payment for service

[shintech]

I recently hired a guy to cut some trees in my yard. He asked for half the money upfront to get started and the rest upon completion, I wired him half the money using my PayPal account.  So weeks have gone bye and he never showed up to finish the work. Can I get my money back?

[kernowlass]

@shintech

As long as you used the goods / services option to send the money then you can open a paypal dispute  >>

How do I open a dispute with a seller when a purchase goes wrong?

You can open a dispute in the Resolution Centre of your PayPal account within 180 days of payment if:
•You don’t receive the item
•You receive an item but it’s significantly different than the description on eBay or on the seller’s website

By opening a dispute, you can communicate directly with your seller to work out a problem transaction.

If you reach an agreement with the seller you can close the dispute. If you're still not happy with the result, you can escalate the dispute into a claim. We'll review the claim and decide on reimbursement.

These steps apply to Personal accounts. If you have a Business account, please log in to see the steps that apply to you.

To open a dispute:
1.Log in to your PayPal account.
2.Near the bottom of the page, under 'More about your account', click Resolve a problem in our Resolution Centre.
3.Click Dispute a Transaction.
4.Select the button beside the transaction you want to dispute, then click Continue.
5.Select ‘Item dispute’, click Continue and follow the on-screen instructions.

Note:
•Generally buyers must wait at least 7 days from the date of payment to escalate a dispute for an item not received
•Where an item has not been received, please ensure you hae given the seller enough time before opening a dispute

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/first-dispute

If that does not work then if you funded your paypal payment via a card then contact your card issuer and see if they will do a chargeback for you.