I got taken advantage of by a company, PayPal is not very helpful.

jaugustin
Contributor
Contributor

I ordered toilet paper from a company called "Freedom Paper Company" LLC back in March.  With stores being out of stock everywhere, this company seemed like a life-saver as they claimed to still have toilet paper. After about 2 weeks or so I did not hear from the company so I e-mailed them twice. 

 
My e-mails went ignored. 

I then found their Instagram page and wrote them there. They actually responded. They told me that due to the COVID-19, the were backed up and would ship it within 14 days or to write them again. After 14 days I wrote them and they did not respond. I wrote them a second time and still no answer. They shut down their comment on Instagram to avoid the many people complaining about them. People began creating pages that called the company out for scamming folks out of their money. 

I filed a claim on the Better Business Bureau (the BBB) for a refund at this point and they still did not respond. According to the BBB, Freedom Paper Company LLC was called and a voicemail was left but they did not respond.

 

I started a claim with PayPal in April PayPal gave them until May 10th to respond, which I feel is way too long. Can you believe that this company waited until May 9th (probably to be spiteful) before finally responding and adding a tracking number? I checked USPS and there is no record on the USPS website that this item was ever actually shipped. I don't know if they are actually going to ship it or if they just did this as a stall tactic.
Either way, it has been close to 2 months since I first ordered the toilet paper, this means they're just going to ship it now? (If at all). Stores are now fully stocked with tp and I don't want their overpriced paper anymore. I want to get a refund because otherwise the company is rewarded for their shady behavior. 

The estimated case resolution date has just been updated to June for an item that I ordered way back in March. I feel like this is unfair to me as a costumer, they took advantage of many customers during a crisis and this is messed up. PayPal seems to be too lenient with the companies and not on the side of the customers enough. Is there anything I can do?

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28 REPLIES 28

FrankPalazzolo
Contributor
Contributor

I had the same issue that you described above.  I emailed them every Mon., Wed., and Fri., since April 3, and they never replied.  It was impossible to get through on the phone.  At one point there was a recording by a man that seemed like he was reading the answering machine message and he was laughing like it was a big joke.  Extremely unprofessional.  

Long story short - 2 weeks ago they finally replied - two different departments wanting to know if I still wanted the TP.  I replied "No."  Two days later I get a confirmation that they shipped it.  It's in transit and I do not need it.  I suppose I will refuse the deliver and send it back.

I do not believe PayPal is very supportive in this problem.  I am reporting this to the Maryland Attorney General.

FPC continued to take money from people knowing they did not have the stock on hand to ship and they did not contact customers to explain their issue.  The continued to take money via PayPal without providing a delivery status, approx ship date, or refund.  One of those 3 actions should have been taken in the two months we've been waiting.  But they will tell you to "have a blessed day" and invoke the name of God.  What a hypocrisy.

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Montana_girl
Contributor
Contributor

Which company was it?  Was the toilet paper you ordered in packages of 8?  Can you dispute your credit card charge?

So frustrating!

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FrankPalazzolo
Contributor
Contributor

Hi again.  My PayPal account is linked to my GM Mastercard (Capital One Bank).  I am trying to demonstrate patience with Freedom Paper Company and go through the required "hoops" that PayPal requires for resolution.  If get no where with following the guidelines for dispute settlement, I will contact Mastercard and get the charge removed from my account.  The charge was $20 (20 rolls) plus $11 shipping - $31 total.  

The part of the entire thing is I checked all complaints sites online to see if they had complaints.  I found 2 minor items and they were solved from 8 years ago.  So I decided to try them.

I took a screenshot of their website stating they shipped in 1 to 4 days and made copies of their web pages.  They had nothing in there about taking 14 days.  Additionally I watched them for weeks and they continued to take orders without closing out toilet paper or stopping sales online.  

They used COVID-19 to create a scheme to get a quick influx of cash and use it.  It seemed to me it was a very dishonest way and they took advantage of an unsuspecting public.  They should have immediately written customers with a status, hired people to answer phones and email and they did nothing.

We will win this I am sure.

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jaugustin
Contributor
Contributor

Yup, I already reported them to the Maryland Attorney General. I reported them to the BBB as well, but this company obviously couldn't care less about their reputation. I think they were trying to make as much money as they could during the pandemic. 

I asked PayPal if they could just refund it (the tp shortage is over and I don't need their overpriced product anymore) and they were like "we do not offer this service". 

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FrankPalazzolo
Contributor
Contributor

I sent another email today and refused the shipment that finally arrived yesterday - 5/15.   Here is my message to them:

Still no reply to my email of 12 May…very sad the way you run your business.

 

The delivery arrived yesterday, Friday, 15 May, and I am REFUSING THE SHIPMENT.  I returned it to the post office today to forward to you.  By the way, it showed 2-day priority and it took 7 days to reach Ft. Worth, Texas.  Nice.

 

I will continue to pursue a refund via PayPal’s guidelines since you lack any ethical practices or customer service skills to be concerned with HONESTY.

 

During the week of 23 March when the order was placed, your PUBLISHED shipping time was 1 to 4 days.  Even after the 14-day processing you changed to, you should have offered your customers a choice of refund/cancellation or some approximate timeframe for delivery.  Sadly you chose none of those options but keeping our money.

 

It was a “pleasure” doing business with such a customer service oriented establishment.  

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Montana_girl
Contributor
Contributor

Good.  I hope you get your refund;)

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andrewf4188
Member
Member

Similar situation i dealt with, i was scammed and put in a dispute, waited a full month for PayPal to tell me they're denying my dispute because they don't see anything wrong with the transaction. I have clear proof it was a scam and paypal is IMPOSSIBLE to get in contact with.

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Montana_girl
Contributor
Contributor

I'm curious.  When I disputed the charge, I contacted my credit card online and clicked onto the charge .  It was immediately taken off my balance and eventually reversed. So do you have a Paypal credit card or where do your payments come out of. 

The reason Paypal is not answering calls or any credit card is all call centers are down and everyone has limited staff.  Even Macy's answering service says we are not taking calls at this time.

They way this company operates is they can show something got shipped. In my case, 2 out of 3 packages of 8 ea of toilet paper did arrive, but no packing slip to say what was shipped. The shipping labels shows 2 ctns, one arrived. The product was way over priced and mis represented. There is no paperwork about their return policy.  Their answered emails continued to say I got what I ordered and had me send a picture.  I continued to tell them, my invoice shows 3 items ordered, I received 2, but it doesn't matter, I don't want them

Thankfully, the credit card charge was credited back to me, and I didn't involve Paypal.

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andrewf4188
Member
Member

Oh wow, well i'm glad they reversed your charge in that case.

 

I paid through a debit card from my bank on PayPal.

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jaugustin
Contributor
Contributor

Same. My Bank would've refunded it easily but they said that if it goes through PayPal it's out of their hands.

Ya live and ya learn.

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