Protection on booking vacation property in Costa Rica (From Canada)

[Oddjobski]

If I book a vacation property through Pay Pal, with a company in Costa Rica. The company has agreed to send a Pay Pal invoice so we can pay the deposit. (aprox 50% of total amount).

1) Will I be covered through Pay Pal if we find out the property is a fraud when we arrive. It is not possible to verify for certain the property is legitimate at this time (from Canada).

2) The protection mentioned states that only a single order can be covered, not multiple transations. We will be required to send a send payment for the balance within 30 days. Will this be considered two transations and each would be handles seperately?

Please advise

Cheers

[snowshoe]

You should avoid using PayPal for transactions like this as there's no buyer protection.  This would be considered a service therefore you are assuming all risks.  If you must use PayPal, pay with a credit card.  If an issue does happen, it's possible your credit card issuer can assist with a chargeback.  (You should check with them first.)

[Oddjobski]

Thank you for the quick response.

Would we be protected through Pay Pal if we were to use the E-cheque? I do not have a US account. Not sure what the best option is since I know sending cash is not to be considered.Wire tranfers are a definate no-no.

I will check with our card company to see if they offer protection.

This is proving to be a bit of a challenge.

Cheers

Robin