NO!!! YOU WILL NOT HAVE ANY PROTECTION THROUGH PAY PAL
I have learned, the hard way, that Pay Pal does not offer any of the buyer protection that I thought it did for my purchases outside of E-bay. In fact, I would have been much better off using a credit card directly with the Seller rather than going through Pay Pal.
If you could look in my account history you would see two disputes I have recently filed. In both cases, with two different Sellers, I paid for items that were to be in "Like New" condition. In both of these instances, what I received was useless junk. The Seller in both instances, having received his money, will not communicate with me or address the issue. Why should they? They have their money!
Pay Pal has dismissed both of these disputes saying they do not offer this type of protection on items purchased outside of E-Bay. I was told by the Pay Pal represenitive that if I have a dispute, I need to file a claim with my credit card issuer, as Pay Pal is just a third person entity handling the transaction. Yet, when I contact my credit card issuer, Wachovia Bank, they tell me they will not accept any disputed charges made through Pay Pal because Pay Pal is a third party handling the transaction, so it is up to Pay Pal to make it right.
This leaves me having paid for items that were useless garbage, the Sellers having received their money, and no one with the power to hold the Sellers accountable being willing to do so. Pay Pal is not granting me protection, and because I went through Pay Pal, Wachovia bank will not grant me protection.
The lesson learned is that with any internet or long distance purchase I make, I am best to NOT do it through Pay Pal. Going through Pay Pal forfeits all of my Buyer protection. Using a credit card directly, without going through Pay Pal, preserves recourse for resolution.
I now feel it is my mission to educate the members of the various internet forums I am part of that Pay Pal does not offer the protection many imagine, so, if like me, they choose to make a purchase from another forum member, use a credit card, NOT Pay Pal.
