Paypal Help, i'm getting robbed by 700$

[DarkStar50 679]

I never accept Paypal when I sell anything on ebay. Plus they want a fee from me to receive money? No thanks. Paypal is a service, not a bank. The scam part of this stinks but even with a legit problem with Paypal, it is next to impossible to get a person on the phone.

[hockeyherb 1]

My guess in this situation is that PayPal thinks you might be in cahoots with the person that bought from you.

You list a non-existent product like a laptop, your 'partner' gets hold of a stolen credit card to pay you. You SAY you shipped a laptop to him and end up with the cash from the credit card.

You wonder why he had the stolen credit card so long before he paid? Maybe he didn't. The buyer might have had a friend who could grab him a credit card # whenever he needs it. Restaurants or full service gas stations are common places because someone disappears with your card for a couple of minutes and could quickly make a copy of all the info.

I think PayPal is doing the right thing to be cautious and probably encounter this quite a bit. I'm not saying PayPal is great but there aren't many foolproof ways to do payment exchanges on eBay.

As for anyone that won't accept PayPal, I won't buy from them. At least PayPal makes you setup an account and verify a bunch of information before you can use them. If you tell me you'll only accept a money order or something like that, it's just too easy for you to take my money and never ship the product or ship something unexpected.

[analog999 0]

I think paypal passes their responsibilities onto the seller, which is ridiculous. Paypal should be responsible as they are the one that charged the credit card, not you. You are taking paypal funds, not credit card funds. I think you could win in court. Even if they claim terms, no one reads their terms. A jury would side with you.

[cobrAA 0]

I responded to their email, with my receipt and proof of shipment and everything. plus I included all our email conversation. I need to wait 5 business days.

Hockeyherb- you ''idea'' seem pretty fair to me, you could be right.

Like some of you say, Paypal protect the buyer not the seller, So i might use paypal to buy things BUT i will never ever deal with them as a seller.

*By the way, how is bidpay?? any alternative to paypal?

[analog999 0]

Like some of you say, Paypal protect the buyer not the seller, So i might use paypal to buy things BUT i will never ever deal with them as a seller.

There isn't much difference between accepting paypal payments and credit card payments as far as a seller goes. You'd be surprised how easy it is to scam with a legit credit card. If you're doing ebay only on a high value item, I suggest either verified paypal status or money order only.

[cobrAA 0]

nah i just had to sell that laptop, beside this i sell some hockey stuff and clothing

[notquitedeadyet 13]

I think paypal passes their responsibilities onto the seller, which is ridiculous.  Paypal should be responsible as they are the one that charged the credit card, not you.  You are taking paypal funds, not credit card funds.  I think you could win in court.  Even if they claim terms, no one reads their terms.  A jury would side with you.

I'm with analog on this one. You would think that for the almost 3% they skim off the payment to the seller, they would offer some level of protection. They're the one who authorized the credit card payment, not Cobra.

[analog999 0]

I think paypal passes their responsibilities onto the seller, which is ridiculous.  Paypal should be responsible as they are the one that charged the credit card, not you.   You are taking paypal funds, not credit card funds.   I think you could win in court.  Even if they claim terms, no one reads their terms.  A jury would side with you.

I'm with analog on this one. You would think that for the almost 3% they skim off the payment to the seller, they would offer some level of protection. They're the one who authorized the credit card payment, not Cobra.

Plus its not like they can expect someone who rarely uses their service to understand all the ins and outs of credit card fraud. They are the experts and therefore they should shoulder the responsibility.

[mack 44]

I should be a trillionaire yet I'm not.

[analog999 0]

I should be a trillionaire yet I'm not.

You lost me. Are you with the terrorists or are you against the terrorists?

[Chadd 916]

I should be a trillionaire yet I'm not.

You lost me. Are you with the terrorists or are you against the terrorists?

nah, he just sent money to some guy from Nigeria but his check hasn't come back yet.

[cobrAA 0]

Dear Lucie Mongeau,

We have conducted a review of a payment that you received. In this case,

returning the funds to the sender was determined to be the appropriate action,

and we have completed a reversal of the payment. Good selling practices, like

trackable shipping, prompt shipment, and communication between buyer and seller

help prevent disputes.

The funds from the following transaction have been debited from your account:

Transaction Date: Sep. 24, 2006 01:40:58 PDT

Transaction Amount: $625.00 USD

Buyer's Email: wheelhouse23526@yahoo.com

If you have questions regarding this reversed transaction, please contact us

using the link below:

https://www.paypal.com/row/wf/f=ap_hist

We appreciate your patience during this investigation.

Sincerely,

PayPal Account Review Department

[mack 44]

So they took back the money and couldn't care less what happens to the package? Wow, that's great customer service and protection.

