Paypal orders destruction of $2500 pre-WWII Violin
- Thread starter iviv
- Start date
I completely acknowledge that PayPal can be an awful awful company to deal with, and I've had my fair share of problems with them, like locked accounts and continually having to supply verification information to lift the sending/receiving limit multiple times. I don't really have much choice other than to use PayPal as it makes things much easier with the international transactions I regularly do.
I must be quite lucky with that aside though, as I recently had to deal with some one who was incredibly upfront about the fact that they were trying to pull a scam, whereby I had a transaction with them of about £140, and after their goods were shipped out, they requested a refund saying that they've come in to financial hardship.
Obviously since it's been shipped out, by DHL express to California, there's nothing I can do to cancel and refund him without him having to return the package to me at his own cost. So because of this he opens a paypal dispute claiming to not have received his order and escalated it straight away saying he wants a full refund straight away. He received his stuff anyway but didn't close the claim and instead sent me an email claiming some of the items were damaged and insisted on replacements being sent out immediately, but told paypal that items were damaged and he wanted a full refund.
Obviously I ask for proof, but I asked in a "softer" way, so I asked for some photographs of the damage as it was standard procedure, which he ignored and just kept demanding replacements which I was willing to sort out for him initially if it was true. The case was still open as well, so I rang PayPal and explained the situation to them, gave them the tracking info and they closed his claim in my favour there and then.
A few days passed and he sent another email, moaning about how he still hasn't received his replacements(?) and that he will be forced to open a new claim with PayPal (as an appeal to the last claim) which he again escalates straight away again claiming he wants a refund because loads of the items are damaged or have leaked and that he's being ignored (still refusing to provide proof or evidence) to me or PayPal.
With him escalating it it goes to PayPal review, and they decide that he can have a refund as long as he sends the stuff back using recorded delivery and gave him a deadline for when he had to submit tracking information which he never did, so PayPal decided in my favour once again and the funds were released back to me.
I'm starting to think that it went in my favour because I've got quite a good standing with transactions, with a minimal amount of problems in the hundreds of transactions I've had with my account, and I read recently that PayPal judge your account on an individual basis too. But both times I thought they'd refund the guy pretty much straight away with no fuss to him, but I had a very positive outcome both times which restored a little faith in PayPal.
/megawaffle crits you for 10,000 damage
I must be quite lucky with that aside though, as I recently had to deal with some one who was incredibly upfront about the fact that they were trying to pull a scam, whereby I had a transaction with them of about £140, and after their goods were shipped out, they requested a refund saying that they've come in to financial hardship.
Obviously since it's been shipped out, by DHL express to California, there's nothing I can do to cancel and refund him without him having to return the package to me at his own cost. So because of this he opens a paypal dispute claiming to not have received his order and escalated it straight away saying he wants a full refund straight away. He received his stuff anyway but didn't close the claim and instead sent me an email claiming some of the items were damaged and insisted on replacements being sent out immediately, but told paypal that items were damaged and he wanted a full refund.
Obviously I ask for proof, but I asked in a "softer" way, so I asked for some photographs of the damage as it was standard procedure, which he ignored and just kept demanding replacements which I was willing to sort out for him initially if it was true. The case was still open as well, so I rang PayPal and explained the situation to them, gave them the tracking info and they closed his claim in my favour there and then.
A few days passed and he sent another email, moaning about how he still hasn't received his replacements(?) and that he will be forced to open a new claim with PayPal (as an appeal to the last claim) which he again escalates straight away again claiming he wants a refund because loads of the items are damaged or have leaked and that he's being ignored (still refusing to provide proof or evidence) to me or PayPal.
With him escalating it it goes to PayPal review, and they decide that he can have a refund as long as he sends the stuff back using recorded delivery and gave him a deadline for when he had to submit tracking information which he never did, so PayPal decided in my favour once again and the funds were released back to me.
I'm starting to think that it went in my favour because I've got quite a good standing with transactions, with a minimal amount of problems in the hundreds of transactions I've had with my account, and I read recently that PayPal judge your account on an individual basis too. But both times I thought they'd refund the guy pretty much straight away with no fuss to him, but I had a very positive outcome both times which restored a little faith in PayPal.
/megawaffle crits you for 10,000 damage
Actually, i think you were simply very very lucky. Paypal are renowned for being completely nonsensical in situations like that.
PayPal are a sorry excuse for a company.
I've never had much of an issue with eBay or indeed PayPal but there is no hiding from the fact that more often than not they will do the wrong thing.
I have no doubt that in the event of a problem, PayPal would be more than happy to shaft me - so I no longer use them for anything anyway.
I've never had much of an issue with eBay or indeed PayPal but there is no hiding from the fact that more often than not they will do the wrong thing.
I have no doubt that in the event of a problem, PayPal would be more than happy to shaft me - so I no longer use them for anything anyway.
Oh yeah, I'm completely aware of just how bad they are, and I resent the fact that they are literally my only choice at the moment because of how messy other solutions would be. I've sold to people literally all over the world and every other payment processing solution I've looked at isn't as simple as PayPal, and being able to use funds from sales the instant the transaction is complete is extremely valuable. That, and the vast majority of people from my experience prefer using PayPal over anything else.
Caporegime
- Joined
- 13 May 2003
- Posts
- 34,709
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- Warwickshire
Disgraceful if true. They simply took the buyer's word for it that there was something dodgy about the violin? It's still an old violin ffs!
Why exactly is this Paypals fault?
They didn't hold a gun to their head to 'make' the buyer destory it, the buyer decided to follow instruction (which given the fact they bought this item, you would assume they have an understanding of the value of this item and also the nuisances of buying a violin, you have to question why they would do such a final act instead of dealing sensibly with the seller).
It does seem as though it could be scam, as surely it could be any violin that has been smashed up with a 'fake' label showing.
They didn't hold a gun to their head to 'make' the buyer destory it, the buyer decided to follow instruction (which given the fact they bought this item, you would assume they have an understanding of the value of this item and also the nuisances of buying a violin, you have to question why they would do such a final act instead of dealing sensibly with the seller).
It does seem as though it could be scam, as surely it could be any violin that has been smashed up with a 'fake' label showing.
The thing is, Paypal has the buyers money, so whilst he was not forced to destroy the violin, the failure to destroy it may hinder his efforts to get a refund.
He paid for it, it's his, so no criminal offence. If it really was counterfeit the police would probably take it anyway, so either way the seller wouldn't get it back.
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Soldato
- Joined
- 15 Oct 2003
- Posts
- 16,967
- Location
- Chengdu
The only time I am happy to use Paypal for selling is with people on this forum.
Selling anything on ebay is a no go for me now. Far too much scum in the world and Paypals "**** the seller" attitude is just a disgrace.
I've seen this story in a few places now, hopefully continues to rapidly spread.
The buyer must really love his antique violins, if he is so happy to smash one up... Idiot.
Selling anything on ebay is a no go for me now. Far too much scum in the world and Paypals "**** the seller" attitude is just a disgrace.
I've seen this story in a few places now, hopefully continues to rapidly spread.
The buyer must really love his antique violins, if he is so happy to smash one up... Idiot.
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There is no curse in Elvish, Entish, or the tongues of men for this treachery.
quote of the day
eBay/Paypal are good for one thing, small priced items. When you get into big expensive items nothing beats face/face dealing or bank transfer based on seller feedback (on forums such as this) because when a problem arises getting a hold of a rep who's helpful is about as much chance as you winning the lottery!
But would it not be the case that as soon as he requested a refund, that he has broken the contract with the seller and therefore no longer retains ownership of the violin?