Help please with PayPal USD to buy gift cards

[Clarabe]

Hi all,

I am looking for some help please. There was a thread about using PayPal USD to buy target gift cards which you can then use on your DVC account. I rented points out and got the money into PayPal in USD. I managed to buy 1500 of target gift cards so problem. I have about 800 left and every time I try to buy the gift cards now it goes through but then gets cancelled as a payment issue.
On PayPal this currency amount is set to primary GBP with USD listed. Every time I try and make USD primary it comes up with a message that it isn’t working right now and to try again later. This has been going on a few weeks. Have spoke to PayPal on their online chat a few times and to be honest they have been useless.
Does anyone know how to either help me fix it or how to get around this and still be able to buy gift cards to put on my Dvc account? Thanks, any help would be appreciated

[Mr Tom Morrow]

OP. I can't help sorry. The person you need is Br'er Bear

Maybe send him/her a PM?

[Br'er Bear]

Hi and sorry you're having problems with PayPal.

I've just switched my primary account from USD to GBP and it changed okay to GBP, with fingers crossed I then set USD as primary and thankfully is switched back okay.

So seems like you have a glitch with your PP account.

Just in case this is how I changed primary accounts.

I first clicked on my Wallet.

On the r/h side under PayPal balance and Transfer Money my currencies are listed in order with USD PRIMARY first and then GBP.

On the r/h side of the GBP amount £000.00 ⋮ there are 3-vertical blue dots, click on the dots and a box opens which states Make primary, Convert currency and Close currency.

I click Make primary and a new page opens which states Make this your primary currency I click within the blue box Set as Primary and it then states

British pound is now your primary currency

We’ll use your primary currency when you send or request payments.

Click in blue box Done and GBP is now list as Primary.

Just tried switching it again back to USD and all worked okay so have worked four times for me.

At which step above do you receive the message that it isn’t working right now?

Stay Safe.

[Br'er Bear]

Try adding a new currency, so on the same Wallet page click add a currency.

Try adding EUR and when added see if you can select EUR as your Primary account or you receive the same message.

[Clarabe]

Thanks for the reply, it is much appreciated. I have tried what you said and can add euros and change it to primary currency no problem but when I try and do the same with usd I get the error message.
I can go into balance in wallet, click on the 3 dots next to USD, click make primary. I then get the new page saying set as primary. When I click that blue box I get the error message saying sorry things don’t appear to be working right now, try again later. However if I do it with euros it works fine.

It’s so frustrating as I have dollars there and just want to buy some gift cards to put on my Dvc account. PayPal just keep telling me to transfer it to gbp and then make a UsD payment but then I just lose out on exchange rate twice. They don’t really seem to understand what the problem is so don’t know how to fix it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

[Br'er Bear]

Have you tried on different devices and with different systems like Safari, Chrome... ?

We've just tried on an ipad and on a MacBook laptop using Safari and again all okay.

Since it last worked for you with purchasing from Target had you physically changed your Primary account from USD to GBP?

Or was your account left in USD Primary and when you next tried it, it had already been changed by PayPal or by a glitch in their system?

If not already tried what about checking out a PayPal mobile app, haven't tried it myself so not sure if you can change Primary accounts in that app.

paypal/uk/webapps/mpp/mobile-apps

[Clarabe]

I have tried iPad, chrome and safari on laptop. I downloaded the app but you can’t do it on there as you suspected.
It is a quirk in the PayPal system which changed it over to GBP from USD on its own. Not sure why it happened and neither do PayPal, although I am not sure the online chat people really understand what I am trying to do.
I am at a loss of how to fix it now

[Br'er Bear]

Online chat is possibly not the best way to resolve this problem, so try calling 020 8080 6500 or 0800 358 9448 but might have to wait until Tuesday due to the holiday weekend and limited staffing due to virus.

I don't think this is the problem but just in case, has your PayPal account been verified, if not then limits could have been placed on your account, paypal/uk/smarthelp/article/faq1253

Contact Us
Need help? Get in touch
If you have any questions, contact our UK customer support team on 020 8080 6500* or 0800 358 9448* or visit the PayPal Here community support page.
*Calls to the 020 number from a BT landline may be charged at the full national call rate. Calls to the 0800 number are free from a BT landline. Calls from other networks may vary and from mobiles will cost considerably more.

[Clarabe]

Thanks will give them a call on Tuesday

[Br'er Bear]

Originally Posted by Clarabe

Thanks will give them a call on Tuesday

See more...

Good luck and please let us know how you get on.

We had considered as a test run of sending you all of one full dollar via PP family and friends just to check if you received it in your USD account or GBP account.

Don't think there would be a fee if it had turned up in your USD account, but if it turned up in your GBP account then we think there would have been.

And had there been a fee then you could have just refunded it back to us in full, or if you paid no fee then just send back $1 in the same way. Might have helped in understanding and explaining the problem.

Hopefully the call will sort it all out.

All the best...

Br'er Bear