Seller appears legit, will crank out an invoice, ask for choice of payment. I chose Paypal (thought I would be safe).
Shipping address was a street address - clear, unambiguous and printed on the invoice (small village, maybe 1,500 people miles from civilization - we all know one another). Package is mailed USPS first-class - seller sends you a tracking number. Tracking shows package arrives in the 'city' addressed on the invoice (i.e. Pikeview) but never arrives. Check with the postmaster and his records show it was delivered to a PO Box in the 'city' printed on the invoice. Seller sent some beads or cheap sunglasses to a random PO Box number in the 'city' printed on the invoice and can therefore 'prove' delivery and the buyer gets shafted so may ways;
1) You cannot claim for the loss with USPS for first-class mail
2) USPS will not reveal owner of the PO Box or initiate any review of potential error in delivery (not even leave a note in the PO Box)
3) USPS inspection won't inspect if mail was misdelivered by postmaster or his staff of 2 (postmaster is adamant that the address was to a PO Box).
4) Paypal will immediately dismiss your dispute in favor of the seller because he has proof of 'delivery'
5) Paypal will not permit you to escalate, even if you spend 3 hours on hold waiting to contact customer service.
6) Credit card company will not charge-back against Paypal.
Been with Paypal for over 20 years - this was a first. Never had to dispute a transaction before. Suspect seller has been with Paypal a few weeks because his credentials are all over the board and conspicuously fake. Evidently Paypal hasn't caught on, are too ignorant to see the obvious, and lends greater credibility to fake sellers that pass through than established customers with 20 faithful years.
Paypal has lost its shine, and it fundamental value proposition of protecting consumers in ecommerce transactions. Now they are trading in BitCoin - now we're talking dark web - think that says it all.
