Consumer complaint received 2019-01-03
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: NY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Complaint:
In summary : In XX/XX/XXXX, PayPal allowed an unauthorized payment to a software vendor from whom no services or products had been purchased and with whom I had no payment agreement. PayPal denied without explanation a detailed and documented claim. Furthermore, PayPal then demanded a social security number to close out the debit that unfairly and unreasonably resulted. 
Details : The unauthorized transaction in my PayPal occurred on XX/XX/XXXX for an amount of of {$96.00} USD and the software vendor was XXXX XXXX, a.k.a. XXXX. ( Transaction ID XXXX - Seller info XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX - XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX  Invoice ID XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX )  XXXX had been issued an approved payment via PayPal of {$320.00} USD for a one time download and perpetual license for a software product on XX/XX/XXXX, just over a year before the unapproved payment occurred. 
A week before the XX/XX/XXXX unauthorized payment, on XX/XX/XXXX, PayPal provided a warning to me by email that the XXXX would be putting through the new - and unauthorized - $ XXXXUSD charge. At that time, I confirmed on the XXXX account that no subscription services were then ( or previously ) activated, no incremental purchases had been made, and no payment was due. Checking my PayPal account, I realized the unbeknownst to  me, PayPal had established a payment agreement from my account to XXXX. I cancelled that agreement through the PayPal website and received a confirmation of cancellation of the payment agreement in XX/XX/XXXX. ( PayPal email ID XXXX : XXXX : XXXX, received XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX   EDT ). At that point, I expected no further activity with XXXX on PayPal. 
On XX/XX/XXXX, PayPal allowed the XXXX XXXX to make the unauthorized charge in question of {$96.00} USD and charged my credit card for that amount. On XX/XX/XXXX, I filed a complaint with PayPal ( PayPal Disputd Is XXXXXXXX ), and PayPal credited my account for the amount subject to resolution of the issue. My complaint included documentation of the points mentioned above ( i.e. evidence through screen snapshots from the XXXX account of absence of subscriptions or purchase and PayPals email confirmation of the cancellation of the billing agreement ). Given the clarity of the case, I expected easy resolution of what may have been a billing system glitch. I also attempted to email XXXX about the dispute via the email address made available through PayPal, and that email bounced. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, PayPal without explanation denied the payment was unauthorized, debited my account for the {$96.00} USD, and asked me to pay that amount into my account to cover the debit. PayPals website will not allow me to submit further communications on this matter - it provides a form to fill in but then returns an error on submission. Attempts to contact PayPal by phone have twice resulted in  unreasonably extensive hold times after phone bank employees promise prompt action through collleagues. Recently renewed attempts to contact the vendor, XXXX, through its website did not work because of website error. The email address provided by XXXX via PayPal continues to bounce and attempting to make contact through the phone number provided by XXXX on PayPal results in a recorded message that the line has been disconnected. 
In summary, PayPal allowed an unauthorized charge and denied without explanation a detailed and documented consumer claim about it. 
To put this matter to rest, I planned to pay the amount with a credit card despite my dissatisfaction, and to subsequently close my PayPal account, but PayPal required my social security number to accept an electronic payment for the amount at this point, sensitive information that seems unnecessary to share in these circumstances, especially given the series of systems errors to date in this matter.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation