Question of the Week: Do you get section 75 protection via Paypal?

Former_MSE_Archna

Q. Do I get the same protection paying via Paypal as I would if I use my credit card?

Karen Murphy, via email

A. No, not even if you charge you paypal account by credit card.

All credit cards by law have to give section 75 protection meaning spend over £100 on the card and the card company is jointly liable with the retailer.

Yet paypal doesn't get that protection, and even if you charge it up by credit card it doesn't apply as for section 75 to work the card company must have a direct relationship with the retailer not through a third party (ie paypal)

Paypal does offer its own protection (no where near as strong as the section 75 law) buy only when you buy from eBay - if you have problems raise a 'dispute' within 45 days of buying the item.

Click reply to discuss

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zolabud123

So I am assuming my debit card has even less protection?

I can't get a credit card,have tried.I don't have a reliable enough income.

I have a friend who has 10 of them and lies about his profession.

Really winds me up does that...

bateleur

Another thing to watch out for with PayPal is that often their eBay dispute resolution is effectively useless.

For example: a friend of mine bought a pair of designer jeans over eBay which turned out to be fakes. The seller was prepared to accept a return for a refund, but postage both ways would be at the buyer's expense, leaving her over £20 out of pocket. When alerted to the case, PayPal said they could do nothing unless she provided a certificate from an expert on paper with the expert's letterhead declaring the jeans to be fake. Clearly an impossible hurdle (and even in the vastly improbable event that she lived right next door to someone able to provide this service, it's unlikely it would be free).

PayPal's customer services had a very dismissive attitude to the whole problem. It was made pretty clear they had no interest whatsoever in trying to help in this kind of case.

jaydoubleyou

The above is very much the exception - my experience (and many others', judging by friends and comments on forums) is that they usually favour the buyer and will refund them regardless of any evidence provided by the seller. They will also either ignore emails or respond with patronising form letters.

thenutflush

If only it was the exception jaydoubIeyou... If only! For I too can confirm what bateleur said as I unknowingly bought fake (ralph lauren with no embossing on the box) perfume described as "100% genuine" in the auction, and exactly the same treatment was given to me by paypal when I tried to make a claim with them to get my money back. I was told that I and only I had to get an expert witness to sign a letter to state that in their expert opinion the perfume I bought on Ebay was a fake. They wouldn't accept the word of anyone less than a professional perfume expert! And they wouldn't accept my sending the perfume to them so that they could clearly see that I had been sold a fake by someone whose feedback gave no clues as to what they sold me.

Disgraceful. So, given the cost of that, the miscreant seller got away with selling me fake Ralph Lauren. :-( The paypal dispute resolution was, in my experience too, effectively useless.

TurkishDelight

thenutflush wrote: »

If only it was the exception jaydoubIeyou... If only! For I too can confirm what bateleur said as I unknowingly bought fake (ralph lauren with no embossing on the box) perfume described as "100% genuine" in the auction, and exactly the same treatment was given to me by paypal when I tried to make a claim with them to get my money back. I was told that I and only I had to get an expert witness to sign a letter to state that in their expert opinion the perfume I bought on Ebay was a fake. They wouldn't accept the word of anyone less than a professional perfume expert! And they wouldn't accept my sending the perfume to them so that they could clearly see that I had been sold a fake by someone whose feedback gave no clues as to what they sold me.

Disgraceful. So, given the cost of that, the miscreant seller got away with selling me fake Ralph Lauren. :-( The paypal dispute resolution was, in my experience too, effectively useless.

Er well yes- otherwise there is nothing stopping you just saying everything you buy is fake and getting your money back without even having to send the item back. :rolleyes:

Anyway, if the section 75 stuff doesn't apply to paypal then maybe someone can explain to me why we have had money taken out of our account (several times) by scamming buyers using their credit card chargeback system?

smala01

A few years ago the major retailers began setting up "payment processing" companies in order to avoid the VAT on the 3% commission credit card providers charge for the use of their card.

We now have a situation were the legal entity of the firm processing your card (Tesco Card Services Ltd) is very different from the retailer (Tesco Ltd).

I see no difference between this arrangement (which all agree IS covered by section 75) and using PayPal checkout where the EXACT amount is taken from your card in one transaction.

Martin I think you should review that PayPal is NOT covered by section 75! I think in this situation then a claim under section 75 can STILL be made.

smala01

Three other items to caution readers:

1) If you have an American Express card registered, your card will be charged in US$ regardless of the currency in the original transaction. Hence you will be hit with currency conversion charges by your card issuer

2) As someone above alluded to, if the item is fake you have absolutely no come back from paypal. They will NOT refund. If the item is fake then i strongly suggest you think very carefully when registering a claim with PayPal if you actually received the item at all

3) If you have a dispute with you credit card provider and they refund your money associated with a paypal purchase the credit card company will issue a chargeback to PayPal. PayPal will then Chase YOU for that money. Don`t think because your credit card company has refunded you that its the end of the matter!

All from bitter, bitter experience and a large amount of lost cash.

antony_l

I had a problem with some goods on Ebay (faulty). Returned them to seller as he requested and requested refund. Gave up with seller and did Ebay refund process and ended up getting no where. Went to Paypal and this got me no where since the goods had been returned to the seller.

Since I had paid using my credit card I then told Visa and they refused to refund under section 75.

If I had paid via Visa direct this would have been a very straight forward matter.

Cost me £240 and I did not even have the faulty goods to show for it!

TurkishDelight

smala01 wrote: »

2) As someone above alluded to, if the item is fake you have absolutely no come back from paypal. They will NOT refund. If the item is fake then i strongly suggest you think very carefully if you actually received the item at all

Paypal will refund for fake items if you can be bothered to get a letter from a expert or the maker of the genuine item.

What you are suggesting in red is defrauding the royal mail, not the seller, so you are just as bad. :mad:

petersandyglen

I too have been misled by section 75. I (bought) a car on E-bay, but as they wanted full payment up front before ordering the car, I approached Consumer Direct, told them that I was buying the car from a dealer on E-bay and he wanted the money up front. I was advised by C.D. that it would be O.K. as long as I paid the deposit by credit card, then I would be covered. When things went wrong I went back to Consumer Direct but this time was told that because I had paid the deposit to the firm via Pay Pal I was not covered. ( months on and I still am £5000 out of pocket.
YES MARTIN, IT'S TIME THAT THE PAY PAL LOOPHOLE WAS CLOSED!!!!!!
Peter....