If PayPal screw up, you lose money!

LandOfConfusion

I'll try and keep this short and not ramble.

I brought an expensive (£156) item from a German company back in early July and paid for it though their website using PayPal. Item never turns up and the company, who in the beginning converses with me in fluent English says that they've asked their courier to investigate. I continue to email them every 1-2 weeks. Two and a half months later and with still no conclusion I open a PayPal case and decide to give them until the Friday before the case is automatically closed to resolve the issue.

Friday morning, it's after my night shift and I log into PayPal, go to the open case and see they still haven't done anything. So I type out a final message stating what they have written so far (which is all in German) as well as my response and suggest to them that they take the issue up with their courier. I then go back & forth though Google Translate to make sure it translates correctly. I then go back to PayPal to post both the English and German translations but the session has timed out, so log back in only to find the case has been auto-closed prematurely.

I get in contact with PayPal and the customer services representative initially responds with what looks like a slightly modified template response, which incidentally completely misses my point. So I state again that the case has been auto-closed prematurely and that for proof she can look at the dispute summary.

I get a rather verbose response back which basically acknowledges the issue but says they can't help as the funds "have already been distributed" and that I should contact Trading Standards and/or Citizen's Advice. Given that it's a German company I now seriously doubt the template response her claim that she's read the conversation between myself and the seller.

Kind of an expensive way to find out that PayPal is basically as safe as cash with a receipt.

Oh, and to add insult to injury PayPal have sent me an email suggesting that I "recommend a friend". I don't think so somehow.

forgotmyname

Case closed with proof of delivery?  Your claim for non delivery is outside the timeframe for a claim?