EBay, Paypal and Debt Collection - Worried!

gypsymoth

Hey there

Around 5-6 years ago, I sold an item on ebay to someone abroad - a jacket that cost around £250. I posted it to them, didnt keep proof of postage, then it turns out they had used a stolen card. Classic scam, and I felt stupid for getting stung like that.

They paid via Paypal, and I my account (which has my current account and address attached) was credited. However, when the defraud was detected by Paypal, then took the money back off me, leaving my account in negative figures.

At the time, I disputed this with them with little success. Essentially I was being penalised and Paypal - to no-one's surprise - refused to carry the debt caused by the card defraud. A series of emails were swapped, calls made but no resolution. In the end, they suspended my account and there was an empasse where I refused to pay back the £250. I dont know whether they managed to recover the cash from the card holder's issuing company.

Some months later, I received letters from a debt collection company working on behalf of Paypal. Vague letters that said they were coming round the collect the cash 'next tuesday' with no specific date. Basically, pathetic threatening techniques and I still have the letters. I did some research on the www.paypalsucks.com website, and apparently its common practice by Paypal and a very murky legal area. The overall advice was to keep the letters but ignore them - they were write-off the debt eventually

Last week, I got a text, 2 missed calls and a letter from a company called Intrum Justita, asking me to pay back the £250. They appear to be a Credit Management company in Harlow and Liverpool.
The wording is...
"We have commenced formal debt recovery action against you to recover the outstanding balance on behalf of Paypal... please pay up using the Giro form below".

Now.. I could just ignore it again, but in these credit-sensitive times, my concern is for my currently clean credit record... My questions are..

-- Has anyone else been in the same situation?
-- Has anyoen come across these people before?
-- At what point would my credit file be affected? What powers do Intrum Justita have to alter my record?
-- Are Paypal likely to relent, given their recent changes to Seller/Buyer protection?

I could just pay up and save the hassle, but I still want to challenge this.

Any help appreciated. Thanks guys.

L

zenseeker

gypsymoth wrote: »

-- Has anyone else been in the same situation?
-- Has anyoen come across these people before?
-- At what point would my credit file be affected? What powers do Intrum Justita have to alter my record?
-- Are Paypal likely to relent, given their recent changes to Seller/Buyer protection?

1, Yes, I have when I fell into debt with PayPal after a lot of wrangling I was still forced to pay up, thankfully it was only £17, but that also proves that they will fight hard even over a tiny amount.

2. Intrum have the power to issue a default notice which would severely affect your credit rating and then they can issue a summons to take you to County Court where a Judge would most likely decide in their favour

3. They are unlikely to relent as this debt dates back to before any changes were made.

PayPal acted correctly, it was not up to them to carry the debt as far as I know, and the fact that they are pursuing you means that it is unlikely that they managed to recover any funds from the card issuer.

Best advice I can offer is to make an appointment with your local Citizen's Advice Bureau.

gypsymoth

thanks. i might have to just pay up, as much as it grates with me.

paypal = wallys :mad:

zenseeker

gypsymoth wrote: »

thanks. i might have to just pay up, as much as it grates with me.

paypal = wallys :mad:

Consult CAB first

catmiaow

Speak to Trading standards. The man told me you would be silly to pay anyone who comes to your door unless it is a court order.

You should have had some seller protection there. Paypal should be covering this. :mad:

catmiaow

P.S If you are disputing this, they can not by law issue a default. I was told this by Equifax.

soolin

catmiaow wrote: »

Speak to Trading standards. The man told me you would be silly to pay anyone who comes to your door unless it is a court order.

You should have had some seller protection there. Paypal should be covering this. :mad:

There was some protection as OP sent the item tracked so mat have been able to fight the paypal claim at the time. However in the OP it says that the receipt was not kept so they were unable to fight this and allowed the paypal account go overdrawn.

I recently successfully defended a similar claim to a US buyer and I only had proof of postage, it took some doing though and I was on to paypal on a daily basis.

catmiaow

soolin wrote: »

There was some protection as OP sent the item tracked so mat have been able to fight the paypal claim at the time. However in the OP it says that the receipt was not kept so they were unable to fight this and allowed the paypal account go overdrawn.

I recently successfully defended a similar claim to a US buyer and I only had proof of postage, it took some doing though and I was on to paypal on a daily basis.

How you manage that?

soolin

catmiaow wrote: »

How you manage that?

Don't make me relive the nightmare!

I read and reread the seller protection, (This was just before the new rules came in) and it appeared to say that I had some protection if I could prove I had posted in good faith. I kept phoning and going all through their stupid 'press 1 for x' menu and if I got hold of an operator that wouldn't help I merely redialled until I got someone who would help. I also started a full complaint against Paypal themselves which resulted in all my emails being responded to in approx 10 minutes!

Once I knew they would respond to emails I sent them an email twice a day with more and more details about the buyer. I must admit to my shame that I became quite embittered and although I am not techie I managed to find out an awful lot about the buyer, including work addresses and the local County Police. I just kept sending this all in and then paypal put in one email that I was entitled to full seller protection if I could prove postage to a confirmed address. I managed to uplaod a scan of my PO receipt and then every time they denied me my refund I referred them back to the email that stated I was fully protected. This was all done through the official complaints procedure and in the end they caved in and repaid me..but left a £7 charge outstanding on my paypal account which they said was their fee for fighting this chargeback with the credit card company.

I started the process again for the £7 and even got that back.

catmiaow

soolin wrote: »

Don't make me relive the nightmare!

I read and reread the seller protection, (This was just before the new rules came in) and it appeared to say that I had some protection if I could prove I had posted in good faith. I kept phoning and going all through their stupid 'press 1 for x' menu and if I got hold of an operator that wouldn't help I merely redialled until I got someone who would help. I also started a full complaint against Paypal themselves which resulted in all my emails being responded to in approx 10 minutes!

Once I knew they would respond to emails I sent them an email twice a day with more and more details about the buyer. I must admit to my shame that I became quite embittered and although I am not techie I managed to find out an awful lot about the buyer, including work addresses and the local County Police. I just kept sending this all in and then paypal put in one email that I was entitled to full seller protection if I could prove postage to a confirmed address. I managed to uplaod a scan of my PO receipt and then every time they denied me my refund I referred them back to the email that stated I was fully protected. This was all done through the official complaints procedure and in the end they caved in and repaid me..but left a £7 charge outstanding on my paypal account which they said was their fee for fighting this chargeback with the credit card company.

I started the process again for the £7 and even got that back.

Good on you! BTW How do you put a complaint into Paypal themselves?

soolin

catmiaow wrote: »

Good on you! BTW How do you put a complaint into Paypal themselves?

I'm never going to find the link again..but I'll try. It is hidden away in their silly 'search ' facility and seems to have quite an immediate response if you manage to find it..I'll be back!