Hi folks,
I'm pretty good at spotting and avoiding Internet scams, but I got hooked by one recently, and I'm still trying to get it resolved. I thought I'd pass the story along, as a cautionary tale for others, and also in hopes that someone here can help. These people have figured out a pretty clever way to take advantage of loopholes in Paypal's dispute process.
Some weeks ago, I saw an ad on Facebook for a camping stove, on sale for about $40. I ordered it, paying with Paypal since that was the only option offered on the checkout page. A few weeks went by, but I didn't worry since it was the busy season, and I think the stove was coming from China. But the payment receipt showed the name of a window-repair company in the UK. Warning sign #1 ...
Eventually a package arrived with a return address of a P.O. box in California. Inside was a cheap string of plastic beads, and a card that said that the beads were a free gift, and the item I ordered would be along soon. But when I went on-line to check the status of the stove order, it had changed to "Delivered."
At that point I started to be concerned. I did a Google search on the P.O. box address, and found a number of complaints from people who had been scammed, and were having trouble getting refunds from Paypal. So I immedately went to Paypal's Resolution Center page. I wrote a detailed explanation, and I uploaded photos of the beads, the envelope, and the card saying that the beads were a gift. I mentioned that if they Google'd the P.O. box address, they would find other complaints.
The seller offered me a partial refund (through Paypal), and I declined it. Today Paypal notified me that the seller has agreed to a full refund, but I have to return the item; and the address for the return is in the UK, not California. Sending a package to the UK is more expensive than sending it to California. And of course, even if I return the beads, the seller might find other ways to delay or deny the refund.
I wrote to Paypal again, including most of the details from my previous messages, and re-uploading the photos. I'm wondering if any human being has looked at my case yet, or is it all being handled by their server? Maybe this time they will realize what's going on and get me my full refund; we'll see.
I suppose that from Paypal's point of view, it's hard to tell what happened. The seller does have proof that something was delivered to me. I know that there are crooked customers out there, who will buy an item and then claim that they never received it; this seller has arranged for my case to look like one of those. And the refund process has enough steps in it that a lot of victims will probably not go through with all of it.
Obviously, for a $45 purchase, I'm not going to lose a lot of sleep over it. But I hate to let those criminals get away with ripping me off, not to mention all the other people who may have been, or will be, caught in the same trap. Paypal needs to be made aware of what's going on.
I'm an engineer, not a merchant; I don't use Paypal very often. If any of you have advice on something else I can do, or if you know a real person inside Paypal who can take a look at this, I'd appreciate it very much.
I'm pretty good at spotting and avoiding Internet scams, but I got hooked by one recently, and I'm still trying to get it resolved. I thought I'd pass the story along, as a cautionary tale for others, and also in hopes that someone here can help. These people have figured out a pretty clever way to take advantage of loopholes in Paypal's dispute process.
Some weeks ago, I saw an ad on Facebook for a camping stove, on sale for about $40. I ordered it, paying with Paypal since that was the only option offered on the checkout page. A few weeks went by, but I didn't worry since it was the busy season, and I think the stove was coming from China. But the payment receipt showed the name of a window-repair company in the UK. Warning sign #1 ...
Eventually a package arrived with a return address of a P.O. box in California. Inside was a cheap string of plastic beads, and a card that said that the beads were a free gift, and the item I ordered would be along soon. But when I went on-line to check the status of the stove order, it had changed to "Delivered."
At that point I started to be concerned. I did a Google search on the P.O. box address, and found a number of complaints from people who had been scammed, and were having trouble getting refunds from Paypal. So I immedately went to Paypal's Resolution Center page. I wrote a detailed explanation, and I uploaded photos of the beads, the envelope, and the card saying that the beads were a gift. I mentioned that if they Google'd the P.O. box address, they would find other complaints.
The seller offered me a partial refund (through Paypal), and I declined it. Today Paypal notified me that the seller has agreed to a full refund, but I have to return the item; and the address for the return is in the UK, not California. Sending a package to the UK is more expensive than sending it to California. And of course, even if I return the beads, the seller might find other ways to delay or deny the refund.
I wrote to Paypal again, including most of the details from my previous messages, and re-uploading the photos. I'm wondering if any human being has looked at my case yet, or is it all being handled by their server? Maybe this time they will realize what's going on and get me my full refund; we'll see.
I suppose that from Paypal's point of view, it's hard to tell what happened. The seller does have proof that something was delivered to me. I know that there are crooked customers out there, who will buy an item and then claim that they never received it; this seller has arranged for my case to look like one of those. And the refund process has enough steps in it that a lot of victims will probably not go through with all of it.
Obviously, for a $45 purchase, I'm not going to lose a lot of sleep over it. But I hate to let those criminals get away with ripping me off, not to mention all the other people who may have been, or will be, caught in the same trap. Paypal needs to be made aware of what's going on.
I'm an engineer, not a merchant; I don't use Paypal very often. If any of you have advice on something else I can do, or if you know a real person inside Paypal who can take a look at this, I'd appreciate it very much.
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