I have reported PayPal to the following agencies: the California Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, the California Attorney General, and now consumer complaints. I am filing reports with as many agencies as I can in hopes that it might prevent them from being able to victimize someone else.
As a direct result of PayPal's business practices and conduct, I am out a brand new handbag that has a retail value of $795.00 and the money I spent to purchase it. Just as bad or worse, they simply do not care. They have an attitude that they are not accountable for their actions and consider themselves above and beyond legal recourse. I disagree. I have learned that anyone can file a small claims court case against California-based PayPal in their own hometown, and that is what I intend to do.
I sold a brand new authentic Juicy Couture handbag on eBay. The buyer obtained my private home phone number from eBay and called me at my home to arrange the purchase. He purchased it as a last-minute Christmas gift for his wife, and I think it was somewhat of an impulse purchase. After the buyer received the handbag, on 12/28, he filed a complaint against me with PayPal.
PayPal's website says that, to ensure good outcomes, their dispute resolution customer service reps follow a dispute checklist. They also say that a buyer can escalate a claim at any time. I never even heard from my buyer. He never contacted me with any problem or complaint, and PayPal did not require him to communicate his problem directly with me before they imposed their involvement and took control. There was no dispute process and apparently no guidelines or checklist used.
I offered a defect-only return in my eBay ad, and I believe this is why my buyer contacted PayPal instead of me. He told PayPal that the brand new handbag I sold him had scratches and didn't look new. That made me angry because it was an outright lie, and I had documentation, including pictures, to prove it. He also told them that the handbag was too soft and he thought it was fake. I objected to his claim.
When PayPal imposed their control, they obligated themselves. It was their responsibility to conduct themselves professionally. It was their responsibility to consider me every bit as much as the buyer who filed the claim. As an eBay member I was in good standing, with a positive rating for over 30 sales. Including our transaction, my buyer had two eBay transactions, with a bad rating on the other transaction for nonpayment. It was PayPal's responsibility to set and use criteria that ensured the chances of accuracy and minimized the chances of error. It was their responsibility to know the qualifications and credentials of any appraiser they used, and to give the buyer adequate instructions on how to obtain an appraisal. They did not do these things.
I was completely available to PayPal, stayed in regular contact, and had every kind of documentation available for PayPal to review. They looked at none of it. My buyer was allowed to obtain only one appraisal, and he obtained that from a small independent shop that did not sell Juicy Couture handbags. The shop was not qualified to make an appraisal. I spoke with the shop owner, and I knew more about the handbag than she did. The shop owner or one of her clerks, it is unclear which, made a guess and put their guess in writing. Based on that guess, PayPal issued my buyer a refund and destroyed a handbag with a retail value of $795.00.
When I learned they had decided to refund my buyer, I made them aware that I intended to appeal their decision. When I learned the details of the appraisal, I made them aware of the errors. When I learned they intended to destroy the handbag, I made them aware that I would not grant permission or give consent to destroy a $795.00 handbag, and I also reminded them of the errors and my intent to appeal. They disregarded all of this and destroyed the handbag. I am out the purchase amount and the handbag. And they are not even ashamed of themselves.
0 comments