What is going on with PayPal's lack of support when it comes to Buyer Protection?

[MichaelNeeley]

I sincerely hope that someone from PayPal will read this. I am having a serious WTF moment! For starters, I am absolutely swindled by a company maneuvering a bait & switch play - offering a product at a great price, then delivering a cheap piece of crap. When prompted with a dispute, the company, instead of offering to send the actual product I ordered, offers a full refund IF I RETURN THE PRODUCT TO CHINA! The cost of the return would be nearly as much as the product was in the first place.

Sadly, after the company offers this solution, PayPal does not make it easy to reject that offer. So, I had to actually call in to complain and expose this fraudulent activity to a representative at PayPal. So far so good. She informs me that I need to file an IC3 report of an internet crime and send them the report. WHICH I DID. Only to get an email from PayPal a couple of days later saying that the dispute has been closed and that I lose my money. Like I said WTF!!!

It appears that PayPal's buyer protection is actually seller protection plus FRAUD. PayPal should be prepared for a class-action lawsuit, as I'm sure there are plenty of other people being taken advantage of by these nefarious business practices and that PayPal, through turning a blind eye, is complicit in this fraud.

If you, too, have been swindled and had no protection from PayPal, please reach out to me via this channel and become a part of a potential class action suit. And if you happen to be from PayPal and reading this - C'mon! Get some integrity and protect buyers. I also run a business and offer PayPal as a method for my clients to pay.  If this is not resolved, I will be saying good-bye to all things PayPal. What a load of crap!

[kernowlass]

@MichaelNeeley 

Chinese Web Sites or on Social Media ads easy to spot (once you know the below signs) so buyer beware.

Paypal would not be able to check every individual seller / merchant / company in over 200 countries worldwide that adds paypal to their website to accept payments.

So they give you 'some' buyer protection but the onus is on you to risk assess your transactions.

They do stop bad companies from using Paypal when enough claims start rolling in.
However as they are in China (mostly) then its easy for them to just start over with a new name, so stopping them does not really do anything.

The best thing is to not buy from them in the first place, to recognise them -

1. No return address on the returns policy. The site will look as if its in your country (where they despatch goods from) but they will ask for returns to go back to China (returns depot) at a shipping cost often more than the item is worth.
2. No contact telephone number. if you click on contact the most you will get is webmail or an email address.
3. Rarely company address information.
4. Great pictures of items at bargain prices that turn out to be tat.
5. Fake reviews.
6. Google and you can often see previous company names as they change them once enough claims roll in and Paypal stop them using their services and start over.
7. Send fake tracking numbers to win item non receipt of item claims.


In the event of a dispute you choose your seller and not Paypal so you need to bear in mind possible return trackable costs before you go ahead and buy from that seller / country.

Paypal state this >>
IMPORTANT: You may be required to return the item to the seller or other party we specify as part of the settlement of your claim. PayPal Buyer Protection does not entitle you to reimbursement for the return shipping costs that you may incur.

Although they will compensate you for some of the cost if you have activated this at some point before you made that transaction.
https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/FAQ3544

You also have the option to do a chargeback via your card issuer instead of a Paypal dispute if you funded your Paypal payment via a credit card.

[MichaelNeeley]

Thanks Kernowlass!

The bigger issue at hand was that I did EXACTLY what PayPal had requested of me, and they still denied my dispute saying I did not respond in time.

That said... after another 45 minutes on the phone with them today, even the CSR was at a loss for how my reply had not been registered in their system (she could see it right before her eyes).

So, with just a little bit of effort on her end, my dispute was resolved and my money refunded.

Having filed the IC3 report, I do hope that (and she said that it does raise a big red flag at PayPal), they will stop business with this company. Sure, they may sprout up again, but if PayPal keeps refunding their buyers, I would hope that they realize the losing venture it will become.

It is very easy to spot the signs: seller sends wrong product, then offers a full refund on return INSTEAD of offering to send the actual product that was ordered. If PayPal changed the policy to "Send the actual product - along with a pre-paid return postage label - or we refund the buyer". This would put an end to these shady businesses.

Also, as PayPal has followed through and adjusted their actions accordingly, I'd like to remove this post. Is that possible?

[kernowlass]

@MichaelNeeley 

Well done sorting it, glad it worked out for you.

Sadly only a moderator can remove a 'thread' all we can do on here is click 'edit' via the 3 dots top right of post and edit or remove a comment, but we can't remove complete threads.

[Cindy138]

Can u help me pls