on Instagram or Twitter, or PM on Facebook.

I hope this is helpful in explaining why it may seem that there's a discrepancy, and what options you have if it does not resolve on its own.

Olivia