Look at how PayPal and eBay deal with this question online.
Then look at how other ‘real world’ companies deal with it.
A little over a year ago, following my brother’s experience of a ‘buyer dispute scam’ (buyer receives goods, claims they’re faulty or not as described, gets refund from PayPal, keeps what you sent them and returns whatever they feel like returning) I tried to research who regulates PayPal.
I spent the best part of a day talking to people at the Financial Services Authority and the Financial Ombudsman Service and posted their best advice (which frankly didn’t amount to much) in the form of a step-by-step guide for readers to follow if they needed to complain about PayPal’s conduct.
That post is still #1 in Google globally for the query “how do I complain about paypal”. Depressingly, in all that time, no individual or regulatory body has managed to add anything more useful or authoritative to my post. It’s not as if we’re talking about a corner shop here. This is PayPal – a financial organisation making money from more than 100 million customer accounts and there’s NO information how to complain about it. It is almost beyond belief.
But it got me thinking: how do other financial giants deal with that Google keyphrase directed at them?
A search on “how to complain about Barclays” gives you this. A search on “how to complain about government” gives you this. “How to complain about TSB” gives you this. “How to complain about HSBC” gives you this. “How to complain about British Airways” gives you this. “How to complain about Sainsbury’s” (eventually) gives you this.
Get the picture? Each of those organisations (chosen randomly just now) responds to that query with their own procedures and information.
Yet a search for “how do I complain about PayPal” or “How do I complain about eBay” produces nothing from those two companies. It’s as if they don’t feel they have to acknowledge customer complaints.
What’s really interesting is that the next online company I chose to do this test on – Amazon – also doesn’t respond to the query. And the same for Play.com.
That quick review shows a simple – and shocking – distinction: offline businesses have formal complaints procedures only because they are findable in the real world whereas the people behind online businesses aren’t. The result? You and I can’t find out how to complain about PayPal, eBay, Amazon or Play.com for love nor money.
It’s outrageous that businesses which operate entirely online feel that they don’t have to anticipate or deal with customer complaints. It’s extremely dangerous that they can also operate without regulation.
Ebay is a fraud. There has to be a better way to let the sellers know. Ebay depends on sellers for its funding and the sellers are the ones taking loses.
Maybe there should be a course in ebay fraud when they have their ebay university get together.
Thanx for the article, I was running into the same problems looking for anyone that to complain to
i would still like to make an unrelated particular matter aware to a regulatory authority about ebay. it seems when something goes wrong that you can let your friends know how to avoid the problems through your own miss fortune but other than that what can you really do and why ?
So if we cant complain against them and we show that we have done everything in our power to attempt to contact someone surely they dont have a leg to stand on if I decide to totally ignore their demands to reimburse them for a refund they decided to give my buyer on a laptop that I dispatched in perfect working order but they claim was received damaged and when it was returned it was smashed and not functioning?
They may write to me making threats but really what can they do? Take it to court to be shown the emails, letters and telephone bills showing I attempted and tried my best to contact someone regarding the matter but was refused to be spoken to on every occassion?
And that I have emails from the buyer stating that they had been informed by ebay to not return the item so that I could make a claim against Royal Mail for compensation as item damaged during transit which lead me to not being able to put a cliam forward in time.
I think I will take the chance and pretend to also be invisable when they being to contact me.
Hi Rachel – thanks for your comment. You sound like you’re a victim of the ‘buyer dispute’ scam. I buy something off you. I pay via PayPal, you dispatch item in perfect working order. I received item in perfect working order but lodge a claim, saying it was damaged. PayPal freezes your account and returns me my money. I keep your good item and return a broken one (or even something completely different). You can’t do anything.
Great isn’t it.
I told a colleague of mine at the office yesterday about some of the posts I get here about PayPal’s activity. He said “they did that to me – took two payments of £40 for no reason. I couldn’t contact them. They never responded, never refunded me. Eventually I gave up and stopped using PayPal – but started again a few months later because I had to to buy something on eBay”.
Absolutely typical. I wonder how many millions of £££ / $$$ PayPal has accrued this way?
My reference is keithg5693 and I have used bay alot recently and spent a lot of money. I bought a multi region DVD player from the states with no remote control to let me use it. A book called the bell witch and a die cast car. Both the car and book didn’t arrive. eBay have been no help.
Up till now I was very impressed with ebay but all of a sudden I have been left to leave negative feedback which I have never done before. I had 100 percent positive feedback and was a prompt player. I am nearly 150 pounds out of pocket Now. Please sort out the remote control for my multi region DVD player and find out where my book and die cast car are.
I am so disappointed as I was really impressed at bay up till now. My tel no In the uk is xxxxxxxxxx My 100 present positive feedback is ruined.
Hi Keith.
Sorry I can’t help you – I’m not eBay. I can see from a quick search online that other people in eBay forums have advised you that if you have a problem with goods not arriving, you need to take it up with the seller.
I don’t quite get why you’re worried about giving a seller some negative feedback. It’s not as if that reflects badly on you.
