Consumer complaint received 2026-02-03 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: WA

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I purchased a score on XXXX via PayPal. In the checkout process, I never saw anything about a subscription. I certainly never added it to my cart- I can bet my life on that. Was it auto-added to my cart, and I missed taking it out? Maybe. I think I never saw anything to do with a subscription at all, but I don't have a screen recording of the purchase process so I can't prove that. I tried to cancel the subscription with XXXX, contact support, and get a refund. EVERY company I've worked with before, even the ones that push subscriptions, have given my money back when I contact support promptly. XXXX never responded to me at all, despite multiple attempts via their chat and email support. They still haven't, a month later! 

So, being unable to resolve this with the company I " purchased '' from, I went to PayPal. Just like I would if someone stole my credit card and made an unauthorized purchase, I went to PayPal because XXXX made an unauthorized purchase. I submitted my story, they supposedly contacted XXXX for more info, and I just learned today that they decided in XXXX 's favor. 

Here is my problem : I don't have a screen recording of my checkout process. Nobody expects these problems. So, I can't prove I didn't miss something obvious in the checkout process. I can't even prove I didn't intentionally want a subscription and then changed my mind. But, here is the thing... when PayPal decided against me I went looking for ways to warn people off of XXXX. And, I found that they are well-known for these scams. It is all over XXXX. It is all over XXXX. Go look! So, this isn't the one-off report of someone who changed their mind and doesn't want to pay for something they signed up for. Lots of people experience this scam, and PayPal does NOTHING. Unlike what credit card companies do to protect their customers, PayPal is complicit with these scams. How can they possibly decide in XXXX 's favor when the internet is filled with reports that this company scams people? And, PayPal never asked for additional information from me. After talking to XXXX, they are suddenly 100 % sure that it is my fault. After all, why not take the word of a company ( XXXX ) with such a stellar reputation - even on this particular complaint? 

XXXX is a predatory scam. But, I'm here to report PayPal for not caring whether scammers use their platform to extract money from people 's bank accounts - as long as they still get their cut of the transaction. I doubt anyone will step in to make this right. I'm too small of a fish, and nobody is shutting down PayPal. But, I guess I'm at the point where the federal government is my only hope for justice. It isn't like I can sue them ( XXXX  or Paypal ) for {$65.00}, so I guess I'm just screwed. 

I generally consider myself to be a pretty careful person on the internet. When I have to buy from sites that are sketchy ( which I try to avoid ), I've used PayPal before to avoid giving those sites my credit card. I thought they were protection, I thought they had my back. Not only did PayPal allow the start of a subscription without my consent or verification, they did not even give me a reason for why they denied my complaint! I would have been better off giving my credit card, because at least the credit card companies will reverse a charge when there has been fraud. 
Going forward, I'll be using one of those virtual credit card services - I guess. I can make a dedicated card, and set a spending limit. Until PayPal gets scolded for this behavior, I suggest everyone stop using them for purchases. There is no guarantee you won't wind up with a subscription, a charge you didn't authorize, and no recourse whatsoever. 

Here is my last argument : I'm in my late thirties. I'm a web developer. No disabilities. My vision is good. I'm attentive to scams. I can make mistakes. But, if I ended up with a subscription I didn't authorize, and the internet is filled with similar stories, how much more is this predatory for people as they get older or have disabilities? How horrible is PayPal to blindly support these scammers, just because they get a cut? I want to associate with brands that ban companies for predatory behavior, at least until they correct their ways. Then, I could trust that if I pay via PayPal I am safe. Were PayPal to have made it right, I would say that I using PayPal MAY be safe - because they still allowed the subscription to start without my consent in the first place. But, since PayPal was complicit in the scam, I have to say that they aren't safe, they aren't neutral, they are unsafe.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation