ebay seller asks for my email to refund

[beninaustin]

hello,  an ebay seller  (with "one" review) sold me $240 used electronic test gear "in excellent condition".  it was obviously partially functional and useless.   i requested full refund via ebay and after receiving two partial offers from him i chose to accept $180 and repair the item myself.  he stated i must cancel the refund request within ebay system because he has no money and he must receive my paypal payment first, which had been placed on a hold status.  i cancelled the refund request and asked him that i be kept informed.   seller went silent. upon my inquiries seller stated the funds had not been released yet. after cranky  replies to my further questions states he has money and needs my email address and that i am to reply to his private protonmail.com address and he now requests my banking details so that he can send money to my bank account from his bank!  i told him to keep all commo within the ebay system.  he then requests my email so he can refund via paypal.  

* does he require my email to refund via paypal?

*protonemail is a crypto-email method that also is able to self destruct email; his entire communications have been "smoke and mirrors" on my requests and this is typical of his modus operandi...strange requests while alternatingly pleading or bullying and blaming fedex for damage (it was not damaged in shipment) or blaming me for locking up payment with a refund request.

*why asking for personal bank account info?

*paypay sided with seller upon reviewing claim

i will contact him again....do i need to provide my paypal email for a refund?  

[sharpiemarker]

@beninaustin 

1) The seller should already been given your PayPal email address when you sent the PayPal payment, they can log on to their PayPal account and click the payment transaction and see it next to "Paid By", it's the first thing that is listed is who paid.

2) RE: protonemail: Then, don't communicate to that email address if it self-destructs. 

3) Maybe he is asking for bank info because the bank account seller is paying from might not be linked to PayPal or is linked but want to ask for your info anyway.

4) You filed a PayPal dispute already and lost the case? You either appeal the PayPal decision if possible in the resolution center or calling PayPal customer service. If PayPal still won't budge to let you ask for a partial refund and you paid by credit card, open a dispute with your card issuer. If you didn't pay by credit card, and PayPal ruled against you then you really don't have much choice but to resolve matters with the seller and may have to give your bank details to transfer the refund to it. And as I said in #1, the seller should already have your PayPal email address in the PayPal payment transaction details. So not necessary for them to ask for it again. 

5) So your decision is this: if you have no other choice, keep the item and get it fixed yourself out of pocket, or give this guy your info and may or may not get a refund.

To contact customer service and speak with a dispute specialist:

Log on, click HELP on top menu, scroll down to click CONTACT US, and then scroll down to click CALL US.

Call early, during business hours, west coast time to try to get a US rep. 

Or private message via social media:

Facebook (US): https://www.facebook.com/paypal

Twitter (US): @AskPayPal 

[beninaustin]

thank you for the reply.  i suspected the seller had my info in order to refund via paypal and got concerned when he asked for email and wished to commo  outside of ebay.  he had sent a defective item, blamed it on shipper, tried to have me file a claim with fedex, which was his reponsibility, and has blamed me for all the snafu when he sold a broke electronic item.  for having only one review he is a pretty wiley seller.  he now says that he is checking with paypal and wll remit refund when funds are opened.  not asking for email again.  again, thanks a bunch.  ben in austin