Buyer Protection

[Gibbo6]

Hi everyone, beware of using PayPal to pay for goods. You have no protection if you are scammed or receive bogus goods and want top cancel or get a full refund, they don't care, they just want their money from the sellers fee!!!

I ordered a leather flying jacket have seen a video on Facebook which said they were made in the UK. Company called "UnleenUK". Paid by PayPal and received two emails, one from the company as way of invoice which said delivery time 3-4 weeks, alarms bells start to sound. Second email from PayPal with payment confirmation, but sellers name was not UnleenUK as I was expecting but.......I got a load of Chinese characters 

Now I realised items not made or shipped from UK as advertised but China. So used the email address provided by the company "<Removed>"  immediately to cancel the order. However, this email doesn't exist and my emails just kept being bounced back undelivered. I then called PayPal immediately to voice my concerns and to get the order cancelled and payment stopped by them as I had no way of doing it.  

This is when I became horrified by the attitude of PayPal to me as a buyer, who had evidence of fraud / bogus items and their total lack of interest in protecting me as a buyer. They didn't cancel the order, they didn't stop payment even though I told them my express wishes was to cancel the order and stop payment. I have now considered this an act of unauthorised activity and theft. 

I tried to send evidence of this and the email address they gave me to send info, bounced back with an auto reply of "This mail box is unmonitored".

I ask for a PayPal manager to call me back, that never happened either.

They don't care about buyers, so beware when paying for items with PayPal. My advice to you all is use a credit card as your banks have your interests at heart and take scams, fraud and bogus goods and services serious, unlike PayPal.

Paypal are only interested in the seller fees they earn, so will only look after their sellers even if they are providing bogus/fraudulent items from far corners of the globe.

You have been warned!!!!!

[Carlota11]

They just sell whatever and from whomever - China send bunch of damage goods to us and government and/or PayPal not doing enough!! Let's contact our legislators. 

[kernowlass]

@Gibbo6 

Paypal can't cancel completed orders, all they do is pay the seller of your choice.

However they do give buyer protection but it doesn't sound as if you have even tried to claim from it yet??

How do I open a dispute with a seller when a purchase goes wrong?

You can open a dispute in the Resolution Centre of your PayPal account within 180 days of payment if:
•You don’t receive the item OR service
•You receive an item but it’s significantly different than the description on eBay or on the seller’s website (or you receive a totally different product).

By opening a dispute, you can communicate directly with your seller to work out a problem transaction.

If you reach an agreement with the seller you can close the dispute. If you're still not happy with the result, you can escalate the dispute into a claim. Paypal will review the claim and decide on reimbursement.

These steps apply to Personal accounts. If you have a Business account, please log in to see the steps that apply to you.

To open a dispute:
1.Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click on the transaction and use the resolve a problem option at the bottom of that details page.

Note:
•Generally buyers must wait at least 7 days from the date of payment to escalate a dispute for an item not received
•Where an item has not been received, please ensure you have given the seller enough time before opening a dispute

Do not close the dispute until you have a refund or your item.
If a seller states that they can't refund until you have closed the dispute don't believe them.
Escalate the dispute to a claim within 20 days (before it times out), if you need Paypal to get involved.

If you lose because the seller provides a fake tracking number then post back here for more advice.
If the item arrives and its not what you ordered / not as described then make sure you change the dispute quickly from non receipt. If the dispute times out before you can change it then contact customer services to open a second dispute for the new reason.

Activate the below link in case you have to return the item at Paypals request (or the correct one for your country as this is the U.S link).
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/returns

If that does not work then if you funded your paypal payment via a card then contact your card issuer and see if they will issue a chargeback.

[Gibbo6]

Tried all that, just got fobbed off by PayPal, told me if I wanted money back, then go to my bank, but guess what, just spoken to the bank and PayPal is the only one they can't claim back against.........mmmmmmmmm the plot thickens, I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that they are just as much a bigger bunch of crooks that these bogus sellers.

