I have found a similar thread in the archive. This one has a subtle twist, tho'. Simple situation - I sent this company around £5 using PP for a phone unlock code. I received a reply from them a day or so later saying they regretfully could not provide one in this instance, and that I'd be fully refunded within 5 days... More than 3 weeks later I remembered to check my account - and no refund had been given. Ok, here's the subtle bit. When I went to PP's Resolution Centre to open a dispute, it took me to the company's page on PP which has a message along the lines of "For an INSTANT refund, go to this website... as PP can take three weeks to provide a refund via their resolution service." Curiosity took me to that website and I found all you apparentrly had to do to receive your refund was enter your email address. Hmm, if it's that easy, why didn't it happen automatically in the first place - they seem very eager to refund with no hassle, but only when you go to the trouble! So I thought, soddit - I am instead going to open a proper dispute with PP about an item not received even if it does take 3 weeks; I want PP to notice every dispute against this company. Whilst I suspect that going to their 'refund' website will, indeed, provide a refund, I feel it's a deliberately easy way out so that official disputes aren't raised through PP; they offer this 'instant' refund only to try and prevent disputes being opened about them. Ie - the scam works by them never sending an unlock code and claiming your payment will be automatically refunded within 5 days - in the knowledge that a certain number (almost including me) will forget to actually check. And those who do realise that they haven't been refunded and who go to PP's resolution centre will be prompted away from PP's official dispute service towards the easy 'instant' refund website so that they don't have an obvious series of disputes being flagged up that PP might notice. If someone does go to their refund site, they will 'happily' offer the refund - because they make their money through others being forgetful and not doing so. They offer the 'instant' refund so as to avoid official disputes. (How can they offer an 'instant' refund anyway - are they just ging to take a buyer's word for it?!) If this is a subtle scam as I suspect (and a surf has shown that the very same thing has happened to others), should PP be looking in to this and removing the 'instant refund' link from this company's PP page?
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