Seller claims they can't refund

[raven1245]

I bought something a month ago, and still haven't recieved the item. I have asked for a refund, and filed a dispute. The seller claims that they spent the money in their account on other things, and no longer have a credit card attached to their account. And that since there is a dispute their account is frozen, so they can't add a card on to process a refund. They asked me to cancel the dispute so they can issue a refund. I don't know if they're lazy, stupid, or trying to scam me.

[gosox · Accepted solution]

They are trying to scam you...if you close that case before getting your money, you will not get your money and another case cannot be opened.  Once you filed a dispute their money was instantly placed on hold..even if they do not have the funds, if you win paypal will refund you all cost and leave their account in negative and restricted.  Did you get a tracking number from the seller.  If not, this is an open and shut case, and I would escalate the claim so you can get your refund faster than just playing around with them...

Make sure to state in the resolution forum what you stated here. But please be aware that you have a time frame and they may be trying to stall you...they are definitely trying to be a conartist and I would leave a negative for them.

[scooboo156]

I'm a seller, and I tried to refund, and it seriously does NOT let us send a refund. So the seller your dealing with is not trying to scam you. It's a policy that paypal has, and I personally think it's stupid. 

[stina3246]

This is true!! I am also a seller where the buyer claims they didn't receive an item and filed a complaint without contacting me first. I WANT to refund the person just to make them go away but because of the complaint Paypal will not allow it until the finish thier investigation. I have NO idea what to do and of course the buyer does not believe me!

[9821davids]

i want to issue a full refund, but, the buyer will not return the item he purchased . What should i do? He left an unfair/ untrue negative feedback , I tried everything to resolve. Also he paid with paypal, and, he wants to be refunded with a money order only??  Help!   9821davids.

[chainbreaker2]

DO NOT CLOSE THE DISPUTE! You are protected by paypal doesn't matter if they have the money or not. If they can't prove via delivery or signature conformation you got the item them it will be taken care of. Paypal may have frozen their account but it is not because of the dispute. It may be that they don't have the money in the account to refund but they can still add money or call paypal and resolve the problem. YOU CAN CALL PAYPAL they will help you. If it was an ebay purchase then it is covered by ebay. LET THE DISPUTE RUN ITS COURSE IS YOUR BEST OPTION DO NOT CLOSE THE DISPUTE or you will have been had!!!!!!

[jebear]

Similar situation here.  I have 100% positive as a seller, with zero negative feedback in the 9 years I have been selling on eBay.  The buyer filed a claim, for non receipt of goods,  before I had a chance to try and work a refund out with them.  It is my own fault because the item was lost in the mail, I assume, and dummy me took for granted that it would get there.

Now, Paypal has frozen my account.  I have tried to respond with every option that they give in their little bullet-dot selections on the "resolve dispute" link (all, wowing 3 of them) on the "sellers" side of the dispute, but they will not let me issue a refund without "adding another payment method".

I tried in vain to add my bank account and ended up adding a new card because they also, of course,  WILL NOT LET YOU USE BANK ACCOUNTS ASSIGNED TO MULTIPLE PAYPAL USERS (my only checking account is joint with another Paypal user).  No surprise, really.  Though, they were more than happy to take my new credit card info (now with three attached to this account) and appear to ding it for the charges/refund, but WILL NOT LET ME progress any further with actually giving the buyer the refund.

Now, I have the buyer mad (and they have every right to be) because they can't get their money, but without allowing me to add my bank account and FREEZING all of my credit cards from paying this guy back, I am stuck. 

So now I assume that I am going to get hit with who knows how much negative crap, just because PAYPAL WILL NOT ALLOW ME TO USE MY SOURCE(S) OF FUNDS TO DO WHAT I KNOW IS RIGHT.

It doesn't really matter because after this I am D-O-N-E with Paypal, eBay, and the lot of 'em.  I know that this is no big threat because I am not a Platinum-Diamond-King-Of-All seller, but still.  I have given them plently of money over the years and expect to at least have more options in trying to resolve a dispute.  Actually, I wish that they would maintain a policy that the Buyer has to have made contact with the seller in order to file a claim.  The seller has x amount of days to respond before the buyer is able to file the claim without the seller's consent.

But whatever.  It is done and now I am just going to wait it out because I have no other option, it seems.

Just to let you know...this crap can happen.

[74me]

I have this same situation going on. Seller ask me to close case because their PayPal account had been frozen and I did not close the case. The seller offered a refund thru eBay resolution which triggered the case closed automatically according to eBay customer support. The refund has failed to go thru and been rejected and according to PayPal they wait 3-5 days before resubmitting it again. After second attempt for the refund to process (another 3-5 days) eBay protection will kick in and pay me but this has been going on since Aug 20th. This all seems so unfair that the seller is able to continue to sell on eBay and process her monies thru PayPal and in the meantime I am having to wait on my money which was paid up front thru PayPal from my bank account. Customer Service states all of this is automated and the processes have to run course and there is nothing they can do until then.

I am very upset because I followed the rules & regulations which states the buyer protection will kick in after 7 days of non-payment. I am out my money till God knows when, seller continues to sell and receive money and not following the guidelines and no one seems to care. Case is closed so I can't even comment on it anymore and transaction is so old I can't even give feedback. What grief