Mislead by Paypal employee

[danew]

On July 15th, 2017 I made a transaction seperate from eBay for $675.00. This was a private transaction, separate from eBay.  When I received the package from the seller I noted major damage, to the tune of $500 according to my local appraisal. This damage was undisclosed to me at the time of purchase. Unsure of fault, I contacted the seller. The seller was unwilling to take the compound bow back and refund the purchase price. At that point in time I filed a dispute with Paypal.  With the seller’s unwillingness to accept a return, the case was quickly escalated on July 24th to be resolved by PayPal. On July 29th I received an email from PayPal stating the following:

"(Third party) has provided a response to the claim you filed against them. We are reviewing the facts of the case
and will carefully consider all the material before making a decision. We will let you know if we require additional
information from you, and will contact you via email when a decision has been reached. "

I received an email on August the 3rd requesting documentation supporting my claim of a damaged product. The following was specifically requested by PayPal within the email:

"Please obtain a document (such as an estimate or invoice) from an unbiased third­party, such as a dealer, repair
shop, appraiser, or another individual or organization that is qualified in the area of the item in question (other
than you)".

On August 4th I uploaded supporting pictures of damage to the bow, an appraisal written by my local dealer/repair shop, and screenshots of text conversations had between myself and the seller. Approximately one week later, on August 10th, PayPal responded by email stating that:

"The requested document should be provided by an unbiased third­party, such as a dealer, appraiser or another
individual or organisation[sic] that's qualified in the area of the item in question (other than yourself), and detail
the extent of the damage or clearly explain how the item received significantly differs from the item advertised."

Upon receipt of the email I contacted PayPal for a more thorough explanation of why the document I provided was not acceptable. The representative I spoke with on the phone assured me that a mistake had been made and my document contained all the proper information needed to proceed with the case. Viewing the case on PayPal’s website, I noted that the case was put back in review and there were no requests being made by PayPal. Without any contact thereafter, I received an email from PayPal on August 16th stating that the case had been decided in the seller’s favor for these reasons:

"We either did not receive this information within the time frame specified or the documents we received did not
meet the requirements we provided to you."

Thoroughly confused, I contacted PayPal that very same morning of the 16th and asked for an explanation as to why my document did not meet PayPal’s specifications. I was told by a representative that the document did not have a logo of the company that performed the appraisal. The representative said she would give me 3 days to provide a new document with proper letterhead. After providing the new documentation, PayPal sent me an email
on August 18th explaining I had lost the case because the proper documentation had not been received in the time frame allotted. Upon calling PayPal that day, I was informed that I could file a dispute but it would have the same negative outcome due to PayPal’s policy on documentation. I was then advised by the representative to speak with my bank concerning the matter.

On August the 18th I visited my bank, from which the payment was made. With all documentation in hand, I was notified that there was no method of disputing the charge if I still had possession of the purchased item. I was required to ship the bow back to the seller, obtain a tracking number for the shipment, and provide the evidence to them. They would then, and only then, request funds from PayPal. When questioned whether I would be guaranteed a refund, my bank explained that it would be PayPal’s decision whether the funds were released. Because this appeared to be an unfair solution, I decided to call PayPal yet again. On August 22nd, I spoke with Rich (employee #43­943). Rich examined the case files and was perplexed at why my document did not meet the specifications of PayPal. He assured me that he would file a “back office ticket”, send me an email confirming the ticket, and respond within two business days.

This brings me to present day. I have not received any new communication from PayPal. My last phone call with PayPal was with a representative named Kevin (employee #79­018). Kevin politely told me that a “back office ticket” may have been filed but he didn’t have any information on the matter. Again I was told that a new appeal could be filed, with no guarantee of the outcome. 

I've been filing complaints and I'm at my wits end.  What else can I do to try and recover from this oversight?

[Whac-A-Mole]

how did you pay?

credit card or bank fund?

It sounds like Paypal robot steps in and continue ruling over your case despite human intervention.

go to resolution center and look for closed case and see what is in the case,I am curious what the seller has told PAYPAL ?

always pay with credit card,so if you lose the Paypal dispute,you can file chargeback.

also the two of you decide to conduct business out side Ebay,did he offer you a better price?

if this is ebay transaction,you would have won and given a return shipping label to return to seller.

most item not as described cases are decided in favor of the buyer,buyer returns the item and seller resell the item,fair enough.

[danew]

Thanks for the reply sumiko.

Yes it feels like Paypal is just a robot.  I keep getting the same response from them over and over.  Hopefully the BBB will have better luck than I have.  It's like they are not even reading what I have written.  Their support team told me that the appraisal I had provided was fine, even though it didn't have letterhead.  It had their Dealer Number, their contact information, and a signature of the repairman.  All Paypal had to do was call them to verify, but apparantly they don't do that.  They just keep telling me that my document wasn't uploaded in the required time, even though they failed to inform me that it was not within their guidelines.  They had 7 days, between when their employee lied to me and when the case closed, to inform me of the matter.  That whole time the case was in review.

I used my bank account because that is what Paypal defaulted to and I had no idea that I didn't have the extra protection that a card does.  Hard lesson I'm learning.  My bank told me they can't do anything for me because it was a wire transfer.  They said they could only request funds back from Paypal if I shipped the bow back to the seller and had a shipping number to corresond to it.  Even then they told me that Paypal was under no legal obligation to pay.

This item was never listed on eBay.  There is a barter/classified section of an archery forum I frequent and he had it listed on there.

The only thing I can see in the dispute portion of their website is some initial contact that the seller used to try and tell Paypal that it was my fault the bow was broken.