Paypal buyer protection sucks

[vgcspares]

I win an Ebay auction
then I pay $69 through Paypal
2 days later Ebay revokes the membership of the seller and cancels the auction
I raise the issue with Paypal
After due consideration (3 weeks) Paypal refund $0.31 which they say they received from the seller

Paypal claim to be the "Safer, easier way to pay for the things you Love" - How do they figure that ?????????

Anyone had better luck getting a refund from Paypal and if so : HOW ?

[Cajun]

yeah we recovered $400 worth from a auction we won, seller ever shiped items, and refused to reply to emails etc etc.

Took a bit of work. but got there in the end

[racerhead]

Had a similar experience with them aswell.
Bought an item worth about 100 euro and waited a week for it to show up but no sign so got onto the seller who never replied to 1 single email(about 7-10 in the next few days) I then got onto paypal who contacted the seller and he replied to them straight away saying that the item was posted but he had no proof of this. Paypal took the side of the seller and presumed I was trying to pull one on them so they cancelled my account:argh:

[MotoGirl]

You do it via the Paypal website's Resolution Center (under My Account) by going to Report a Problem > Item Dispute. I believe you only have 28 days to lodge the dispute. Some sellers are cunning and delay you long enough so the 28 days runs out.

[Jantar]

I've only ever made one claim for around $60. Received almost a full refund (less about $2.60). The seller was a New Zealand company too.

[vgcspares]

You do it via the Paypal website's Resolution Center (under My Account) by going to Report a Problem > Item Dispute. I believe you only have 28 days to lodge the dispute. Some sellers are cunning and delay you long enough so the 28 days runs out.
Exactly what I did, after having got nowehere with Ebay (who had cancelled the auction after the fact) - it seems that Paypal only reimburse what they manage to recover from the seller, which apparently comes from any balance he may have left in his Paypal account.

Not much in the way of a buyer guarantee is it ?

[prettybillie]

yeah we recovered $400 worth from a auction we won, seller ever shiped items, and refused to reply to emails etc etc.

Took a bit of work. but got there in the end

I had the same issues with the lowering links I ordered off Ebay - all the effort to get my $80 back so means I won't buy off Ebay again!!!!!

[MotoGirl]

It's also ringing bells that I have have been reiumbursed through MasterCard... It's hard to remember when this was a couple of years ago!

[SPman]

I had some firm access my paypal account and pay themselves 100 euros ! Tracked it down to a German skateboard and gear firm - notified paypal resolution services and eventually (about 3 weeks, I think) got my money refunded (after changing all my accounts).

[Owl]

Cheers for the heads up! I'll be a little more wary in the future.:yes:

[geoffm]

Put a chargeback claim in with the credit card company?
Worth trying , although I don't know how successful it would be since Visa are one step removed from the seller.
Nothing like a merchant chargeback to get their attention, except for Ihu/ Vodaphone who are so stupid that changing ISPs was the only thing that worked.

[FruitLooPs]

I had some firm access my paypal account and pay themselves 100 euros ! Tracked it down to a German skateboard and gear firm - notified paypal resolution services and eventually (about 3 weeks, I think) got my money refunded (after changing all my accounts).

Yeah some c*ck got into my paypal and transferred himself $100NZ, got the money back through the disputes center.

Bugger that though, I'm closing my PP account - secure my ass and ebay is full of scammers from what I've heard and seen. :angry2:

I also lost $1,000NZ in a private sale through a bike forum in the USA. So keep vigilant folks! I'll stick to tardme myself.

[vgcspares]

Just to keep you updated, they said I'd be reimbursed from whatever they could recover from the seller - considering they cancelled his membership I'm not holding my breath .............................

[Pascal]

I've read enough horror stories about PayPal that I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot bargepole. Have a browse through this:

http://www.paypalsucks.com/

[Askelon]

Their guarantees are a waste of time. They basically only recover the money if either the seller still has money in their paypal account or the seller agrees to refund. I went thru it all with a paintball company. After months of stuffing around I finally got a refund. They tried every trick in the book to not refund me of course - sadly you cant even trust the big ebay sellers (the one I had trouble with had 10k+ of good feedback).

I dont use paypal for any big transactions anymore..

[Cajun]

we have brought tons of stuff from ebay, using paypal, only never had that small problem above and was able to recover out money. So find it fine.

[vgcspares]

This is apparently Paypal's last word on the subject:

Thank you for contacting PayPal.
Hello Tim, my name is Mary Ann, I hope all is well with you. I am sorry to hear about this situation, and understand your frustration regarding
Case: #PP-590-645-609. I am happy to assist you further.
I understand that you are concerned with the funds involved in this case in your account. Upon checking, I have noticed that this case was found in your favor. The seller did not have sufficient funds in order to complete the refund in full. Although the claim is closed, the dispute is noted in the seller's account records, and the seller will need to complete the refund to you if they wish to continue using PayPal.
Below are options that can be used outside of PayPal.
1. File an internet complaint report against the other party.
o National Fraud Information Center
o Internet Crime Complaint Center
o Better Business Bureau Online
2. File a police report against the other party.
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us again.

So I get no refund unless the now barred seller gives Paypal a refund

FAT CHANCE - I think it fair to say they suck big time !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[imdying]

I'll stick to tardme myself.The civil section of the department of courts hates trademe with a vengeance. The amount of crap they have to deal with as a result of trademe 'gone wrong' is incredible... apparently trademe are absolute arseholes to get any useful information out of as well, so don't be looking to them to help. They're merely facilitators and not the slight bit interested in you being ripped off.

[vgcspares]

I'm kind of wishing it was through TRADEME and not EBAY, because then at least NZ law would apply and I'd have a government agency to talk to even if they then sat on their hands and did nothing.

I can't see me getting anywhere with the US Police or US Internet Agency can you ?

[Blackshear]

Hey guys, you know EBAY owns PAYPAL?
Just gizzit a think :)

[popelli]

The civil section of the department of courts hates trademe with a vengeance. The amount of crap they have to deal with as a result of trademe 'gone wrong' is incredible... apparently trademe are absolute arseholes to get any useful information out of as well, so don't be looking to them to help. They're merely facilitators and not the slight bit interested in you being ripped off.

trade me are a bunch of thieving rip off artists

they closed my account which had 100% positive feedback without notice and kept all the money in the prepaid fees account and refused to reply to any emails about it

[vgcspares]

One last point following my earlier post with the text of teh outcome I received from Paypal ...

Having declared the claim in my favour they promptly closed it so I can't persue the issue as it's no longer visible on the Dispute Center tab

So it's a case of :

you win as we've given you back 31 cents out of the $67 we gave to someone else just before we cancelled his membership - now sod off and don't bother us about it any more !

[imdying]

trade me are a bunch of thieving rip off artists

they closed my account which had 100% positive feedback without notice and kept all the money in the prepaid fees account and refused to reply to any emails about itNot sure that I'd go that far, but I wouldn't rely on them for shit that's for sure... helping their customers is not something they appear to have any interest in.

Take them to court, they'll respond then... or not, and then you'll win automatically... and then if they don't pay, you can get an order from the courts to force them to pay.

[vgcspares]

Well I have to say Paypal did deliver in the end, despite saying my claim was closed after recouping US$0.31 out of US$69 (NZ$126.22).

I just asked them about their $10,000 buyer protection and along came the full refund.

So Credit where credit's due - good on Paypal !