Consumer complaint received 2018-10-21
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: OH
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Confusing or misleading advertising or marketing

Complaint:
On or about XX/XX/XXXX, I made a purchase using my PayPal debit card for {$34.00}. I did not have the entire amount in my PayPal balance and they were supposed to withdraw the remaining balance from my linked bank account ( this is a built-in feature of PayPal ). Apparently, I had 2 bank accounts linked to my PayPal for this purpose, an XXXX account and, I believe the other account was through XXXXXXXX XXXX, with XXXX being marked as my preferred account. Instead of withdrawing from my XXXX acct, PayPal tried to withdraw from my XXXXXXXX XXXX acct, which has been closed for awhile. I apparently had never removed this account from PayPal and didn't realize the XXXXXXXX XXXX account was listed on my PayPal because it withdrew from my XXXX account previously. This created a negative balance ( ~ {$11.00} ) in PayPal, but it was more than compensated by the {$15.00} that I had already begun to transfer to PayPal on XX/XX/XXXX or XXXX ( it normally takes 4 days for money to transfer from XXXX to PayPal ).  This {$15.00} transfer into PayPal completed on XX/XX/XXXX, leaving me with {$3.00} and some change in my PayPal acct. On XX/XX/XXXX, I tried to use my PayPal card at a retailer for about {$8.00}, but it was declined. I called PayPal and asked what the problem was. The rep stated that I no longer had a bank account linked to PayPal and asked if I wanted to link my XXXX account, which he knew about and had the information right in front of him. I did not give him ANY info about my XXXX account, not even a routing or account number, I only had to confirm that they were supposed to withdraw from this account, so it must have already been in PayPal 's system. I confirmed that that was what I wanted and wondered how it was no longer linked, since it had been previously and he knew all the information for the acct. I'm not sure how long my XXXX account has been linked to my PayPal, but I believe it's been well over a year and more like 4 or 5 years, if not longer. The rep assured me that the card would work fine at that point and I went to the store and used my PayPal card and it did work fine. This purchase was for {$7.00}, lowering my PayPal balance to {$0.00} and withdrawing the balance from my linked XXXX account, just like it is supposed to work. On XX/XX/XXXX, I tried to use my PayPal card again, but was declined. When I called PayPal, the rep stated that she could not tell me for sure what was wrong. She stated that there must have been some problem reading the card at the store. She stated that the card should work fine and that there was nothing on PayPal 's end preventing me from using the bank withdraw feature, that it had to be some problem with the store or a one-time error with reading the chip. She suggested that maybe I had moved the card when it was in the chip-reader. I went to a different store and tried to use the card, but was declined for the 3rd time. When I called PayPal again, I was given a 3rd excuse - that my linked bank account was new. This is a lie. I have had both my PayPal and XXXX accounts for over 5 years and they have been linked for quite a long time. After speaking with the 3rd rep and being given a 3rd excuse, which didn't make sense to me and contained falsehoods, I emailed PayPal through their site 's in-house messaging system, hoping that someone could help me without feeling the need to lie to me or explain the details to me - I just want my account and card to work like the millions of other PayPal users. Their website states that they will respond within 24 hours. I received a  confirmation email XX/XX/18 at XXXXXXXX XXXX  stating that they had received my email. I have received no other response. During the 3rd call, the rep also asked me if I would like for PayPal to contact me on my phone, and started repeating an old phone number of mine that is no longer in service and is NOT my 'preferred ' contact number, nor the number of the phone I was calling them with. I told her no, that I would like for her to use my preferred contact number, but she didn't know what that number was. I had to log-in to my PayPal account to try to find it. This just furthers my suspicion that some computer glitch caused PayPal to try to withdraw from my alternate bank account rather than my preferred account, just like their computer told their rep to contact me at my non-preferred phone number. I have received no response to my emails other than the confirmation emails, and no follow-up to my phone calls, both of which I was promised. It makes no sense that the card worked fine on the XXXX, after my 1st call, but then not work on the XXXX. PayPal withdrew money from my XXXX account for the XX/XX/XXXX purchase and it worked fine. PayPal must have done something between those 2 dates to turn off the bank withdraw feature on my account and they are now refusing to explain to me why. It also makes no sense that they would have all of my bank account 's information in their system already, yet try to claim that it is a new account. I also learned on the 3rd phone call that PayPal has information about other bank accounts of mine in their system which I am not privy to and which I don't believe I have ever linked to my PayPal account. It does not list these other bank accounts anywhere in my account that I can see, only in places that their own employees can see. I honestly don't know how they got this information or how it is legal for them to obtain or retain it.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation