Claiming on DD indemnity against Paypal?

darkanon

Hi guys, just registered and first post for me but been lurking for a while.

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a problem I'm having. I bought a new mobile phone on eBay at the end of March which was locked to Vodafone. The seller was getting rid as it was an upgrade that he didn't want. He had it unlcoked before posting it and everything has been hunky-dory until yesterday when after checking it out the phone appears to have been blacklisted though it hasn't been reported lost or stolen. I have tried to get a claim open through a normal Paypal dispute in case I had no luck with the seller but since it is outside the 45 day window they aren't interested. I was hoping it had gone through on my Visa Debit card so I would have been covered for a charge back but unfortunately it was done via the direct bank transfer via direct debit. I guess my question is whether it is possible to claim on the DD indemnity scheme for something like this? I'm really hoping I haven't been done out of £330.

Thanks guys

boo_star

The simple answer is no, you're stuffed.

Sorry.

soolin

Unfortunately you do only have 45 days for paypal to do anything for you, however ebay do offer some support up to 60 days so if you are still within that it is worth trying a claim.

Otherwise you will need to get the sellers full name and address and try small claims. If you decide to try that get screen grabs of the auction and make sure you keep all your paperwork as you will need it.

Toe-Jam

Contact the seller via ebay and ask why he has had it reported lost/stolen. If he doesn't answer, raise a dispute with ebay ( theres nothing you can do with paypal) and they will give you his name and address. Then send him a letter recoreded delivery asking him for your money back in exchange for the phone. If/when he doesn't answer, send him another letter telling him you intend to take him to small claims court.

And then if necessary (depending on the value of the phone , and how much you want your money back) register a claim online at smalls claims.

I had to do this recently when an ebayer sold me a faulty computer. I got the money back when they received my letter telling them we were going to court. Paypal did absolutely nothing, and it was inside the claim time. the buyer protection is a load of rubbish. Your only covered if the person still has the money in their paypal account. How often is that. And you can't chargeback paypal on a debit card because they are not the person selling the item they are just the merchant, so the Halifax Bank told me.

soolin

Toe-Jam wrote: »

Contact the seller via ebay and ask why he has had it reported lost/stolen. If he doesn't answer, raise a dispute with ebay ( theres nothing you can do with paypal) and they will give you his name and address. Then send him a letter recoreded delivery asking him for your money back in exchange for the phone. If/when he doesn't answer, send him another letter telling him you intend to take him to small claims court.

And then if necessary (depending on the value of the phone , and how much you want your money back) register a claim online at smalls claims.

I had to do this recently when an ebayer sold me a faulty computer. I got the money back when they received my letter telling them we were going to court. Paypal did absolutely nothing, and it was inside the claim time. the buyer protection is a load of rubbish. Your only covered if the person still has the money in their paypal account. How often is that. And you can't chargeback paypal on a debit card because they are not the person selling the item they are just the merchant, so the Halifax Bank told me.

Just to clarify that a paypal chargeback is not dependent at all on whether seller has funds in their account or not. It changed a couple of years ago on ebay and from tomorrow the same protection is even rolled out across other paypal using platforms.

I don't think the OP has time to go back to the seller here, ebay only have a 60 day window to make a claim so I suspect they are actually already out of that time frame as well.

taffy056

He is not allowed to sell on upgrades I believe as he is obligating himself to another contract with the provider, that being vodafone, if he has broken that contract it means that they will block the phone because he is in breach or has cancelled his contract, which means they will charge for the upgrade, if that is not paid ...

Basically never buy phones on eBay, i've been stung before, and that is the reason given to me by vodafone, the phone made a handy mp3 player afterwards

Toe-Jam

I've been having a read of the terms and conditions of paypal and ebay. Paypal can't go into the sellers bank account and recover the money, they can only take it back if its still in the paypal account.

