Scam seller through friends and family - need advice

[CShelly1238]

Hi I need some advice on how PayPal works because I don’t know if I am being lied to by a seller who scammed me. I naively purchased tickets through the friends and family option on Ticketmaster. After never receiving the ticket, I raised a dispute on PayPal which was subsequently closed not in my favour. I am in touch with the seller and they have made claims about why they cannot refund the money. Please can people advise me if these claims are true: 1) they stated that they cannot refund the money on paypal because the dispute hasn’t been closed their end. They state the money isn’t available to them - it is essentially frozen- until the dispute is closed. 2) they state that they are in a minus amount on PayPal because of the dispute !? 3) once the dispute is closed they will refund the money. 4) the seller has sent me screenshots (which I don’t know if they are legitimate) where it states the money from me is ‘on hold’. I noticed in these screenshots the case id does not match the dispute case id I have on record which is also suspicious. On the other hand, PayPal have told me she is able to send the money back to me at any stage. As this was my first experience of PayPal I don’t know what is truth from a lie. If anyone can advise me on whether there is any truth to her claims it would be appreciated. Thank you in advance

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@CShelly1238 

A friends / family (or gift payment) is intended as a transfer of funds from family or friends to one another. For this reason, there is no processing fee when payment is made with bank or PayPal balance.
However as it is a gift payment, there is also no buyer protection as no goods or services should have been exchanged.

If he was not a close mate or family member you should never use that option as it enables the seller to evade paying his Paypal fees and negates your buyer protection at the same time.

You would also not be able to open a dispute (apart from one citing an unauthorised transaction), which would be automatically closed as you did authorise the initial payment.

Be careful as using that option for purchasing goods is against Paypal rules and can lead to account limitation.

If you funded your Paypal payment via a credit card then contact your card issuer and see if they will help you but unfortunately they may decline as well as it was a gift payment.
However YES the receiver can issue a refund if they voluntarily choose to do so. 

[CShelly1238]

Hi thanks for the reply and for the information. I understand it was a mistake to use the gift Option. Unfortunately, I am trying to get the money back from the seller but they have stated the money is not available to them because of the dispute I raised. This dispute was unauthorised activity but as you stated it was closed by PayPal. Is it true the seller does not have access to the money? Or their PayPal account is in a minus figure because of the dispute? (even though the dispute has been closed) Many thanks.

[kernowlass]

@CShelly1238 

Seller can still refund you.

[CShelly1238]

thanks.

I have spoken to Paypal and the money was hold on because of the dispute but it should be released to the seller in approx. 3 days. Hopefully, the seller will return the money then. But probably not.