Paypal payment safe against a fraudulent merchant?

[thapprat]

Hi Community- I have been eBay and PayPal customer since 1997 but recent experience has made me question if Paypal seriously is looking out for its customer's best interest. Recently I paid an online merchant through PayPal with the faith that payment through PayPal would be safe. I never received the purchased items when I contacted Paypal multiple times to resolve these issues I got the following response which is attached below. They claim that they received shipment tracking from the merchant which has not been shared with me by PayPal or by the merchant. The merchant never sent me the tracking or responded to my inquiry. All I asked from Paypal is delivery advice of my order that I paid for, the item ordered was an outdoor furniture set and not a small package that could have been lost in transition.

Hello Pratap Thapa,

We received the case(s) you filed on January 15, 2021.

We have reviewed this transaction(s) and are denying your case(s). This decision was made because we received shipment tracking from the merchant confirming that the merchandise was delivered.

We're sorry for any problems you may have experienced with the transaction(s).

Transaction information:

Dispute Case ID: PP-D-99022149

Transaction Amount: $98.99 USD

Dispute Amount: $98.99 USD

Transaction ID: 4AG63962D55647257

Transaction Date: November 28, 2020

Thanks,

PayPal

[wichita6]

I have a similar issue.

Paypal is protecting these fraudulent sellers because they make mucho $$$$ from them.

We, the buyers, are **bleep**.

They take our money, send a tracking or just send us junk in my case, and the seller and paypal make the profits.

[kernowlass]

@thapprat 

@wichita6 

Chinese Web Sites or on Social Media ads easy to spot (once you know the below signs) so buyer beware.

Paypal would not be able to check every individual seller / merchant / company in over 200 countries worldwide that adds paypal to their website to accept payments.

So they give you 'some' buyer protection but the onus is on you to risk assess your transactions.

They do stop bad companies from using Paypal when enough claims start rolling in.
However as they are in China (mostly) then its easy for them to just start over with a new name, so stopping them does not really do anything.

The best thing is to not buy from them in the first place, to recognise them -

1. No return address on the returns policy. The site will look as if its in your country (where they despatch goods from) but they will ask for returns to go back to China (returns depot) at a shipping cost often more than the item is worth.
2. No contact telephone number. if you click on contact the most you will get is webmail or an email address.
3. Rarely company address information.
4. Great pictures of items at bargain prices that turn out to be tat.
5. Fake reviews.
6. Google and you can often see previous company names as they change them once enough claims roll in and Paypal stop them using their services and start over.
7. Send fake tracking numbers to win item non receipt of item claims.

Ask paypal for the tracking number the merchant supplied and then.............

APPEAL

To submit an appeal on the dispute that was closed, PayPal asks that you obtain a detailed report from the shipper/courier (on their letterhead or some other form of official stationary) that includes the address the seller gave them for the shipment. Or one that includes a statement mentioning your address and saying the item was delivered to a different address.
Check tracking in below link to see where it went.
https://www.17track.net/en

When you have that, contact PayPal via phone (log on to your account and click Contact at the bottom of the page, however that may not be an option at the moment due to covid), or via Facebook (send a Private Message to PayPal) or via Twitter (send a Direct Message to @AskPayPal) and say you want to appeal the denial of the dispute based on the shipper saying the item was delivered to a different address. Once it's submitted (you will be provided with directions on how to do that), the dispute will be reviewed further and a determination will be made.

You also have the option to contact your card issuer if you funded your paypal payment that way and see if they will do a chargeback for you.