[Juice_Slowjamz 0]

Dear Lucie Mongeau,

We have conducted a review of a payment that you received. In this case,

returning the funds to the sender was determined to be the appropriate action,

and we have completed a reversal of the payment. Good selling practices, like

trackable shipping, prompt shipment, and communication between buyer and seller

help prevent disputes.

The funds from the following transaction have been debited from your account:

Transaction Date: Sep. 24, 2006 01:40:58 PDT

Transaction Amount: $625.00 USD

Buyer's Email: wheelhouse23526@yahoo.com

If you have questions regarding this reversed transaction, please contact us

using the link below:

https://www.paypal.com/row/wf/f=ap_hist

We appreciate your patience during this investigation.

Sincerely,

PayPal Account Review Department

They took the 600 bucks out of your bank account?

[mack 44]

I thought they could only take it from the PayPal account and not the actual bank account. If that's the case, if Cobraa had taken it out he'd have kept it?

[Thockey17 1]

Paypal always resides with the buyer.

[cobrAA 0]

Actually Mack, In my paypal account it say i'm -550us and they ask me to ''restore your balance''

Which, I think, mean they didn't already took my money directly out of my bank account.

Here is the question, Do you think if i close my bank account and my mom close her credit card account. Can paypal still hit me in the back?

[cobrAA 0]

So they took back the money and couldn't care less what happens to the package? Wow, that's great customer service and protection.

LOL, yea that the ''funniest'' part of the story, I emailed them everything i had. ALL our conversation via email i copyed/paste them in word and also did a image scan so they could see i didn't rewrite the email in question!

I scanned my paper that i got from the canada duty with all the info and TRACKING NUMBER!

and you know what they replied to me??

Paypal:For security question, we can only accept text-only, please resend your attachment!

Me(second email)So I emailed them back and copy/paste all my word document in the email, and give them the tracking number #. ***I also ask her, how can i send you a proof of my shipment if i can't even send you a scanned image!

Paypal(second email)They replied: For security question,we can only accept text-only, please resend your attachment!

*YES, they ask me the same thing they ask me in their first email! The same freaking answer, copy/paste. and 24 hours later I get this email telling me that i lost.

[analog999 0]

Here is the question, Do you think if i close my bank account and my mom close her credit card account. Can paypal still hit me in the back?

If it was possible for me to do this, this would be my course of action.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

Here is the question, Do you think if i close my bank account and my mom close her credit card account. Can paypal still hit me in the back?

When someone stole my CC # and was using it for fraudulent charges somewhere in Europe, I asked my bank if I should close my credit card account and open a new one. I was told that it didn't matter, if a company charged my credit card, even after the account was closed, the bank would hold me liable for those charges. I could still dispute the charges, but if the bank found they were valid charges, they would go after me for the money. Fortunately my bank has been very good on those few occassions where I have had to dispute charges.

I know this is too late to help you now, but if you are selling or buying an expensive item through eBay, you should consider using escrow. It is fairly expensive (I think $25 for a $700 purchase), but it might be well worth it for the peace of mind.

[hockeyherb 1]

So they took back the money and couldn't care less what happens to the package? Wow, that's great customer service and protection.

Waaaaiiiitttt a minute. You sent the laptop, the person received it, and still in the end they're taking the money away from YOU?? If anyone should be eating the cost it should be PayPal or the credit card company.

Wow, that is an absolute travesty. That means you cannot trust ANYONE who pays you with a credit card on eBay for a purchase, especially if it's a significant dollar amount. (or use an escrow company as suggested by another)

This isn't eBay siding with the buyer either - this is eBay letting a criminal get away with a crime and making YOU the victim. You don't have a credit card processing department but PayPal does.

It sounds like you're in Canada but if you were in the US I'd think about talking to a lawyer. I don't care how many disclaimers PayPal makes you sign, they also make it sound like using them as your payment processor protects everyone when clearly this is not the case.

It's definitely an eye opener for me. Really sad to hear the little guy getting screwed but all too common I'm sure.

[cobrAA 0]

could you please tell me more about escrow? did you use it yourselft?

[hockeymom 2]

cobrAA,

Unless I am mistaken, I believe you said earlier that the package was "in process" of shipment and would be delivered within the next day or so. Has this happened yet? I'm a bit muddied on what went wrong with the delivery.

[NuggyBuggy 0]

could you please tell me more about escrow? did you use it yourselft?

I have never used escrow - never bought or sold anything more than $100 or so. But here is some information on Ebay's escrow. Basically the buyer pays the escrow service instead of the seller, the escrow service confirms delivery, the buyer determines whether or not they are satisfied, then if they are satisfied the escrow service releases the funds to the seller, otherwise the buyer needs to return the items to the seller upon which the funds are returned to the buyer.

[cobrAA 0]

cobrAA,

Unless I am mistaken, I believe you said earlier that the package was "in process" of shipment and would be delivered within the next day or so. Has this happened yet? I'm a bit muddied on what went wrong with the delivery.

no the item have been received and was signed... the guy is currenctly having fun with the laptop.