Consumer complaint received 2024-01-02
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Domestic (US) money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (CA)

On XX/XX/XXXX I tried to renew a subscription. The vendor offered the option to use PayPal. I selected the PayPal option, signed into my PayPal account, and requested payment. The vendor 's subscription form then displayed the PayPal logo with the message, " You've authorized this payment through PayPal. Contribution Amount : {$25.00} '' and confirmed my email address. I took a screenshot of this image. 

I next checked my email to make sure the transaction had been completed. Usually I get an email confirmation from PayPal, but this time there was no email. This puzzled me, so I next logged into my online banking. A debit of {$25.00} by PayPal and specifying the correct vendor was present among my other banking transactions. This suggested to me that PayPal had withdrawn the correct amount of money and was processing the transaction. I then called the vendor to confirm receipt of payment, but they said they had not been paid ( yet ). Unfortunately, I did not document this PayPal withdrawal from my online banking by taking another screenshot. 

Assuming the transaction was processing, I waited for a few days. On XXXX, XX/XX/XXXX, I followed up by checking my email for a message from PayPal. There was none. I then checked my online banking, and the debit of {$25.00} by PayPal had disappeared. I tried calling PayPal to find out what happened, but there was only an automated system and it did not list my transaction date. That being a XXXX, I waited and again tried calling PayPal on XXXX  XX/XX/XXXX. Again there was only an automated system which suggested I use the XXXX feature. I submitted my inquiry via the Chat, but it only gave me an automated response via XXXX. The XXXX  XXXX  did not understand my explanation and kept asking me the same question, which was something along the lines of whether I was asking why a payment was declined. I said " no '', since I'd already seen PayPal withdraw funds from my account, indicating that a transaction had been started. Finally I asked that the issue be directed to a customer service representative but got no response. I called another time later in the day and received only the automated system asking me to select among some irrelevant options. 

Since my subscription was due by the end of the year, I ended up paying it using another payment method, so I no longer need the PayPal transaction to be completed. However, I do need an explanation for the following : ( 1 ) Why did PayPal say that I'd authorized payment but then not complete the transaction? ( 2 ) Why did PayPal debit my checking account and then apparently reverse it without giving an explanation? ( 3 ) Why didn't PayPal send me an email, either to announce that I'd made a payment using PayPal, or to notify me that the payment was declined? ( 4 ) How can I get the attention of a human being at PayPal who can respond to my inquiry? 

I did not lose money but am left hanging over an unresolved transaction without knowing the cause. I'm not sure whether any fraudulent activity was involved. I'm not sure whether it is safe to use PayPal again. The failure of PayPal to acknowledge or explain the steps taken or not taken toward my transaction does not inspire confidence.