buyer claiming unauthorised transaction on paypal

maccyj

please help on what steps i can take next

So a month ago i sold an iphone 8 plus, because the person wasnt local they paid through paypal (friends and family). I sent photos of the phone, receipt of postage to cover myself. The guy received the phone the next day. all was good until last week when I received an email from paypal saying a case had been opened up against me regarding the iphone. I immediately got intouch with paypal and gave them the tracking number of the phone which they seemed happy with and told me at the time it would take a few days but money will be put back into my account. In the meantime the person had messaged me stating there was issue with the phone and it had been blocked. after checking my end, the phone had been reported blocked for some reason. i told the person i would sort it out and did exactly that my end but only the day after the case had been opened, paypal had emailed to say case was closed. I rang paypal straight away and explained the situation and they told me the case had gone in the buyers favour as i wasnt covered due to not taking payment through goods and service. They told me he buyer had said the transaction was UNAUTHORISED and theres nothing i can do about it.

Not once did paypal investigate the matter or message me for my evidence to show the transaction was authorised.

I messaged the buyer and he had told me paypal had refunded him and tried to make out i was scamming him even though i told him the block had been sorted and it wasnt my phone from new. he agreed to post the phone back to me.

I decided i was getting no where talking to paypal so i emailed them and asked what would happen if buyer claimed unauthorised transaction, asking would they investigate or just refund him straight away. they told me they would investigate the matter before making a decision which they have not done in 1 day!!!!!. I told them what had happened and they emailed back saying i can appeal the decision if: buyer returned the item in a condition other than what was stated upon receipt - if the buyer sent an empty box or if I felt paypal had made an error.

well today I received the phone back and it was cracked on the screen, showing damage of it being dropped. I messaged the person who denied any cracks before posting it. I told him i was opening a case with royal mail where they told me not to as they didnt want any more involvement with the phone. the person then tried to make out i was making a fraudulent case. The second i told them i knew that they had claimed their money back by saying it was an unathorised transaction they switched and seemed happy to help.

i have since been back on to paypal after receiving the email and explained the item was returned damaged. I told them i had an email from them saying i can appeal the decision and told them there was investigation and i had proof it was all authorised. I got told again there was nothing i could do as it was investigated so i asked what proof they had. they told me the persons phone number and ip address didnt match. so I asked them how can they explain me receiving the phone back then. they said that person probably didnt notice the unauthorised transaction till after i posted the item. I told them the guy had, had the phone for a month before opening the case. and i have all messages to prove it was him. she even agreed they had probably been conned too but still wont do nothing.

sorry for the long thread but what is the best way forward? after checking the case on paypal there is no evidence uploaded against me by buyer. to me the whole case seems dodgy making me think this person knows someone who works for paypal as how could they close the case within a day.

is it worth taking them to court? as i am currently in £-559.00 with them and feel the whole situation hasnt been dealt with properly. please can any one help

Deastons

I haven't read it all - it's a bit long - but we had issues with something we bought through eBay and paid via PayPal. When the item clearly was not as described, we went through the usual channels and eBay and PayPal offered zero assistance. eBay said too much time had passed (the item had a seven week lead time and they deemed the time from payment to problem too long) and PayPal said they "weren't a legal entity" and could do nothing to help.

We went to court and won without an issue.

I also once had a TV stolen by someone who clearly knew how to use PayPal to their advantage. They paid by PayPal, collected, then told PayPal the item didn't arrive. I couldn't provide a tracking no., so he got his money back. The police weren't interested at all, so I was left without a TV and no money to buy another one.

I'm not saying you should go to court, but I'd basically ignore anything eBay and PayPal tell you. They're proper "Computer says no" companies and aren't interested in actually spending time looking at the facts.

Is the phone you've received back definitely the one you sent them? Is the serial no. the same?

maccyj

Thank you for your help. Lol I know its a bit long winded but wanted to explain everything.

Yes the phone was definitely the same one. I made sure I logged down imei number before posting and when he told me it was blocked I did a check mend on the imei number and came back blocked. I bought off some one I knew so I have been sorting it out with them.

I also check phone when I got it back today.

Deastons

If I'm correct, you're back to square one. You have the phone, the only issue is that it's now cracked?

I'd probably sell it cracked, take the hit of the reduced sale price and just learn a lesson.

Personally, I avoid eBay like the plague - it's full of crooks.

maccyj

If only it was that simple. I have phone back which is cracked but because paypal refunded the person I owe them 559.00.

I paid 500 for phone off friend then owe paypal 559 so that's over a grand. As it is I will be lucky to get 300 for the phone so will be 700 out of pocket thanks to paypal and buyer so don't really want to just drop it.

I didn't use ebay so they ain't involved in the situation

soolin

maccyj wrote: »

If only it was that simple. I have phone back which is cracked but because paypal refunded the person I owe them 559.00.

