Hello All,
Please allow me to share a very unfortunate and suprising experience I recently had. Be forewarned, sob story follows.
I hope you can learn from my experience so it does not happen to you.
Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Allow me to preface this by saying two things:
1) I have used my Paypal account to make many purchases since becoming a member in 2007 and have never had any issues.
2) I am overly-skeptical of sellers by nature, and thus always make sure I ask the right questions about protection before agreeing to purchase.
On October 16, 2014 I was considering purchasing a valuable and collectable watch from Italy. I was a little nervous about the transaction, so after carefully reading through the buyer protection, at 5:24am HST (to be precise) I called Paypal to get clarification. During our conversation I explained to the representative that I was nervous about purchasing a valuable item from Italy. "What if it never shows up, or the seller is a fraud?", I asked. She explained to me I had nothing to worry about, if I never received the item, as long as I filed my claim within the protection period, I was protected! I purchased the watch with no issues.
Then, in late December, armed with confidence in my Paypal Buyer protection, I proceeded to purchase another watch from Italy on eBay. The seller had a very, very low eBay feedback score, and normally, I would NEVER purchase an item from a seller without references. However, the seller answered my queries to my satisfaction, and confident that I would receive the item or be refunded thru PP, I cautiously proceeded with the purchase off eBay on December 13th, 2014. The seller shipped the item on December 17th, 2014. The package got delayed for a few days during the holidays, and I received several tracking updates via the Italian Post. On January 7th, the updates stopped. I heard nothing from the Post. The item never showed up.
I was informed by the seller that the package must be held up at customs, so I patiently waited for a notice to arrive. I read online that it can take 30-45 days for packages to clear customs. I started to get nervous just before the eBay buyer protection expired, so, again I called Paypal to make sure I was handling the situation properly. This time I was informed that, not only did Paypal have me covered, but the Buyer Protection period through PP was now 6 months! I had absolutely nothing to worry about. I let the eBay protection expire and waited to hear from the Post.
I gave the package another couple of weeks to arrive. When it did not, I decided I had had enough. I called UPS, who was to handle the US side of the shipment, and they explained that their records indicated the package had never left Italy.
I filed a claim with Paypal.
Then, a few days later, I was informed that Paypal ruled in the sellers favor. $2,000, gone. Huh?
I called Paypal, surely there was a mistake? The agent, Mike, agreed. "This must be a mistake. I will file an appeal for you. I'm sure it will get reversed in your favor. Wait to hear from my supervisor within 24 hours. It shouldn't be a problem, the tracking updates clearly show it never reached you." I waited 48 hours. No response.
I called Paypal... and to my dismay and surprise... I had been advised incorrectly by the Paypal agents I spoke with previously. When you purchase from Italy, it does not matter if you ever receive the item. As long as the seller can show that they shipped the item, you are no longer protected.
After speaking with the Italian Poste, I've learned that this package was either siezed by Italian Customs or returned to sender. I believe this was done intentionally by the seller, by providing invalid paperwork or by shipping a package that was not allowed. The tracking information CLEARLY shows that the package never reached its destination. I have written proof from UPS that the package never entered US Customs. However, the seller only needs to prove he shipped the item. Thus, the seller gets to keep my $2,000. I believe this is a scam that is easily repeatable and needs to be addressed.
I am obviously upset over getting scammed and losing a substantial sum of money.
But what upsets me most - I did my due diligence, then put my trust in Buyer Protection, and in the end - nobody stood by my side.
I hope someone can learn from this and save themselves from a potential loss.
Happy PayPal-ing,
Eric
