PayPal policy encourages fraud

ILoveKona
Contributor
Contributor

I purchased an antenna product advertised on facebook and used PayPal to pay for it. The seller listed a California address. I received the product that was shipped from California. It was a useless fake item. I went to the resolution center for help. Eventually PayPal responded indicating I could return the item but had to send it using a service that would track the package and require proof of delivery to the address listed in their data field. The address WAS IN CHINA! There is no way to send the product back to China that doesn't cost less than what I paid for the item itself. There is also no way to inform PayPal of this problem because of how their system is set up. So in effect PayPal is complicit in allowing this scam to continue. They profit from working with these false companies and do not have a way for PayPal customers to report this problem. I hope they read this and contact me because it is due to their system and policies that I cannot get my scam purchase reversed. Has this happened to you? If so please respond.

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34 REPLIES 34

Me2_scammed
Contributor
Contributor
Was the seller Summer_eye co ltd? I am going thru the same thing over curling irons. They shipped something completely different than what was advertised (useless), it was shipped to me from Calif, and now they want me to ship to China for high cost. I have seen others post on here that they paid to return item and now seller is not going to refund until buyer drops Paypal dispute. THIEVES, CON ARTISTS! Where is their punishment for running s scam??? Only the buyer gets hurt here.
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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@ILoveKona 

@Me2_scammed 

 

Unfortunately social media don't vet sellers so its at your own risk who you buy from.

But normally...

 

Social media + great but very cheap item = Chinese scam sites...buyer beware.


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ILoveKona
Contributor
Contributor

No, it was Strong Current Enterprises. However, I have seen the exact same product offered under a number of different company names.

If PayPal added a field in the reply process allowing your own text to the resolution process it would easily solve so many of these complaints and people would be so much happier using PayPal to pay for purchases. I googled "Strong Current Enterprises" and it returned a large number of complaint posts. Apparently businesses in China have figured out how to sell you crap product via domestic shipping then using the China return address to discourage or prevent returns. It is a loophole in the PayPal resolution process. Hopefully PayPal will address their flaw in the process and correct it.

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ghost-
Contributor
Contributor

One of the biggest scams on paypal would be this..
The buyer reported that the item they received wasn't as described to their credit card company..The credit card company puts that money back on their card immediately.Pay pal immediately goes into the sellers account and puts a hold on the money, which leaves your account in the negative.90% of the time the seller is never going to get that money back..Pay pal says they will try and get it, and it can take up to 3 months..Every time I have had this happen, it was 90 days or more before I was told what I already knew.They could not get it back..So the customer stole my items because they are not required to return them and they are laughing all the way to the bank..As a seller we have no protection what so ever..More and more people know about this scam and are ripping sellers off..How paypal and the credit card companies allow this is beyond me..It is fraud 100%..It is to the point I want to make a customer sign a legal document saying they will not do this if they buy my item..So, you need to call your credit card company and tell them the item was not as described, and they will put it back on your card..and guess what? you will NOT have to return it

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DLSigler
Contributor
Contributor

If this is so, and I don't doubt your story as a seller, why are the scam sellers not having this problem?  My situation reflects exactly what is being said in this forum.  Why was the Chinese company that sent me bait and switch crap not blocked as you say?  PayPal let me pursue my complaint knowing that sending it back would be financially rediculous.

Sounds to me like PayPal is playing both sides of the issue.

Is there not a federal organization to which these complaints may be filed for investigation?  I for one would like to see PayPal explain their customer protection policy to a couple of FBI, IRS, TCC agents.

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janegabel
Contributor
Contributor
Yeah racketeering and mail fraud that's what Paypal's allowing china to get away with, Class action, somebody needs to start a class action suit.
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hyparker13
Member
Member

PayPal will not fix this issue because they get paid (by the seller) for each transaction. They don't give a hoot about the buyers. We are an inconsequential byproduct of their means to rake in profits. They advertise a safe environment for making purchases - That is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time!

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KHemetek
Contributor
Contributor
Exactly ...as soon as I get this Chinese claim done if PayPal doesn’t give me my money back... I’m just gonna start using my credit card ...in fact that’s what I’m gonna do anyway ... This is the second time I’ve had this happen in 3 years ...I didn’t think I could be had again but I didn’t realize it was in China ... It’s better to just use the credit card ... at least Credit cards will give you your money back they know these Chinese companies are fraudulent they get cash flow from these companies from us that have PayPal accounts there’s no point in having PayPal
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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@KHemetek 

 

If you read through some threads even credit cards do not ALWAYS get you a refund. 


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