I sold an item on ebay to a buyer in Ireland. The buyer emailed me before bidding to request permission to bid on my item as the auction stipulated USA shipments only. After giving her shipping charges to Ireland which did not include insurance, we agreed on $10.00. If insurance was included it would have cost $34.00 which she did not want to pay.
I shipped the item to Ireland and the buyer claimed that she received the packaging paper and a piece of paper from the postal service in Ireland claiming the shipment arrived with nothing in the package. I shipped this item in a box which was also wrapped in brown paper and then sealed with clear tape to waterproof it. There is no way that the box seperated from the brown paper during transit unless someone in the postal service in Ireland opened it and stole the item and then decided to forward the outside wrapping to the buyer with a note stating it arrived empty. The buyer filed a claim with paypal for a refund and lied when she claim her $10.00 shipping charge included insurance. Paypal could have easily checked with the post office to see if $10.00 would be enough to cover shipping and insurance charges to Ireland, but they didn't bother.
The first time I called paypal they told me not to worry that the buyer would have to send me back the packaging and also the note she received from the Ireland Postal Service and it sounded like I would at least get a fair hearing. I emailed paypal to give them all the details and told them I could submit emails exchanged with the buyer where insurance charges were agreed to and also emails sent to me from the buyer with conflicting information regarding what she actually received from me through the post office. Paypal told me to wait and there would be plenty of time to submit documents and they were waiting for the buyer to respond to the postings I had made on the paypal website regarding the dispute.
Paypal never gave me the chance to sumbit anything and I received an email this morning from Paypal with notification that the case had been decided in favor of the buyer. Paypal claims that the buyer either emiled or faxed Paypal the police reports from Ireland and also the note she received from the postal service. How bizarre is that!!! Why would anyone call the police about something lost in mail and why would the police in Ireland even file a report? That would not happen in the U.S., that's for sure.
When I asked paypal to share the police report and also the note from the Ireland post office, they told they could not do that and I would just have to take their word for it or request a copy from Police in Ireland. This is pretty sad and so is the customer service department of Paypal and the idiot who ruled against me. I lost $106.00 in this transaction because of Paypal.
Sellers beware when you are shipping outside the U.S. You had better make sure the buyer pays for insurance and if they waive it, you will still be at fault according to paypal.
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