What happens to the HELD FUNDS if PayPal has to auto close a dispute after 20 days?

[quirksbyannie]

I sold a cast iron item through eBay. Buyer received and sent message via eBay that item was extremely damaged and therefore "Not as Described in Listing". I apologized, told him I was willing to work with him on a refund, and my ONLY request was that he email photographs of the item for verification purposes and my records. He did not respond via eBay (after 3 messages). Instead he opened a dispute with PayPal. I immediately responded, choosing not to refund, but to request photographic evidence, once again. I also stated that I would refund him the cost of the item, plus shipping, once I had received the photos. Still no response. Sent one more message requesting that he work with me to resolve this issue and STILL NOTHING! I've begun to think that maybe he wasn't telling the truth, a might have been trying to scam me. Either way, January 12th will be 20 days since the dispute was open, and as stated by PayPal they will auto-close the dispute on that day. WHAT HAPPENS TO THE HELD FUNDS? Are they released to me (the Seller) or refunded to the non-responsive Buyer? I have run this scenario through PayPal and all they said was communicate with the Buyer or escalate the dispute to a claim, which I do not want to do. Any experience with this kind of mess?

[quirksbyannie · Accepted solution]

Okay...I decided to CALL PayPal and see if I could get a definite answer that way...AND YES I DID!!!! The official answer, via PayPal, is that in the event the Buyer does not respond or escalate this dispute to a claim by the end of the 20 day period, the case will be automatically close by PalPal AND my funds that are currently on hold status will be RELEASED AND MADE AVAILABLE TO ME IMMEDIATELY! That is great news!!!! Just wanted to pass on the information to anyone that might be experiencing the same issue!