I even posted a polite warning about this to potential buyers on the PayPal Facebook page. They have taken it down and blocked me. If they are not trying to hide something or all protections are good, then why do that? 

[kernowlass]

@Gibbo6 

Be helpful if you said which dispute you opened >  if you paid using goods/services > if you escalated to a claim > why you were fobbed off etc. 

[RC612022]

I understand exactly how you feel. I just got off the phone with the "Manager" of a Conflict Resolution Rep who essentially told me since I didn't check with the sellers about the dimensions of their products before making the $120 purchase then I was not entitled to a refund & that it's not the sellers fault. They closed my claim in favor of the sellers. This, even after admitting they could see where the sellers were agreeable to refunding my money but only if I first closed the claim as "it was harmful to their employees"! Seems PayPal favors the feelings of the sellers over the feeling of the buyers. They apologized & referred me to my bank but not before recounting a similar experience the manager had having purchased some kitchen items locally in her town store & having to return them when she got them home after she realized they wouldn't fit. Basically she tried to tell me the situation was the same because she made the purchase before knowing what the dimensions of the product were & whether her space would accommodate them (which it didn't). The difference here is she got her money back from the retailer & I probably won't if it's true that banks can't/won't dispute PayPal.

[Ethel-11-04]

Thank you. I fear this has happened to me as well. So far PayPal have not been helpful. The site I have purchased from suggested it was US based x. Turns out the very poor quality items came from Hong Kong. I should have done more research. Do not use https://m.indiefit.com/s/Blue-fern?page=1 Extremely poor quality clothes

[kernowlass]

@Ethel-11-04 

Chinese Web Sites or on Social Media ads easy to spot (once you know the below signs) so buyer beware.

1. No return address on the returns policy. The site will look as if its in your country (where they despatch goods from) but they will ask for returns to go back to China (returns depot) at a shipping cost often more than the item is worth.
2. No contact telephone number. if you click on contact the most you will get is webmail or an email address.
3. Rarely company address information.
4. Great pictures of items at bargain prices that turn out to be tat.
5. Fake reviews.
6. Google and you can often see previous company names as they change them once enough claims roll in and Paypal stop them using their services and start over.
7. Send fake tracking numbers to win item non receipt of item claims.

How do I open a dispute with a seller when a purchase goes wrong?

You can open a dispute in the Resolution Centre of your PayPal account within 180 days of payment if:
•You don’t receive the item OR service
•You receive an item but it’s significantly different than the description on eBay or on the seller’s website (or you receive a totally different product).

By opening a dispute, you can communicate directly with your seller to work out a problem transaction.

If you reach an agreement with the seller you can close the dispute. If you're still not happy with the result, you can escalate the dispute into a claim. Paypal will review the claim and decide on reimbursement.

These steps apply to Personal accounts. If you have a Business account, please log in to see the steps that apply to you.

To open a dispute:
1.Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Click on the transaction and use the resolve a problem option at the bottom of that details page.

Note:
•Generally buyers must wait at least 7 days from the date of payment to escalate a dispute for an item not received
•Where an item has not been received, please ensure you have given the seller enough time before opening a dispute

Do not close the dispute until you have a refund or your item.
If a seller states that they can't refund until you have closed the dispute don't believe them.
Escalate the dispute to a claim within 20 days (before it times out), if you need Paypal to get involved.

If you lose because the seller provides a fake tracking number then post back here for more advice.
If the item arrives and its not what you ordered / not as described then make sure you change the dispute quickly from non receipt. If the dispute times out before you can change it then contact customer services to open a second dispute for the new reason.

Activate the below link in case you have to return the item at Paypals request (or the correct one for your country as this is the U.S link).
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/returns

If that does not work then if you funded your paypal payment via a card then contact your card issuer and see if they will issue a chargeback.

[Ethel-11-04]

Many thanks. Good information. Cheers