refund scam

[hussbull]

REFUND SCAM

There is at least one buyer working a refund scam through PayPal.

The scam works like this:

1. First the buyer buys and pays for several items from a seller.

2. He chooses items that are low enough priced so that they not likely be tracked.

3. Then he waits until they are delivered to see if they are tracked.

4. If not, after waiting a while he puts a claim into PayPal saying the items were not delivered.

5. The buyer will not respond to any attempts to communicate with him.

6. In the absence of proof of delivery, PayPal awards him a full refund from your account.

7. By the time you see what is happening and blocked him, the buyer has had quite a few items from you.

8. The buyer may also use more than one eBay ID.

One buyer has scammed me out of over £60.00 for several printer consumable items.

There seems to be no way to get PayPal to look into this!

I would love to post two of this buyer’s eBay IDs here, but suspect that would get my post removed.

Like many, I do not track items below a certain value as the cost adds up and I find adding the cost to the postage puts off bidders.

[smjmas]

it's absolutely true. i just recently sold a few phones on ebay and the buyer with 136 positive feedback initially paid and the asked paypal for refund. he even had left a positive feedback for me and emailed me he had received the item. paypal asked me for proof of postage. but since he had emailed me saying that he dad received teh item and also had left me a positive feedback , so i threw away the postage receipt. i emailed all thsese documents to paypal, but they didn't accept my defense and reversed the money i had received into my paypal account. i can not imagine this, i'm so sad . what kind of people are out there !!

[Ellbiljay]

I totally agree this scam needs addressing. I too have a dispute going. If paypal isn't listening to its customers then perhaps we should stop using them!

[wytchway2]

Paypal does not think-it is a machine-however, since machines operate on logic

paypal appears to be broken-ergo: not fit for purpose!

[wendym8116]

i have just had the same problem i sent the item the buyer bought. she emailed several times to say parcel hadn't arrived. so a case was opened and ebay ruled in her favour even though i sent proof of postage,then  AFTER  she had a full refund(ebay didn't even give me chance to reply to the case) , she telephoned by mobile .(which was not on her contact info) to my landline saying she had got the parcel and the full refund  HAHA . I  checked her mobile number on the internet and found it registered to her from another web site.i have tried to get ebay to re-open the case but they say its closed and ruled in her favour. even though i have prroof of sending it and a recording of her telephoning me.i am now left with losing £45 of craft items plus item 11.50. its totally unfair. and i lose out.. i now have to appeal to paypal to re-open the case.

[diver99]

I know this is a bit old, but if you still have all the details, that is blatant theft. Also covered under what I believe to be the gauche test. I would have informed the police, and or gone there myself.

[PayPal_Siobhán]

Hi there hussbull,

When a buyer claims they did not receive their item, we ask the seller to respond to the claim with a tracking number that can be checked online.

Tracking information is verified by a postage company and as such is third-party confirmation that an item has been delivered. Without tracking you are opening yourself up to risk.

We can indeed take the appropriate action against a buyer if we see this pattern of behaviour however that does not help you retrieve your funds.

To learn more about PayPal’s Seller Protection Policy, click ‘Legal Agreements’ at the bottom of any PayPal page, and then click ‘User Agreement’.

Siobhan

[smjmas]

hi

please be realistic. what percentage of ebayers use tracking system to send their items? i can strongly say that more than 90% of items purchased on ebay are sent by ordinary (non-tracking)  posts. for my case , i told paypal that the buyer had emailed me saying that he had received the item and he had left me a positive feedback, again meaning that he had received and was happy with the item , but still paypal didn't accept my reasoning and reversed the money i had received. on top of that, paypal charged me for "reversal fee" as well. I AM EXTREMELY UPSET!!! . you know why? because i was a genue seller, and then not only my oney was reversed, but also i was charged by paypal for this !! i'M ASKING YOU PAYPAL, IS IT FAIR?  does it make sense ? these evidence was not enough for paypal to convince them ?

i think paypal should think logically and try to address this issue asap so that scammers can not misuse this tool to cheat the system. if paypal can not fix this out, it would be a big weakness for it. so please insted of making excue by saying that sellers should send their items by online tracking post (which increases the postage costs significantly, please accept your responsibility to close this hole.

[diver99]

Tracking information is verified by a postage company  - -Why doesn't paypal recognise a certificate of posting from a post office as proof it has been sent. Why is the seller responsible for the postal system?

We can indeed take the appropriate action against a buyer if we see this pattern of behaviour however that does not help you retrieve your funds - What is the point of that? I have reported buyers doing this, which is theft by the way, so paypal condones theft by not protecting the seller as it does the buyer, why?   

[hanmail]

Hey siobhan i was wondering if you could help me with a problem, I'm having involving a scam on ebay?