Cedar Point Charged My PayPal For Purchase I Didn't Make

I have credit cards. I have used Paypal for my Season Pass easy pay for the last 3 years, and this was the only issue I ever had. It was also resolved within 24 hours, and there was no harm caused. There are plenty of things I use credit cards for, and pay the balance off at the end of the month just to get the cash back. You can still use Paypal and a credit card as your source of funds. So maybe some people DID use their card and got hit.

This happened to me, too. Unfortunately it was for $429 and the money was taken out of my bank. I got a notification from Paypal that they are refunding my money but it's yet to show up. I've never, ever had an issue with Paypal.

I'm really upset that Cedar Point never even addressed the issue -- they should have sent out an email or put it on their social media accounts. And to top it off, there was no apology. Thank goodness I had enough in my account to cover it, but it makes me wonder how many accounts were overdrawn because of this. For me, $429 was a huge chunk of money.

If someone had an over draft due to an errant charge, banks typically refund any fees incurred.

EatonJB said:

The argument is compleaty irrelevant, no need to inject opinion when it's not warented. Some people don't want credit cards and think they end up causing more harm than good.

You don't get to decide when people give their opinions.

It is relevant, because PayPal can and often is tied to bank accounts, not credit card accounts. When you want to send money between people, that's what it's best used for. There's no reason a responsible adult can't use a credit card.

Personally, I use a debit card for just about everything. It is very convenient, lets me see where my money is going and I don't have to pay yet another bill at the end of the month. In spite of what some so called experts say about safety, you get exactly the same protection a regular Visa card gives, I've never had any issues.

Hahaha Jeff said "responsible adult"... Oh wait, that wasn't a joke?

I agree that credit cards are a great tool when used correctly (PayPal charged my CC with no other balance $140, it was refunded, no harm no foul). But they can be an absolute nightmare, too. That credit line isn't extra discretionary income. I use mine only if I know I can pay it off within the month, 0% promotions, or BIG emergencies.

Pete said:
Personally, I use a debit card for just about everything. It is very convenient, lets me see where my money is going and I don't have to pay yet another bill at the end of the month. In spite of what some so called experts say about safety, you get exactly the same protection a regular Visa card gives, I've never had any issues.

...until PayPal makes a charge that it wasn't supposed to, then your "liquid" cash is tied up...

But I also use a debit card for every day purchases and bills. I rarely carry cash.

Well, PayPal is tied to my checking account, so that is not relevant to using a debit card.

buckeyemomma said:

This happened to me, too. Unfortunately it was for $429 and the money was taken out of my bank. I got a notification from Paypal that they are refunding my money but it's yet to show up. I've never, ever had an issue with Paypal.

I'm really upset that Cedar Point never even addressed the issue -- they should have sent out an email or put it on their social media accounts. And to top it off, there was no apology. Thank goodness I had enough in my account to cover it, but it makes me wonder how many accounts were overdrawn because of this. For me, $429 was a huge chunk of money.

I absolutely agree that it would have been nice if Cedar Point would have addressed the issue and at least offered and apology. Glitches and life happens, and I don't expect any special favors from it, but an acknowledgement would be nice.

As for the others who brought up the credit card vs. bank account discussion, it is a completely irrelevant fact in this case. The fact is that money was taken from our accounts without our approval, therefore causing a small inconvenience to some, and a major financial hardship to others. It is my hope that the funds will be moved from the pending mode to actually being restored to us as quickly as they took it out, which was 24 hours.

Nancilee said:

I absolutely agree that it would have been nice if Cedar Point would have addressed the issue and at least offered and apology.

From what I've read here, the issue was with PayPal. Why should Cedar Point apologize for PayPal's failure?

I even Tweeted CP about how it would've been nice for a heads up or even a sorry for the inconvenience and I got a "the issue is being resolved". Rule #1 of crisis communication: Be in front of the story. A simple "sorry" goes a long way.

I still don't have my money back and no one can seem to tell me when I'll have it back either. :(

Did you Tweet PayPal, since that's the company at which the problem seems to have happened? Instead of addressing a company's social media team, I'd suggest emailing senior executives to expedite the issue being addressed.

The issue doesn't seem to be entirely with Paypal. What about the guy in this thread? He used a credit or debit card.

Yes I've also contacted PayPal. All I want is a straight answer on when my $429.28 will be returned. 😕

If the refund shows on your PayPal account then the issue is probably with your bank holding the "pending" charge. If you go in to the bank and talk to a banker (not a counter teller) and explain the situation they can usually get the pending charge removed.

PS- My refund has already gone through on the card.

I don't know if PayPal has a recurring payment API, but I would assume they do. If that's the case, the issue would be pretty widespread across many different businesses. Otherwise, it may be a CF IT system, or perhaps Accesso, who handles the online purchasing. There's a pretty wide range of technological places that the problem could be.

I was also hit with this unauthorized charge. I paid off the remaining $80 on my payment plan on March 30th, via PayPal with a CC. I was using my bank account through PayPal to make my monthly payments. They took $200 from my bank account on the 31st and CP "refunded the money the same day." My bank account showed that the $200 cleared on Friday the 1st, but my refund is still pending on PayPal. After the refund eventually clears, I will have to wait 3-5 business days for it to transfer back to my bank account after manually initiating the transfer from my PayPal balance. In the meantime, there are no repercussions for either company while our hard-earned money is out there in cyber limbo?!

Has anyone gotten a refund yet that paid through PayPal with a bank account? Just curious...

sheenamd1 said:

I was also hit with this unauthorized charge. I paid off the remaining $80 on my payment plan on March 30th, via PayPal with a CC. I was using my bank account through PayPal to make my monthly payments. They took $200 from my bank account on the 31st and CP "refunded the money the same day." My bank account showed that the $200 cleared on Friday the 1st, but my refund is still pending on PayPal. After the refund eventually clears, I will have to wait 3-5 business days for it to transfer back to my bank account after manually initiating the transfer from my PayPal balance. In the meantime, there are no repercussions for either company while our hard-earned money is out there in cyber limbo?!

Has anyone gotten a refund yet that paid through PayPal with a bank account? Just curious...

I have the same situation. The refund was initiated to my Paypal account on March 31, and the refund has been in "pending" status since then. I can't initiate a transfer of funds back to my bank account until the refund shows up in my Paypal balance. Something that was initiated and withdrawn from my account in the same 24 hour period should have been refunded and out of pending status in that same time period. This is business day #3 that I am waiting for it. Luckily, I had funds to cover it, because if I hadn't, that would have been a different matter and discussion entirely.

This is what I was getting at as to why PayPal isn't a good option for this sort of thing.

PayPal seems fine until the first time you have any sort of problem. Then, when you need customer service, you are screwed. There is no due process, your case will be arbitrarily decided (cluelessly, in my experience), without recourse, without reasonable opportunity to submit evidence to back up your claims, and in my experience-based opinion, incompetently.

And, they have successfully lobbied to be NOT considered a banking institution, so many banking laws and regulations don't apply to them- This despite the fact that they provide accounts into which you insert and remove funds, and credit and debit cards etc.

I used to be an eBay PowerSeller for nearly a decade, with huge volume. I quit eBay because I got utterly screwed by PayPal multiple times.

If you google paypalsucks you will find a lot of information. I used to think it was just fine until the first time I needed service, then I realized most everything on the paypalsucks site is right on the money.