PayPal won't refund me

BillDoor

A while ago I made a purchase online, from what I believed to be a genuine site and paid with PayPal. I was then contacted by the seller saying he wouldn't be able to send the item and I needed to request the refund through PayPal. When I eventually navigated their site to find this, I opened a case for refund.

I then went on holiday and apparently missed the email from them saying I had 20 days to escalate it to actually get the money back.

They now tell me that because I missed this 20 days the case is closed and can not be reopened.

I've tried raising this with them via their email and through Twitter, but only ever get the same automated response of "you had 20 days..."

No one there seems able, or willing, to deal with my complaint.

Does anyone have any experience with PayPal and refunds? Is there another avenue I can try? (The seller is completely non responsive!)

It's only a small amount, but I now feel that I must pursue this.

Deastons

PayPal are a law unto themself. You missed the deadline, case closed.

BillDoor

There's got to be a way

AndyMc.....

BillDoor wrote: »

There's got to be a way

How did you fund the PayPal transaction?

BillDoor

Current account

Svein_Forkbeard

BillDoor wrote: »

There's got to be a way

Sure take them to court and see if they agree with you. Otherwise learn from your mistake and/or don't use their service again.

(I am saying this from experience fighting a £10 fine from London Underground about 20 years ago. The one thing I learnt is don't stress about the small stuff it is just not worth it.)

Deastons

BillDoor wrote: »

There's got to be a way

I once had something stolen via eBay - the buyer essentially used eBay and PayPal's system to their advantage. I tried everything to get back my £400-ish, but gave up in the end (even the police weren't interested) and haven't used either service since.

Last year my wife bought something on eBay and paid by PayPal - same sort of thing but this time it went all the way to court (it was a £4k purchase) where we won. If PayPal had sorted it like they could have, it would have saved everyone a lot of time, money and effort (and the seller a CCJ and £1,000+ of costs). Again, I think the seller tried to use the quirks of PayPal to their advantage.

Chalk it up to experience and just don't use PayPal anymore.

shaun_from_Africa

Both Paypal and ebay are generally okay provided you know what you are doing and follow their requirements for buyer and seller protection to the letter.

I've bought and sold on ebay hundreds of times and just about every item was paid for via paypal and when buying I've had a couple of items not as described and although it took a while, I did get refunded for these.

There are plenty of stories on here (and other forums) telling of ebay and/or Paypal problems but as with all such things, people generally only post about the transactions that have gone wrong and not when the transaction goes through without a glitch,

Deastons

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

I've had a couple of items not as described and although it took a while, I did get refunded for these.

In our case, PayPal agreed the item was not as described and said they would refund us when we gave them the Royal Mail tracking number proving the return. It was a greenhouse. Not something you can return in the post.

Once the 14 days elapsed and we hadn't proved the return, that was it. Case closed.

eBay wouldn't do anything because more than 28 days had passed since the purchase. They totally ignored the fact the listing even said it was 6-8 weeks delivery.

We can't even leave negative feedback as too much time passed from sale to delivery. The seller is still on eBay with 100% feedback, probably pulling the same scam selling sub-standard greenhouses and using eBay and PayPal to help them.

shaun_from_Africa

Deastons wrote: »

In our case, PayPal agreed the item was not as described and said they would refund us when we gave them the Royal Mail tracking number proving the return. It was a greenhouse. Not something you can return in the post.

Which is why I stated the following:

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Both Paypal and ebay are generally okay provided you know what you are doing and follow their requirements for buyer and seller protection to the letter.

According to Papl T&C's for buyer protection, Paypal shouldn't even have agreed to consider a dispute for the greenhouse being not as described.

deaston wrote: »

We bought a greenhouse at a cost of £5,000 through eBay - bespoke made, painted and they came and installed it. We had to ensure we had a base of 10'6" x 6'8". We spent over £1,000 having a concrete and brick base made

Custom made items are only covered for not received and are excluded from not as described disputes..

Another time you lost money through Paypal was also from not reading up on their protection requirements.
You sold a TV for which the buyer paid via Paypal then you allowed them to collect it, after which they claimed for non delivery.
This is a fairly common scam on ebay which is why paypal seller protection states that you must provide online viewable proof of delivery.

[Deleted User]

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Which is why I stated the following:



According to Papl T&C's for buyer protection, Paypal shouldn't even have agreed to consider a dispute for the greenhouse being not as described.


Custom made items are only covered for not received and are excluded from not as described disputes..

Another time you lost money through Paypal was also from not reading up on their protection requirements.
You sold a TV for which the buyer paid via Paypal then you allowed them to collect it, after which they claimed for non delivery.
This is a fairly common scam on ebay which is why paypal seller protection states that you must provide online viewable proof of delivery.

Sadly, some people need protecting from their own incompetence.