Is PAYPAL buyer protection any good?

welnik

I purchased an electrical item from Ebay which doesnt work. It is hard to establish whether the item didnt work before it was posted or after. I contacted the buyer who said it definately worked his end. Ive spent £45.00 on something that needs to be taken by the binmen!

I contacted the buyer to see what he intends to do and he said he will contact Royal Mail to see if he can get compensation.

I have therefore put a claim into PAYPAL to see what they say about it. Not had much joy so far. Its been 2 months and they have today sent me an email

"Please update us on the current status of your claim. If you have reached
an amicable resolution with the seller (meaning the item or a refund has
been received, or you have negotiated a settlement with the seller), please
let us know by replying to this email"

So, from what I can tell, they have spent two months doing nothing! The last email I had from them said they were investigating my claim?

Anyone had any success?

bobadobado

Assuming the item was listed as working, I would just update the claim saying you received the item and it doesnt work. You contacted the seller, but still no resolution achieved.
I guess Paypal will then ask the seller his side of the story. Then they will make a decision on what to do.

I hope you do get a full refund, but dont get your hopes up. Ive filed a couple of claims which Ive both won, but despite that Ive only got a refund minus 15 quid. I guess thats what they charge to make a ruling.

tab99_uk

paypal buyer protection does not exist greedy scumbags just want their fees.

Bernie

I don't put a lot of store on this "protection", it just does not really happen. Your best protection is to look at the buyers/sellers feedback and time as a member to establish their integrity.

Mind you, even this can be a poor indicator for larger concerns, I am in debate with a Singapore supplier of a 2 GB SD card that thinks it is half full immediately after formatting. The supplier has literally thousands of positive feedback.

For the last 6 weeks they have stalled me, ignoring my communications and then asking me to carry out irrelevant "tests" on a weekly basis. They have finally given me a return address - complete with a list of reasons for which they will immediately refuse to replace the card.

I am not confident of the outcome and regret doing business with them.

welnik

Well, Ive just had an update from PAYPAL. They have told me to return the item to the seller and I MAY be eligible for a refund.

It appears that they have done absolutely nothing. It is going to cost me at least £12.00 to return it. I have already shelled out £44.00 for the item. If I spend another £12.00 and I still dont get a refund, then that's £56.00 down the drain.

What a complete waste of time. Ignore "buyer protection". It appears its just there as a way of promoting the use of PAYPAL to line ebay's pockets even more.

isayoldchap

welnik wrote:

Well, Ive just had an update from PAYPAL. They have told me to return the item to the seller and I MAY be eligible for a refund.

It appears that they have done absolutely nothing. It is going to cost me at least £12.00 to return it. I have already shelled out £44.00 for the item. If I spend another £12.00 and I still dont get a refund, then that's £56.00 down the drain.

What a complete waste of time. Ignore "buyer protection". It appears its just there as a way of promoting the use of PAYPAL to line ebay's pockets even more.

Hi welnik
£12 to return it.What electrical item is it?Consider sending it through these.
https://www.parcels4delivery.com
either put it at 15kg or 30kg rates from £7.95 and you can track it too

OllieLong

PayPal nearly always finds in favour of the buyer so if you follow the correct procedure you should get your money back minus the postage costs.