I own a small business in Melbourne which offers online shopping. Recently I received and order worth over $7000 and the buyer used PayPal to pay for the goods and selected click & collect. The money was deposited into my PayPal account and I received an email from PayPal advising that the transaction had been processed and the items were good to supply. The buyer came into my store the next day to collect the goods and we had him sign a collection docket. This docket states the order number, buyers name, identification number, date collected and the buyer signs for collection of the order. As this is a click and collect order there is no tracking number. All of the details on the order matched the identification shown at pick up, this was an Australian Driver's License. 2 weeks later PayPal advised that there was a dispute with the transaction and the money was taken from my account. PayPal asked for extra information in relation to the collection of the goods and I provided the collection docket. I have now been advised that this information is not sufficient as there is no tracking number and the case has been closed. They advised to contact the buyer and try to retrieve the money off them or take the matter to small claims tribunal. Simply, they don't wan't to know about it and as the goods were not delivered I'm not protected. So, if the goods were delivered by a courier with a tracking number and left on the doorstep of the buyer with no signature, I'm protected. PayPal's advise is that I would be protected if that was the case. I have taken more measures than a courier to check that the order is delivered to the correct person and also noted identification but that's is not enough. This is ludicrous! The police have advised me that the identity of the PayPal user was stolen and used to make this transaction. I believe that PayPal is responsible on checking that transactions aren't fraudulent, how is that my responsibility? This is the main point - If the security measures that PayPal use have failed, why is that my fault and I'm at a loss? I have taken the necessary measures to ensure the goods are being delivered to the correct person. I have no way of checking that the credit card used was stolen. PayPal do not provide credit card details for sellers to do their own security checks. So now I've lost goods valued at over $7000 and PayPal could not care less. I will be taking this matter further and fighting to get my money back. PayPal should make sellers more aware that orders placed for click and collect are not protected if the transaction is fraudulent.
