PayPal Buyer Protection Scam/Bad Policy

tdg63
Contributor
Contributor

PayPal's buyer protection policy that goes for 6 months beyond the purchase date and is easily used to defraud ebay sellers. Any buyer on ebay can wait until the ebay return period expires and then make up a bogus reason for a refund and they will get their money returned. There is essentially nothing the seller can do to protect themselves.

Here's what happened to me. April 11 I sold a brand new in box android phone on eBay. Five months later, the buyer contacted me and informed me the phone worked fine on Verizon until September 8 when he attempted to upgrade the OS and bricked the phone. He wanted me to refund his money. He even provided a photo of the phone screen showing it was bricked. I liken this to him smashing the screen 5 months after purchase and wanting his money back. I said no, you broke it.

He put in a refund request with PayPal simply claiming "phone not as described, only works on Sprint", no details, no proof. I provided Paypal a detailed response and included the message exchange.

PayPal found in favor of the buyer. When I called, PayPal told me they don't accept ebay messages or photos as proof. What do they take? Your word against theirs and to keep buyers happy they usually find in the buyer's favor.

I am not a small business, I'm just some guy struggling to make ends meet who resells items I find cheap. I don't have the money to pay a bogus return. Nevertheless, PayPal says they will deduct it from my empty checking account and I have NO recourse. What's worse, I was told even if the phone is physically damaged, as long as the tracking number shows a completed return, I'm out the money.

 

The worst part for me is that PayPal takes no risk on a policy that is so easily defrauded. ALL OF THE RISK IS TAKEN BY THE SELLER. What did this bad decision cost PayPal? Nothing. I have proof he is lying and provided it, but PayPal never bothered to look at it.

 

Anyone know if there is anything I can do? I already plan to shutdown my eBay and PayPal accounts. IMHO, PayPal is the worst form of payment a seller can accept. AT least credit card companies look at the evidence provided to them.

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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
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@tdg63

 

In the event of an item received but not as described dispute it is always one persons word against anothers.

So paypal do tend to find in favour of the buyer BUT the buyer has to return the item back to you trackable to prove delivery before you have to refund.

Its just one of the risks of online selling, you are always going to get the odd pain in the butt buyer.


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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@tdg63

 

In the event of an item received but not as described dispute it is always one persons word against anothers.

So paypal do tend to find in favour of the buyer BUT the buyer has to return the item back to you trackable to prove delivery before you have to refund.

Its just one of the risks of online selling, you are always going to get the odd pain in the butt buyer.


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tdg63
Contributor
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He's returning a phone he destroyed. He is scamming the system and they created the scam opportunity.

 

Anyone requesting a refund should have to prove the product is "not as described." Easy to do. He could have asked a Verizon rep to confirm the phone was locked to another carrier, but he couldn't because he'd been using it for 5 months on Verizon.

 

I guess it is time to stop selling on ebay. I thought it was a great place to sell your old stuff and make an occasional profit on a deal you found somewhere. I'm finding it's become a place where you supply the product eBay makes the money. Then PayPal comes along and creates this HUGE scam opportunity and puts me under.

 

Once the big time fraudsters begin the leverage this on an industrial scale I don't want to be using PayPal. I've already heard of this scam being used a lot. Break an item up to 6 months out file a dispute with ebay. Then mail back an empty box.

 

Guess small claims court will be my next step.

 

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nevadasmith
Advisor
Advisor

ebay gives the seller 30 days,but Paypal and cc issuer give 180 days,WHICH I think is ridiculous,3 months is a long time,and 180 days??

THE only way to avoid this is to take non electronic payment like cash or money order,which means you cant sel on Ebay

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Katra
Contributor
Contributor

It is true. I had another scammer in ebay US sales. He bought an item and immediately requested return stating it was broken in pieces while the box was untouched. He presented misty / unclear pictures on ebay and I had to allow return. 3 days after I received item in bare the envelope but the item was not one I sold him (different color wood , different manufacturing date stamped and stripped chrome. It was obvious it was his own broken item he replaced with my own. I contacted ebay but no luck. I was given hard time with many hours of calls on the phone. A guy has 4 feedback and not old account. Me power seller with an account from 2015, immaculate feedback. Over 200 items sold in 2 months with no records of return problems of this type. Guess. I lost money, paid shipping both way, and have no item. Why is ebya/paypal supporting scammer community. Ebay gets $700 in fees every month. Don’t they want to keep me there. Don’t they want those buyers to stay away? By rewarding this behavior they invite more scammers. Now I am scared that this particular guy will be advising other to do the same as it was so easy! Terrible and sad.

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Returned product and seller has product back and keep my money!! PayPal was ok with this!!! Closed my dispute!!! PayPal stands behind China sellers ripping us off!! Don’t trust PayPal!!
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Jo1074
Contributor
Contributor

yes this is my issue at the moment i have been asked to send the items back as all the photos show its damaged also i was asked for a video of it not working what i PAID to send in a Chinese   formate and more PayPal what's me to send it back at my cost WTF. i have already lost heaps of money from being scammed by purchasing items and a Bird Feather being ent in the post and Pay pal closed the case on me even where i had a report from Australis pOst saying how much the item weighed.

 

i am just loosing more and more and with online buying happening and is the only choose sometimes its hard to get away from . and really whats this Buyers Protection on PayPal to me its just words the use to scam you. 

 

stay safe out there people this is happening more than you think.   

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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@Jo1074 

 

Normally you get a refund once you have provided paypal with a tracking number AND you can claim return postage costs if you have activated the below link at some point before transactions.

 

https://www.paypal.com/au/webapps/mpp/returns


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AlliedCompGraph
New Community Member

My problem is with eBay. I sold a Gerber printer recently in good working order and specified Local Pickup Only. The buyer is halfway across the US from my location and had UPS do the pickup as her agent. She then ran it and got poor results using materials which were not recommended for this printer by the manufacturer as well as most likely out of date. She next filed for a refund with eBay and ignored all help we offered. eBay gave her her purchase price back and agreed not to levy any additional charges. Now over my screaming objections in the name of buyer satisfaction they are billing my account for shipping charges amounting to more than 25% of the selling price. So I not only lose the sale, but am going to be losing about $300 in freight charges I never agreed to be responsible for.

 

 

 

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Katra
Contributor
Contributor

I sold rare obsolete Mercedes part on monday 9/30 and shipped it immediately insured priority with signature confirmation. Man signed for it on 10/3. On 10/6 I receive message from man stating he received something else with picture of it. Item he showed was item I sold to someone else a day after. I went to paypal and saw same town and state both packages were shipped to. I looked closer and the same name was on both transactions. I notified ebay and after a while his account was suspended. 3 weeks past and I received notification from paypal that not as described case has been filed by him. I requested pictures but haven’t heard from man. No pictures, no message .Instead he escalated case to paypal. I tried submitting all evidence from ebay and paypal didn’t take it into account. Instead asked him to send item back. At this point I can’t comprehend how it is allowed. I will receive other cheap item and will have $450 given to this thief. I have no item I spent money and time to get it. I drove 50 miles to remove it in the rain. This guy gets to keep this item and my money. I checked his account and items he sold and before ebay suspended his account he made it to sell item that looked like my brake light. I searched ebay and found another exactly same listing. The guy opened another account and keeps selling counterfeit/ copies of brake light I sent him. He used my Brake light to take a picture for his auction to lure buyers that his items looks like authentic. he needed it to be able to 3 d print/make copies. He calls it “reproduction” (Springfield, OR).  What’s up with paypal? Never asked him for any proof, never investigated, never got in touch with ebay. Where is seller protection? Why did Insure item why request signature? 

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