I paid 500 for phone off friend then owe paypal 559 so that's over a grand. As it is I will be lucky to get 300 for the phone so will be 700 out of pocket thanks to paypal and buyer so don't really want to just drop it.

I didn't use ebay so they ain't involved in the situation

Your maths is wrong.

You paid £500 for the phone and sold it for £559 so had £559 in hand . You then have to pay back the £559 to PayPal leaving you with the phone and only the original cost to your friend of £500. If you can sell the phone now for £300 then you are out of pocket by £200 not £700.

DoaM

Huh? How can you owe both the friend AND Paypal AND be down £700? Other person paid you £559 via Paypal, you withdrew £559 from Paypal, Paypal repaid the other person so you now owe Paypal £559. You have the phone back albeit is cracked.

Right now that means you have the phone and your balance is back where it was. (The fact you owe your friend £500 is irrelevant - you always did). If you sell the cracked phone for £300 then you're actually down £200 on the set of transactions, NOT down £700.

Edit: SNAP!

PS - In theory you could sue the other person for the loss in value of the phone due to their lack of care. (I didn't read the whole of the OP, but I presume the other person didn't complain about the phone being cracked, only about it being blocked. Therefore the crack has happened during their possession or during the process of returning it to you).

maccyj

That's right DoaM . Either they cracked the phone or the delivery service did. I have contacted royal mail too regarding the damage to the phone as he is saying it wasn't there before hand !!!55358;!!!56596;

arcon5

If he posted it back I doubt he paid the extra for the insurance.

You mention your losses..surely with the sale money you paid your mate the money he was owed? Sounds like you didn't which is a bit of a kick in the teeth

maccyj

He paid special next day delivery so says on the receipt covered up to 500

Warwick_Hunt

maccyj wrote: »

please help on what steps i can take next

So a month ago i sold an iphone 8 plus, because the person wasnt local they paid through paypal (friends and family). I sent photos of the phone, receipt of postage to cover myself. The guy received the phone the next day. all was good until last week when I received an email from paypal saying a case had been opened up against me regarding the iphone. I immediately got intouch with paypal and gave them the tracking number of the phone which they seemed happy with and told me at the time it would take a few days but money will be put back into my account. In the meantime the person had messaged me stating there was issue with the phone and it had been blocked. after checking my end, the phone had been reported blocked for some reason. i told the person i would sort it out and did exactly that my end but only the day after the case had been opened, paypal had emailed to say case was closed. I rang paypal straight away and explained the situation and they told me the case had gone in the buyers favour as i wasnt covered due to not taking payment through goods and service. They told me he buyer had said the transaction was UNAUTHORISED and theres nothing i can do about it.

Not once did paypal investigate the matter or message me for my evidence to show the transaction was authorised.

I messaged the buyer and he had told me paypal had refunded him and tried to make out i was scamming him even though i told him the block had been sorted and it wasnt my phone from new. he agreed to post the phone back to me.

I decided i was getting no where talking to paypal so i emailed them and asked what would happen if buyer claimed unauthorised transaction, asking would they investigate or just refund him straight away. they told me they would investigate the matter before making a decision which they have not done in 1 day!!!!!. I told them what had happened and they emailed back saying i can appeal the decision if: buyer returned the item in a condition other than what was stated upon receipt - if the buyer sent an empty box or if I felt paypal had made an error.

well today I received the phone back and it was cracked on the screen, showing damage of it being dropped. I messaged the person who denied any cracks before posting it. I told him i was opening a case with royal mail where they told me not to as they didnt want any more involvement with the phone. the person then tried to make out i was making a fraudulent case. The second i told them i knew that they had claimed their money back by saying it was an unathorised transaction they switched and seemed happy to help.

i have since been back on to paypal after receiving the email and explained the item was returned damaged. I told them i had an email from them saying i can appeal the decision and told them there was investigation and i had proof it was all authorised. I got told again there was nothing i could do as it was investigated so i asked what proof they had. they told me the persons phone number and ip address didnt match. so I asked them how can they explain me receiving the phone back then. they said that person probably didnt notice the unauthorised transaction till after i posted the item. I told them the guy had, had the phone for a month before opening the case. and i have all messages to prove it was him. she even agreed they had probably been conned too but still wont do nothing.

sorry for the long thread but what is the best way forward? after checking the case on paypal there is no evidence uploaded against me by buyer. to me the whole case seems dodgy making me think this person knows someone who works for paypal as how could they close the case within a day.

is it worth taking them to court? as i am currently in £-559.00 with them and feel the whole situation hasnt been dealt with properly. please can any one help

I wouldn’t have thought PayPal would have got involved in an arguement over a phone since he gifted you the money.

Once he claimed an unauthorised transaction he will have been under no obligation to PayPal to return the phone.