Been done on paypal

fez

fez

fez

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Right,

I found an iphone on gumtree for £215 and spoke to the seller to make sure that it was all legit. We agreed that we would use paypal to protect ourselves. I made sure that in the notes for the payment etc that I linked to the advert on gumtree and that I got the seller to specify what she was selling me.

Received the package yesterday and pulled out what can only be described as the worst attempt at an iphone clone I have ever seen. There was a pullout aerial, a smaller screen and the screen quality was appauling.

I contacted the seller to ask for a refund but they wouldnt give me one as they said they thought it was a real iphone.

I wasnt getting anywhere with this as the seller didnt think she had done anything wrong. I escalated this to a claim and within 24 hours paypal had dealt with it and wont give me a refund. They said that they only deal with non-receipt of goods.

I filed the dispute under 'item not as described' in their system so what is the point of that if they dont give a **** if the seller is trying to scam someone. Maybe I should start selling iphones at £200 a pop and just send a carrot, ive sent them something so according to paypal the buyer would not be entitled to a refund. I am absolutely fuming about this as I was sure that paypal would see this as a fairly routine matter and would find in my favour. Im out £215 and I have a phone worth £20 here.

Is there anything that can be done about this, has anyone else had this issue?
 
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No, the photos made it look like an iphone. From the outside it looks like an iphone. The glass is the right size and the button, speaker etc is the right size/place but once the screen is on you realise that its tiny and rubbish quality.

I think that I do have her address but chances are that she lied about it if she was trying to scam me.
 
Yeah I think that I will, its an absolute joke. When you buy something using paypal you are never 100% sure that it is real until you recieve the item. I could have recieved a lump of coal in the post but that wouldnt have stopped someone from showing me pictures of a lovely working iPhone in their advert.

Why would anyone use paypal if there is zero security unless the other person doesnt send anything to you in the post. Im pretty livid about this. What is there to stop me doing the same to someone else to get rid of it.
 
Thanks for the advice, I think I will call the police if paypal wont get their finger out.
 
The police won't care. Far too many scams going on on the internet to investigate them all - but it doesn't hurt to ask their advice and get them to log it.

Try talking to Paypal again and put pressure on them.

p.s. have you got a link to the Gumtree article?
 
Don't paypal have a claimback route "item significantly not as described"?
Im also sure that they have a counerfeit route too.

Just thinking about this, it may be available protection only if it's an eBay sale :(

Paypal email assistance is a joke, their phone assistance isn't of much use either.
I would much rather phone than email them tho.

A crime number wouldn't hurt, if no assistance from paypal advise the seller you will be contacting apple with regards to them selling fake goods and will start small claims if you do not receive a full refund within 14daya
 
Log it with the police, keep trying with paypal. If all else fails try her address? :D

I'm sure if you provide enough proof, Paypal will have to consider this, as it is one of their selling points?
And the seller must have know about this as, i presume it was brand new? So she must have bought it fairly cheap.

And even if it was used, she must have known it was not an iphone when she used it?

Somethings fishy here.
 
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Cheers for all the advice guys. In some ways I wouldnt mind so much if the person just admitted that it was a scam but they are still trying to claim that they have done nothing wrong.

If paypal only cover ebay items then its a joke. There is no way of being sure of a non-fraudulent transaction without actually picking up the item and giving them cash.

One way or another I will get this money back, if I have to go and find her then so be it. I did as much as I could to make sure that paypal would be able to deal with this if it went wrong. They take a cut of the money that you send and give you nothing in return. I would have been as well protected if I just sent her a envelope of cash.
 
fez said:
Cheers for all the advice guys. In some ways I wouldnt mind so much if the person just admitted that it was a scam but they are still trying to claim that they have done nothing wrong.

If paypal only cover ebay items then its a joke. There is no way of being sure of a non-fraudulent transaction without actually picking up the item and giving them cash.

One way or another I will get this money back, if I have to go and find her then so be it. I did as much as I could to make sure that paypal would be able to deal with this if it went wrong. They take a cut of the money that you send and give you nothing in return. I would have been as well protected if I just sent her a envelope of cash.
Click to expand...

Yea i think if you try hard enough you should get something back.

And i think its fairly obvious to assume, that this women knew what she was doing.
 
Also another suggestion which can sometimes be overlooked...

Once you get a crime number, call CAB (Citizens advice Bureau) they are very good at advising the correct routes and will also advise you on things like "Yes paypal have a liability to help you" etc etc
For the sake of a phone call its always a good one, if not another one to add to the log in your long list of efforts to resolve :)
 
Paypal will probably give you your money back. About a year ago i sold a computer via ebay, which i said in the listing that it had xp installed but i could put on vista if the buyer wanted. As he never asked for vista, i sent it with xp. Following the sale i was away abroad and had zero internet access. WHen i returned 3 weeks later there was a paypal dispute against me which had been resolved in the buyers favour as they had said the item was significantly not as described as they were expecting a vista install. paypal removed £70ish quid from my account to cover the buyer buying a copy of vista which i have never been able to get back dispite explaining my situation.

So expect to get your cash back within 3 weeks!
 
They only deal with non-receipt of goods?

That's handy, because you didn't receive your iPhone. You received something else. :)
 
That is an absolute disgrace. I would send paypal pictures of the phone and mention you will be seeking legal advice on the part they have played too.
 
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