Titsup Windows 8 PayPal payments snare upgraders

Have you upgraded to Windows 8, paid via PayPal and not received your code download? Worse, has PayPal taken the money from your account?

You’re not alone. Frustration is spreading among Windows users trying to download the Windows 8 upgrade and paying through PayPal only to find the process is broken.

Microsoft and PayPal are unable to explain what’s gone wrong with their normally rock-solid payment and download systems.

A Reg reader contracted us to say he’d recently taken up Microsoft’s offer of upgrading to Windows 8 online and of paying using PayPal rather than a credit card – the option offered by Microsoft. At the end of the process, though, the upgrade process stopped.

He called a Microsoft 0800 number to find out what had gone wrong, and was told by the Microsoft staffer that the company had stopped accepting PayPal payments "a couple of weeks back due to all the issues they had with it".

Judging by our reader’s experience, though, Microsoft had clearly still been offering PayPal as an option to buyers - and that’s a real problem because, as our reader found out, PayPal had gone ahead and deducted the payment from his account. The UK upgrade price for Windows 8 is £24.99.

Our reader isn’t alone and others have been gathering at Microsoft’s support forums to complain about exactly the same problem, to find out what’s gone wrong and – importantly – to get their money back. One Microsoftie has acknowledged the problem but rather unhelpfully advised users to contact customer support. In the UK that’s the number our reader called, and he still hasn't got his money back.

The Reg contracted both Microsoft UK and PayPal for an explanation of what’s gone wrong to find out why Microsoft had allowed people to continue paying via PayPal when the system was broken, and to find out how users can get refunds.

At time of writing, though, Microsoft UK was unable to provide answer or even an apology. A spokesperson said MS UK had to wait for Microsoft in the US to get an answer.

If PayPal has indeed been dropped as a payment platform by Microsoft, it certainly doesn't seem to be aware of it.

A spokesperson for PayPal told us: "PayPal and Microsoft were made aware of an issue impacting a very limited number of users who attempted to use PayPal to upgrade to Windows 8, but worked quickly to get it resolved. We apologize for any inconvenience and encourage users who weren't able to complete this upgrade to contact (MS and/PP) customer support."

There was no mention of how people can get their money back or whether they should try a different download. ®