I have used paypal for years and am for the first time thoroughly disappointed with the difference in service and consideration in how transactions are handled between buyers and sellers. There is definitely a strong lean toward the side of the buyer. I sold a expensive 18k gold watch on ebay and the buyer paid through Paypal. The buyer was from China. I promptly shipped the watch when the funds were placed in my PayPal account. I heard nothing for weeks, well past the date the package was to have been delivered by registered mail. The next thing I knew the buyer had filed a dispute stating that the package had not arrived. Paypal put a hold on the funds at that point which I totally agree with. I contacted the Postal Service and stated the problem. They had me call the International Inquiry division. I was told that they had tried to deliver the package but the recipient had refused it. Let me state that the watch sold for $900. The buyer wanted me to claim a value of $20 for customs on the watch. I did not do this because should something happen I wanted the appropriate valuation to be reflected. I can only think that the buyer did not want to pay the import tax on that amount. The postal agent agreed with me. I had an inquiry placed on the package and was told that it would eventually return to me. After 2 weeks or so Paypal refunded the money to the buyer and drew the money out of my account which left me a negative balance that they called me several times a day to have taken care of until I did . After this I waited for 2 months for the answer from the postal service as to where my watch was or to see it arrive in the mail. 3 days ago I received a letter from the postal service stating that the package was indeed finally delivered by China mail on Aug 30th. I have emailed the buyer twice and nicely stated that his money has been refunded by Paypal and he needs to either contact them and pay for the item or make arrangements to have it returned to me. I have had no reply. I contacted Paypal about this and they informed me that it was something I should either take up with the shipper or the buyer. Well the shipper isn't responsible, they did deliver it although late and were not the responsible party for handling the funds. Pay pal informed me that this was resolved according their policy. Well that's fine but why did they not hold onto the funds until the watch was in either the buyer or the sellers hands or declared lost by the postal service? What am I to do now? The buyer has the watch and the money and got it for the cost of the import tax. I have proof that the buyer has the watch through the Postal service. It seems that should I provide that to Paypal they should draw the money out his Paypal account as easily as they did mine when he claimed it didn't arrive. I was told that they had no responsibility but that just doesn't cut it. They are responsible for the money because that is their whole service and not just the buyers money. I don't know if I will ever get my watch back or not. I needed the money and didn't want to sell it in the first place but this has left a very bitter taste. Paypal's "policies" should be changed to reflect the interest of the seller as much as the buyer and no funds should be distributed before the location of merchandise is established.
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