Paypal refund?

[sde780]

Im wondering, does paypal cover you if you bought something outside of ebay? I was looking to buy a sanyo phone, and saw the perfect one at the right price. i asked the seller if the phone worked fine and if the esn was clear, she said yes. then i forgot about it till a week ago, but by then the listing had expired. the next day, i recieved a message from that member asking if i would like to purchase that phone for 11 bucks shipped. this is a sanyo 4900, so it wasnt that far fetched. i responded with yes, and my shipping address, and said i would paypal once i get a reply that she was selling me that exact same phone as the one in the listing. she responded right away, and i sent the money. shes a verified paypal member.now, 5 days later, i havent recieved the phone, and ive sent a couple messages that havent been replied to. she has 100% feedback, and has sold 24 items. is there a way for me to get her information such as phone number to better contact her? is there a way for me to get my money back if she doesnt ship the item? thanks.

[olddog]

I think there would be a way to get your money back. But don't forget this phone was sent over Thanksgiving, so there was a day or so lost with the mail. And does all the aggravation for $11 worth it? Did you say you paid with paypal>if so there should be a recourse. Good luck.

[BrettW]

you will have to file a claim through paypal but they can recover the funds, but it takes a couple months...

[Wayne 1]

Just a comment, Ebay bought PayPal several years ago. That person should be reported for fraud.:ohcrap:

[Yummi]

actually if u file with paypal, and the seller doesnt respond within 14 days, paypal will find in your favor and refund your money up to 200. i know from experience.

[sde780]

Whew, thats good to hear, ill give the seller a couple more days, then file the claim. thanks for the replies!

[chilidogtampa]

people do use paypal outside of ebay, if your seller is a regular ebayer and always has $$$ in their accnt you have nothing to worry about because PP dispute console which is mostly automated is weighted heavily toward the buyer, if you file a dispute the first thing tht happens is the seller gets a mail letting them know you want your item or your money, if the issue isnt resolved in a certain time you get your money back, BUT if its large amount and the seller cleans out the account you could get shafted. but for the amount your talking about you should be fine.

[sde780]

The seller finally replied to my messages today, turns out she was out for the holidays. :rolleyes: she said it will be shipped out tomorow, so should get phone by end of this week :fingers:.

[Wayne 1]

The seller finally replied to my messages today, turns out she was out for the holidays. :rolleyes: she said it will be shipped out tomorow, so should get phone by end of this week :fingers:.

How nice of the seller to let you know that BEFORE leaving for the holiday.:rolleyes::ohcrap::thought:

[ccinaz]

Paypal will only refund you whatever is in the sellers account. If they withdraw the $$ immediately, you're SOL....

[rennyn]

Paypal will only refund you whatever is in the sellers account. If they withdraw the $$ immediately, you're SOL....

Wrong. Paypal will debit the attached bank account and/or credit cards to get you your money.

[ccinaz]

Wrong. Paypal will debit the attached bank account and/or credit cards to get you your money.

Not what I've heard from users on other forums who've bought stuff that was never delivered....Credit card companies will debit PP if you file a dispute. And a bank account with no $$ doesn't do any good...What I've read from stiffed buyers is they were mostly out of luck unless they paid by credit card.

PP would like you to think they'll fight for you but reality seems to be just the opposite...

[sde780]

Thanks for the help guys, the phone came almost a week later, but in good conditino :)

[Wayne 1]

Thanks for the help guys, the phone came almost a week later, but in good conditino :)


I'm happy it turned out ok!:)

[razmitaz]

PayPal apparently does whatever they please. I have received a refund for as little as $3.50. I have also been told by PayPal that anything under $25.00 is non- refundable. I have been given refunds quickly and with no problems, and I have been refused refunds even though the item I received was not as described and the seller admitted it, but refused to co-operate. Guess it just depends on their moods for the day.

[vivienda]

Although I am glad the above story ends well, I want to clear a misconception about PayPal and non-eBay purchases.

