Help, I have been scammed and lost everything. *stressed*

cloud360

Hi I am only a student and I have exams coming up and this is very stressful for me.

I bought some items on paypal and paid this person.

Paypal do not protect buyers if you buy non physical goods or services.

I bought a physical item from a seller (300 mini cookers), and when I paid i added a paypal message included a url making it clear what Item i was paying for (it was physical). Seller never sent items and deleted me on skype. So i opened claim against them. Then they told paypal that I paid them for an SEO service which I never did.

Paypal went in favour of seller and told me:

"We've denied your claim because you purchased a virtual, digital or
intangible item, which isn't covered by our Buyer Protection. We only cover
claims involving physical items that can be sent by post and tracked."

I was scammed and had invoices and chat logs to prove I paid for physical items, paypal wasnt interested in that. So I called paypal begging them to reopen dispute while in stress and pain after just being scammed $3000+

One paypal rep told me that if i did a chargeback, I could get my money back and paypal will not protect seller as seller claimed I paid for intangible goods/services and in some ways hinted that paypal wont help seller much with chargeback. SO its like a double edged sword for the seller to have made that lie.

I have now applied for chargeback which should go through within 2 weeks (and notifed paypal to freeze sellers account because if card company refund me, they will take money from paypal, not seller, so I give paypal a chance to get money back from seller), I have some questions:

1) can anyone tell me whether it is likely or not I will get my money back from card company if I did chargeback against paypal for "goods not recieved" and seller cant provide tracking info because they say i paid for services not goods?

2) Will paypal dispute my chargeback with card company, because they say they dont protect buyers or sellers when non physical goods are involved. And paypal think i paid for non physical goods when I didnt.

3) What if seller says to card company I paid for services and gives false evidence (e.g forged emails), and I also give evidence I paid for physical goods. Who will card company believe?

Oli.s

What did you buy?

cloud360

Oli.s wrote: »

What did you buy?

mini cookers which fall under consumer electronics (physical goods), but sellers said to paypal i paid them for a service to increase traffic on a website that i dont even have.

I lost claim and paypal sided with seller because they say they dont cover non physical goods

cloud360

can anyone share any similiar experiences? any advice and info?

geminilady

There is a thread for Ebay you may get better advise on there,good luck hate scammers.

SnowTiger

geminilady wrote: »

There is a thread for Ebay you may get better advise on there,good luck hate scammers.

This doesn't appear to be an ebay issue. If it was it would probably be easier to sort out. OP talks about exchanging emails and sending a URL, and I'm not sure what to make of it all.

I'm guessing this was some sort of private transaction, using PayPal to transfer the funds. I doubt a chargeback will be successful.

As you suggest, PayPal and ebay go hand-in-hand so the folk there many be able to offer some help, but I'm doubtful.

Forum: http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=40.

cloud360

SnowTiger wrote: »

This doesn't appear to be an ebay issue. If it was it would probably be easier to sort out. OP talks about exchanging emails and sending a URL, and I'm not sure what to make of it all.

when paying ou can add note/message for seller. i added a paypal message included a url making it clear what Item i was paying for (it was physical).

why do you say that i probably wont win a charge back, have you had experience?

SnowTiger

cloud360 wrote: »

when paying ou can add note/message for seller. i added a paypal message included a url making it clear what Item i was paying for (it was physical).

why do you say that i probably wont win a charge back, have you had experience?

No, I haven't had any personal experience of a chargeback with PayPal. But I've read plenty of horror stories. I don't use PayPal unless I have to.

There's a bit about chargebacks here:

What type of transactions aren’t covered?

There are some transactions that may not be covered by the Chargeback scheme - for example when you use PayPal to purchase something.

This is because your card transaction is deemed to have been with PayPal rather than the merchant themselves.

If you find yourself in a situation where you've used PayPal to make a transaction but haven't received your goods or services as promised, then you will need to try claiming through the limited PayPal Dispute Resolution Process if the retailer isn't able to help.

If the Paypal Dispute process fails you may be able to make a claim through the Chargeback scheme, as long as you can show that you used your card to buy the disputed goods through PayPal.

However as there is no legal obligation to return your money, the outcome will rest on the decision of your card provider.

I think for small amounts of money the banks sometimes fund the loss themselves. Someone who knows more about it than I do suggested that. However, I'm guessing this isn't a small amount of money.

And, as PayPal has already rejected your claim under their own chargeback scheme, I think the same is likely to happen via a Visa/Mastercard chargeback.

cloud360

SnowTiger wrote: »

No, I haven't had any personal experience of a chargeback with PayPal. But I've read plenty of horror stories. I don't use PayPal unless I have to.

There's a bit about chargebacks

I think for small amounts of money the banks sometimes fund the loss themselves. Someone who knows more about it than I do suggested that. However, I'm guessing this isn't a small amount of money.

And, as PayPal has already rejected your claim under their own chargeback scheme, I think the same is likely to happen via a Visa/Mastercard chargeback.

dont i have any hope on the grounds that paypal fraudulently refused my claim because seller lied?

cm7

Hi, I had a similar experience with a website that only accepted paypal but for a much smaller amount (under £50). I was told when I made the chargeback that if the retailer disputed it that the amount could be added back onto my account pending a full investigation, they had 2 months to dispute it (this is from memory, could be slightly different). In my case nothing happened. I really doubt (just speculating here) that a scammer would go so far as to dispute something with a financial institution (not counting Paypal as a financial institution for obvious reasons:p). Scammers are by definition in it for the easy money.

cloud360

cm7 wrote: »

Hi, I had a similar experience with a website that only accepted paypal but for a much smaller amount (under £50). I was told when I made the chargeback that if the retailer disputed it that the amount could be added back onto my account pending a full investigation, they had 2 months to dispute it (this is from memory, could be slightly different). In my case nothing happened. I really doubt (just speculating here) that a scammer would go so far as to dispute something with a financial institution (not counting Paypal as a financial institution for obvious reasons:p). Scammers are by definition in it for the easy money.

so you did chargeback but didnt get money back?

did you send them letter they (bank) were askign for and evidence?

and which bank?