A Bumper LLC charge on your PayPal account is almost always a recurring monthly payment to Bumper.com, a vehicle history report service. It usually started as a low-cost trial you signed up for while researching a used car, and it converts to a $27.99 monthly subscription once the trial ends. To stop it, cancel your account with Bumper, revoke the automatic payment authorization inside PayPal, and then ask Bumper for a refund before escalating to a PayPal dispute.
What Bumper LLC Is
Bumper is an approved data provider for the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System, which means the U.S. Department of Justice has authorized it to sell vehicle history reports drawn from state motor vehicle agencies, insurance carriers, salvage yards, and recall databases.1Office of Justice Programs. Research Vehicle History On your PayPal activity, the line item usually reads “BUMPER” or “BUMPER LLC” followed by a transaction code. Click the charge in your PayPal activity log and copy down the Transaction ID before doing anything else. You will need it for both Bumper’s support team and any PayPal dispute.
Why the Charge Keeps Coming Back
Bumper runs on a subscription model. A trial offer, often around $1, gives you short-term access to run VIN or license plate lookups. If you don’t cancel before the trial window closes, it rolls into a standard membership at $27.99 per month, billed automatically on the same date each cycle. That’s why some people see two or three identical charges before they realize what is happening. A single-report purchase does exist, but the surprise charges people complain about are almost always the recurring subscription.
Cancel Your Bumper Account First
Canceling through Bumper’s website is the cleanest step because it stops billing at the source and produces a confirmation email you can save as proof.2Bumper Help Center. How to Cancel My Bumper Account?
- Log in at bumper.com using the email address on the account.
- Click “Contact Us” in the footer, choose “Cancel My Account,” and confirm when prompted.
- If you can’t get in, use the “Chat With Us Live” link or email support@bumper.com.
Have your 9-digit member ID ready. It appears on the right side of your account dashboard and in the original welcome email. Wait for the confirmation email. If it doesn’t arrive, follow up, because that email is your only proof the subscription actually ended.
Turn Off the Automatic Payment in PayPal
Even after Bumper confirms the cancellation, revoke their billing authorization inside PayPal. It’s a backstop that prevents any future pull on your account regardless of what Bumper’s system thinks.3PayPal. What Is an Automatic Payment and How Do I Update or Cancel One?
- Open Settings on the PayPal website (the gear icon).
- Click “Payments,” then “Subscriptions and saved businesses” or “Automatic Payments.”
- Find Bumper LLC in the list and open it.
- Click Cancel to revoke the merchant’s authorization.
Canceling here stops future charges. It does not refund past ones. Getting money back is a separate request.
Ask Bumper for a Refund
Bumper handles refunds case by case, and there is no published money-back window in its policy. Email support@bumper.com with your member ID, signup email, and the PayPal Transaction ID for the charge you want refunded.4Bumper Help Center. What Is Bumper’s Refund Policy?
Do this before filing a chargeback with your bank or card issuer. Bumper’s policy states that once a chargeback is in place, it will not process a refund and reserves the right to suspend the account permanently and contest the dispute.4Bumper Help Center. What Is Bumper’s Refund Policy? Contact Bumper first, and escalate to PayPal only if they refuse or go quiet.
One boundary worth noting: if you originally subscribed through the Apple App Store or Google Play instead of Bumper’s website, Bumper can’t refund you at all. Those refunds have to go through Apple or Google.
Open a PayPal Dispute if Bumper Won’t Help
If Bumper’s support team doesn’t resolve things, go to paypal.com/disputes and click “Report a Problem,” then select the Bumper charge. PayPal offers a dispute category for “Billing errors or Issues with subscriptions,” which fits most of these cases.5PayPal. How Do I Open a Dispute With a Seller?
Watch the timing. For an unexpected subscription charge, PayPal generally gives you eight weeks from the payment date to report it. For a charge you consider fully unauthorized, the window is longer. Once opened, a dispute that sits for 20 days without being escalated to a formal claim closes automatically, and a closed dispute cannot be reopened.5PayPal. How Do I Open a Dispute With a Seller? You can escalate to a claim after at least seven days have passed since the original payment, at which point PayPal reviews the evidence from both sides.
Your Federal Protection for Surprise Subscription Charges
The Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA) makes it illegal for an online seller to charge you through a negative option feature, such as a trial that auto-converts to a paid plan, unless the seller clearly discloses all material terms before you enter payment information, obtains your affirmative consent to the recurring charge, and provides a simple way to cancel.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – Section 8403 The Federal Trade Commission enforces violations as unfair or deceptive trade practices.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. United States Code Title 15 – Section 8404 You can file a complaint at reportfraud.ftc.gov. A single complaint won’t recover your money on its own, but the FTC uses complaint volume to decide where to investigate.