Despite what PayPal's policy says, PayPal WILL NOT EVEN ATTEMPT to recover monies for purchases made outside eBay. Although there is a claim process, once you submit your dispute you are taken to a page that says that after a thorough investigation, PayPal was unable to resolve your claim. Time for the thorough investigation? About 2/100th of a second! I relied on PayPal's assurances in its policy, and made two purchases from the same seller of about $1,600.00 each. The goods had been grossly misrepresented and were nothing but salvaged items that had been recovered from the trash. I simply lost my money with no recourse.

Despite all my efforts, complaints (BBB, government agencies, etc.) no one did anything about it!

PayPal user, BEWARE! You have been warned...

[rennyn]

PayPal does indeed work for items not purchased from eBay. A friend of mine recovered $400 from a bad seller that was done outside of eBay.

A big part of it is properly filling out the Description field when you send the money for exactly what you are purchasing and your expectations are. If the seller accepts your money, they accept that what they are selling matches the description you put in.

[vivienda]

That's about contract law and what you are saying is not correct. A transaction between a seller and a buyer is a contract. And every buyer expects to receive goods in working order even if it is not expressely written in the contract. This is basic contract law.

[missdiva]

It is slightly better protection when buying through Ebay but not all auctions are guaranteed - diff. requirements and qualifications depending on seller/item etc. Sometimes they take whatever's in the account, sometimes they refund up to $200, sometimes up to $2000, sometimes nothing, sometimes they require tons of info - other times almost nothing.

Someone on SU sent me a stolen $400 phone a while back and PP did nothing - just said "the seller has nothing so sorry, we can't refund you anything" They didn't even freeze his account and allowed him to open new ones. I had to do a chargeback with my CC, and even then PP tried to deny the full refund and we had to fill out 2 forms / 2 letters. My CC co said they are impossible sometimes and just deny everything thinking people will give up. While most of the time for honest people PP goes smoothly, there are enough issues that go wrong that make people nervous. The email CS is a complete joke.

I once had this horrible seller ship an empty envelope to me 2 months later to a wrong address in my same zip and PP took that as "delivered" & the shady seller won the claim. Something like that could be prevented by requiring a sig for all items sent after a claim is opened - so simple - and they don't do it.

[rennyn]

Yep. Always always always use credit cards, never let them use your bank account. Your credit card company sides with you unless they prove otherwise. Paypal sides with whatever is laziest for them to do.

[vivienda]

Yes missdiva, you're probably close to the truth and rennyn is wise re using only a credit card. One should also be aware that PayPal has difficulties with some state financial authorities : They act like a bank but they do not have a charter with any of the U.S. states as required by law. They do not have a Federal charter either. It has been argued that they operate outside the law. It maybe so. But one thing is sure : They have been banned by several European countries for flouting their rules. Conclusion : PayPal user beware!..

[intlschizo]

Your credit card company sides with you unless they prove otherwise.

And even then, they may still side with you. I had a customer file an INR even though his signature was on the tracking. When PayPal dismissed his claim, he filed a CC and got some of his money back. The same information that was good enough to dismiss his PayPal claim suddenly wasn't good enough for PayPal. It'll be a cold day in hell before they get that $240, unless the oh-so-honest seller wants to send me back my computer.

Also, PayPal DOES NOT try to get your money back through the bank. Why do you think we seller empty our accounts before we even ship? Because nothing is worse than a bogus buyer with a bogus claim and your cash is locked up in some bogus case! Even trying to put it in your bank account can be reversed (it happened to me), so I always take as much money out of my account as possible. Even if PayPal could do such a thing, my account is an empty one I haven't used in years, so what?

On the upside, the speakers I sold? The buyer paid with certified bank funds. The bank cleared the check. WHOO-HOO, no PayPal! No "we are investigating", no "high suspicion blahblahblah", no "fill in all these forms 4 times (this actually happened!) and send us three vials of blood". Hell, I may start accepting personal checks from all my buyers, as long as they're from an American bank.

*gives PayPal the finger*

[vivienda]

Sound advice by intlschizo: Keep your PaPal account balance to a minimum at all times.

[Wayne 1]

I couldn't agree more with the above members. PayPal is bogus and was even before Ebay purchased them several years ago.