However, ebay can

If we resolve a dispute in the buyer’s favour, we may:

• remove funds from the seller’s PayPal account to reimburse the buyer for the cost of the item and the original postage cost; or
• where there are insufficient funds in the seller’s PayPal account or where PayPal is not the reimbursement method of the seller, directly refund the buyer for the cost of the item and the original postage cost, and, in this case, we will require the seller to reimburse us for the refund.

Other requirements for reimbursements from sellers:

• Sellers must have a valid reimbursement method on file with eBay at all times.
• Sellers agree to allow us to remove funds from their PayPal accounts to reimburse buyers. Sellers may change this reimbursement method by contacting eBay.

• Where there are insufficient funds in PayPal accounts or where PayPal is not the reimbursement method of a seller, we will require another reimbursement method.

You should now immediatly open a dispute on ebay and let it follow its natural course, ie, dialogue with the seller and then initiate a claim with ebay.

who knows maybe the seller with refund you.

You cannot have a chargeback, as you didn't use visa for the transaction. The direct debit scheme doesn't cover this. Its only for when money is taken by mistake or for more than you anticipated.

soolin

taffy056 wrote: »

He is not allowed to sell on upgrades I believe as he is obligating himself to another contract with the provider, that being vodafone, if he has broken that contract it means that they will block the phone because he is in breach or has cancelled his contract, which means they will charge for the upgrade, if that is not paid ...

Basically never buy phones on eBay, i've been stung before, and that is the reason given to me by vodafone, the phone made a handy mp3 player afterwards

A user can sell their upgrade if they wish, there is no restriction as the contract relates to the sim not the phone.

soolin

Toe-Jam wrote: »

I've been having a read of the terms and conditions of paypal and ebay. Paypal can't go into the sellers bank account and recover the money, they can only take it back if its still in the paypal account.

However, ebay can

If we resolve a dispute in the buyer’s favour, we may:

• remove funds from the seller’s PayPal account to reimburse the buyer for the cost of the item and the original postage cost; or
• where there are insufficient funds in the seller’s PayPal account or where PayPal is not the reimbursement method of the seller, directly refund the buyer for the cost of the item and the original postage cost, and, in this case, we will require the seller to reimburse us for the refund.

Other requirements for reimbursements from sellers:

• Sellers must have a valid reimbursement method on file with eBay at all times.
• Sellers agree to allow us to remove funds from their PayPal accounts to reimburse buyers. Sellers may change this reimbursement method by contacting eBay.

• Where there are insufficient funds in PayPal accounts or where PayPal is not the reimbursement method of a seller, we will require another reimbursement method.

You should now immediatly open a dispute on ebay and let it follow its natural course, ie, dialogue with the seller and then initiate a claim with ebay.

who knows maybe the seller with refund you.

You cannot have a chargeback, as you didn't use visa for the transaction. The direct debit scheme doesn't cover this. Its only for when money is taken by mistake or for more than you anticipated.

Firstly paypal guarantee refunds regardless of whether there is money in the account or not, paypal often contradict themselves but your cut and paste actually support the right to a full refund, and anyway the rules are quite clear the cut and paste just warns sellers that if paypal refund and the seller does not have sufficient funds then they will chase the seller for more funds. Please do not have concerns that a valid paypal claim that is won by a buyer will not be paid it, it will.

The ebay process can only be started withion 60 days, so as I mentioned earlier i rather fear that OP is out of time for that as well.

darkanon

Thanks guys. I've had no luck with Paypal or eBay as I'm also outside the 60 day windows that eBay has. It looks to me like the only option is small claims court.

taffy056

soolin wrote: »

A user can sell their upgrade if they wish, there is no restriction as the contract relates to the sim not the phone.

Yes technically he can sell the phone on, but if the seller does not meet his obligations with the contract, the operator can block the phone, even if its been sold on, most contracts are for 18-24 months now, so you got to rely on that person keeping his contract for that amount of time

As I said I have been caught out before with vodafone, and that is the reason they gave me, also they wouldn't unlock the phone even though the original person did not own the phone any longer.