Consumer complaint received 2020-06-22
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Virtual currency
Issue: Other transaction problem — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (MO)

On XX/XX/XXXX I bought the XXXX XXXX XXXX  for XXXX XXXX through PayPal. I then started getting errors when trying to start the game. I tried all the suggestions on XXXX website. I also reformatted my computer and reinstalled the game. I was still getting the errors and not able to play the game. So I went to PayPal and asked for a refund. 
The XXXX XXXX XXXX  was released on XX/XX/XXXX. 
I received an email on XX/XX/XXXX from XXXX saying they suspended my account because I requested a refund through PayPal. 
PayPal closed the case in XXXX  favor saying that XXXX provided proof that I received the service. 
I then sent a message to PayPal through the message center because their phone customer service is closed, asking what proof was provided that I received a service for a game that had suspended my account before the expansion was even released. They said the case was closed and I should try to resolve the situation outside PayPal. 
I asked that my case be escalated to a manager. I was told I would be contacted that day. I waited 1 day with no response. On XXXX  I messaged again saying I had not yet gotten a response. 
Someone answered saying that since the expansion  was not released yet that it was not covered under Purchase protection which is not what they told me before. I asked that my case be escalated to a manager three times and was denied. They told me repeatedly to take the dispute outside PayPal. I was told my refund was denied because of policies and legalities that PayPal had to adhere to. I asked what policies and legalities make them refuse a refund when clear proof is provided that a service was not received. 
I filed a dispute with my bank who contacted PayPal. I then received 3 consecutive emails from PayPal all with conflicting information. 
The first said that the bank and my secondary payment method declined the charge ( The charge that Ive been disputing for almost a month ) and that they used money from my PayPal account to cover the charge. There was no money in my PayPal account its been on XXXX  for awhile. And why would they say they were paying a charge that they already paid that I had been disputing? 
The second email said that the bank contacted them asking for a refund of the charge and their records showed they had given me a partial refund on XX/XX/XXXX so they used that money to pay the bank. 
They never gave me a partial refund because they denied my claim saying the merchant was in the right. And they consistently refused to review the dispute telling me take it outside PayPal so why would they claim they refunded me the day I opened the dispute? Again there was no money in my account. 
The third email said the bank notified them of fraudulent activity on my account and they wanted me to send them information proving the bank account was mine and that my PayPal account would be restricted until I sent proof. 
I went into PayPal and tried to remove my payment methods so I could close the account because of all of this and it refused to let me remove my bank and debit card information. 
I sent a message through the message center asking them to remove my payment methods so I could close the account and leave. 
They responded with you will have to verify that the accounts are yours first please send the requested documents and it will take 3-5 days for us to verify. I know that is not correct. They have the ability to remove without trying to get more information about my bank account. 
I responded saying I would not send them anymore information about my bank and they didnt need any more information to remove the payment methods from my accounts. I asked again to please remove the payment methods from my accounts so I can leave. I also asked for them to escalate to a manager or account specialist. 
They denied my refund when I sent clear proof that I did not receive the service. Now they are trying to get more information about my bank after I took the dispute outside PayPal like they told me too and refusing to remove the bank and debit card from my PayPal account so that I can close it. 
I have been dealing with this since XX/XX/XXXX it is now XX/XX/XXXX. 
They have repeatedly refused to escalate to a manager. And there is no other way to contact them other then the message center.