E-bay/Paypal hassle/fraud?
Discussion
A couple of weeks ago, I auctioned a scanner on ebay, and the guy who won the auction paid straight away using Paypal.
I then transferred the money into my bank account the following day, and shipped the scanner to him via Special Delivery.
A week later, I get an email from the buyer saying that Paypal have limited his account until he provides some information, but he will sort it out in a few days. I also get an email from Paypal stating that the transaction has been reversed because the buyer has claimed non-delivery or goods not being as described, and my Paypal account is now overdrawn.
This is obviously concerning, so I mailed the buyer again who confirmed that he had received the item and is happy with it, but Paypal have suspended his account and sent out around 10 complaints/cancellations for various other items he was bidding on.
He has now received several lots of negative feedback on ebay, who have also suspended his account (probably due to a complaint by one of the other sellers).
Now, while this looks pretty dodgy to me, I also think that he's telling the truth, and it is Paypal who have screwed up.
I've got his name and address, plus he has confirmed to me that he has received the scanner, and has always replied promptly to emails, and has been consistent in what he's been telling me. Paypal on the other hand have said one thing and then another, and going by what I've heard about them, this seems to be the sort of stunt they pull to other people.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any suggestions for what I should do next? Knowing Paypal, it may take them a moment to sort this out, but then again I don't want to let it drag on for too long before taking action to recover my money.
I then transferred the money into my bank account the following day, and shipped the scanner to him via Special Delivery.
A week later, I get an email from the buyer saying that Paypal have limited his account until he provides some information, but he will sort it out in a few days. I also get an email from Paypal stating that the transaction has been reversed because the buyer has claimed non-delivery or goods not being as described, and my Paypal account is now overdrawn.
This is obviously concerning, so I mailed the buyer again who confirmed that he had received the item and is happy with it, but Paypal have suspended his account and sent out around 10 complaints/cancellations for various other items he was bidding on.
He has now received several lots of negative feedback on ebay, who have also suspended his account (probably due to a complaint by one of the other sellers).
Now, while this looks pretty dodgy to me, I also think that he's telling the truth, and it is Paypal who have screwed up.
I've got his name and address, plus he has confirmed to me that he has received the scanner, and has always replied promptly to emails, and has been consistent in what he's been telling me. Paypal on the other hand have said one thing and then another, and going by what I've heard about them, this seems to be the sort of stunt they pull to other people.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Any suggestions for what I should do next? Knowing Paypal, it may take them a moment to sort this out, but then again I don't want to let it drag on for too long before taking action to recover my money.
ehasler said:
I did ask him about paying me via a different method, but apparently Paypal haven't refunded him so he has actually paid for the goods (according to him).
OK, so he can prove that they debited his account/credit card? Surely you can write Paypal and get them to provide written evidence that they do not owe him anything? You're bound to find which side is not telling the truth!
_DJ_ said:
I did ask him about paying me via a different method, but apparently Paypal haven't refunded him so he has actually paid for the goods (according to him).
OK, so he can prove that they debited his account/credit card? Surely you can write Paypal and get them to provide written evidence that they do not owe him anything? You're bound to find which side is not telling the truth!
You'd think! I've asked Paypal to confirm why they are investigating the transaction, due to conflicting information from them, and they replied:
"I am sorry, however due to our Privacy Policy we cannot provide any specific information regarding our investigation without a court ordered subpoena."
I'm not actually too worried, as I've actually got the cash in my bank account - it's only my PayPal account which is negative, and if necessary I can just set up a new one leaving this one as it is.
I got an e-mail from Paypal to confirm a payment from my account. I hadn't bought anything for weeks and certainly didn't use Paypal for much longer.
As it turns out someone had got into my account and used it to authorise a £200 payment. I had the persons e-mail from the receipt but decided not to e-mail him/her but to inform Paypal.
The annoying thing is I actually have very little money in my first choice account just in case this sort of thing happened, but they then took the money from another account I never thought Paypal had validated.
Their policy is to transfer the money anyway and then refund it afterwards following a successful appeal. But as I overpay my mortgage to leave me not a lot, I went overdrawn and will soon find out how much that will ocst me.
When I have sorted the account out I will close it and pay by good old fashioned cheque.
It doesn't matter how secure ebay and paypal say they are, there are hackers that will always find somebody's sign in details.
Also, I signed into ebay once (so I thought) but it turned out it was a toatly different url to ebay but had a very convincing page.
I changed my password immediately and informed ebay and now always check that the url is a legitimate ebay sign in page.
As it turns out someone had got into my account and used it to authorise a £200 payment. I had the persons e-mail from the receipt but decided not to e-mail him/her but to inform Paypal.
The annoying thing is I actually have very little money in my first choice account just in case this sort of thing happened, but they then took the money from another account I never thought Paypal had validated.
Their policy is to transfer the money anyway and then refund it afterwards following a successful appeal. But as I overpay my mortgage to leave me not a lot, I went overdrawn and will soon find out how much that will ocst me.
When I have sorted the account out I will close it and pay by good old fashioned cheque.
It doesn't matter how secure ebay and paypal say they are, there are hackers that will always find somebody's sign in details.
Also, I signed into ebay once (so I thought) but it turned out it was a toatly different url to ebay but had a very convincing page.
I changed my password immediately and informed ebay and now always check that the url is a legitimate ebay sign in page.
The trouble with PayPal is that they look like a bank, act like a bank and smell like a bank, but when anything goes wrong they are not regulated like a bank and have none of the accountability of a bank and can (and do) turn round and tell you to feck off.
The sooner they are regulated by the FSA or similar, the better, I say.
The sooner they are regulated by the FSA or similar, the better, I say.
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