PayPal Double Charge Woes

This week I experienced a first with PayPal.  I was double charged for a debit card transaction.  I charged X Amount of money on my Debit Card.

The firm that I paid received X Amount.

PayPal then reduced my account by X Amount once.

Then PayPal reduced my account by X Amount a second time.

This was not a transaction where they initiate the charge just to confirm my balance.  This was a completed transaction.

This happened at the end of September.  About 5 days after the transaction I received the following email:

Due to a processing error, you were debited twice for a PayPal Debit Card transaction(s) you initiated on September xx, 2008. We apologize for any inconvenience our error may have caused.

We are in the process of correcting this matter and will refund the duplicate payment(s) directly back to your PayPal account balance.

If you have incurred any banking fees as a result of this issue, please contact us within 10 business days to request a refund. We may request copies of statements or receipts showing the amount of banking fees or charges that you incurred. 

Please know that this is not intended functionality and future PayPal Debit Card transactions should function as normal.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at (888) 221-1161.

Three days after receiving this email, I still had not received a credit to my account.  I phoned in to PayPal to find out where my money was.  The merchant did not have it, I did not have it, and PayPal had not apparently done anything yet.

The phone menu system of PayPal was extremely troubling, I finally was put in touch with an ‘Agent’ who promptly became confused by completely unrelated transactions with different amounts on my account. 

They gave up and transferred me to someone in the debit card section of PayPal, where I am on hold now. 

Bottom line lesson here is always follow up with your PayPal account.

Currently, I’m out a bunch of money waiting for PayPal to get their own accounts fixed, which they knew were out of whack.  Fortunately, I did not immediately need this money for bills or fitness equipment or food or something.