I made a non e-Bay purchase using PayPal a few weeks back: Big mistake! The merchant failed to deliver the product and their website was offline for several days, making it impossible for me to contact them with my complaint. When I finally did, they basically ignored me. When I started a dispute with PayPal, I found out why the merchant was digging in: The merchant has no-doubt discovered that the PayPal resolution system doesn't intervene of behalf of its customers. So I've paid for 2 years of a service that doesn't work, and I've lost the payment I made. Too bad.
The real problem, however, is that this company uses auto-renew, so I'll be charged again most-likely in the future (I tried to cancel auto-renew, and that didn't work either). I've been writing to PayPal asking that they assure me that they won't make any future payments to this merchant from my account. I've written FIVE TIMES. Each time, the response has been about the original complaint, reiterating that they can't intervene on my behalf because my case isn't covered under the PayPal Purchase Protection policy.
I wish I could shout this from rooftops: DON'T USE PAYPAL TO BUY FROM MERCHANTS UNFAMILIAR TO YOU! If there's a problem, PayPal won't help. Use your credit card. If I had done so, my bank would absolutely undoubtedly have intervened on my behalf.
Caveat emptor.