I suggest being more careful posting your phone number when you’re not even sure where you are. I’ve edited it out. Think about it – I now know your name, phone number, eBay ID, a long list of the toys you’ve bought and some problems you’re having. If I was a scammer, I could get up to quite a bit of mischief with that information. I really recommend you take more care online.
i’ve had 2 buyers who said they hadn’t received items when i sent them by insured mail. i could prove delivery! ebay and paypal gave them their money back.3 weeks later one of the buyers emailed me to tell me how much she loved the bag,and loved the fact she got her money back for it!
not only was i out of pocket for the item,ebay,paypal fees, postage and phonecalls.the real insult to injury was when i contacted ebay with the proof one of the buyers had stolen off me,they told me the case was closed! so i don’t trust either ebay or paypal,they both support crooks!
I have recently been conned by a buyer on ebay. Cost me about £45 so far. Sold them a perfect working order (much loved as well) item and they told me it was broken. Total lie. Have gone through all the ebay appeals and have never once received an explanation of why they refunded the seller. I will not let this go and my next step is to write a letter to ebay, my local trading standards and the one in Ireland where ebay office is based. I am also contacting the FSA about paypal because I had given them a written instruction to freeze my account but they never did. Unfortunately for ebay they have messed with the wrong person this time. As did the buyer. This is just the start
The old ‘buyer dispute’ scam.
Go, fella. It’ll take someone to go totally over the edge and take this to the Federation of Intergalactic Fair Trade. Are you that person?
I too am totally fed up with the Ebay / Paypal con there are way too many loop holes and never a satisfactory solution. I suggest we pass the word round and get as many people to boycott both. Perhaps this action causing them to lose money instead of the law abiding seller may make them sit up and realise they need to make changes.
I will be doing everything in my power to, if required take ebay through the small claims court.[I once took abbey building society and won] .I sold a item on ebay the buyer emailed and said it was faulty [it wasent]I agreed to take it back and give a refund but buyer never sent it back to me .ebay gave them a refund .I have no goods and no money .I will fight this and anyone who can give me any help e.g an address to send my complaint to would be great .Watch this space because i WILL.MARIE
I just experiences the worst nightmare as an Ebay user.
I Have been a victim of a scum .
I purchased a laptop for 180pounds, it never arrived as promised by the seller. She then also emaild me stating that it was not working in proper order as previously stated prior the bidding. And she also said that it was not 4 month old but a 1 year old, this after that she cashed my money
Just unbelievable. I am devastate , and stressed out.
I had no help from Ebay because they are saying that I forward my complaint to PAypal, so they cannot help me .
I dont know what Paypal will do.
But this is fraud , I have been rip off by e seller.
I am just crying about it .
Hi . i have the same problems with ebay and worse ones with paypal , EBAY should be known for THE BUY WITH CONFIDENCE AND SELL WITH CAUTION !! paypal is just robbing people , this new pending money thing is ridiculous . I have had to wait for my money even when positive feedback has been left buy the buyers . now i have had a refund for an item and they have even put that on pending for 21 days ! that money came out of my bank and they are now keeping it ! they so right , bet they making some serious interest on OUR money . its a disgrace !
i like some of your readers feel that there is no protection with e/bay/papal and when i sold a tag watch on ebay the seller said not as descibed and demanded a refund which i disputed as he said it was a fake. papal refunded him and when i asked to see the proof was told that a court order would be required. when i asked for a refund from them as i purchased it from e bay earier they told me the case was closed. When i asked for the previous sellers address in order to claim my cash back i wss they couldnt find the transaction. The law should do more to prevent people from being ripped off, No protection whatsoever!.I lost the watch and the money. Whatever you need it can be bought without the use of e bay, thanks for reading
hi, can you offer me any advise, i have been buying alot of autographs from ebay and a little from private sellers of ebay, i have spent many thousands over the last 3 yrs, however, i have just discovered to my horror, everyone is fake, under s75, my credit card will refund all these unless you pay via paypal, which i have. Paypal will not look into any as they are all 45 days old. I have complained to the government help line, that may give this to trading standards, but they say, i will not get any money back.
any advise, i don’t see how can paypal overrule UK legisalation and not have their own guarentees in place?
thanking you,
Hi Shelley, sorry to hear you’ve been ripped off. Would PayPal have helped if you’d contacted them within 45 days?
Hi Sam,
thank you for getting back to me, yes paypal would have helped if i had contacted them in 45 days, but the point is, under consumer law, the relevant date is, at the time of the misrepesentation being known, not the time of sale, and it is this i want to put to paypal, and will do so in writing.
If there is any advise you can offer it would be really appreciated.
thanking you
kind regards
shelley
any advise?
thanking you
Hi Shelley – I don’t, sadly. I’m hoping that in the comments provided by other people here there are some useful / helpful tips. Unfortunately, I don’t personally have any better information than I posted at the beginning of the this thread.
You could try my other thread (there’s quite a lot of information AND comments):
http://www.mukaumedia.co.uk/complain-paypal-uk/
Hi,
My problem is quite simple, I bid for and won, a rug from a USA seller, but because the price had no postage charge, I had to contact the seller.This I did but got no response, 4 times, somewhat exasperated I contacted eBay customer service, they then provided a link to the sellers phone number, but i couldn’t get through to the states. So, I sent another e-mail, yesterday and surprised to see that e-bay’s response was to tell me that I have 4 days to pay or else.
E-Bay are really good at ignoring me.
Welcome to the 21st century online customer ‘service’ where businesses don’t care how many people hate them and people don’t care how hateful the payment system they use is – until their transaction gets screwed up or their account gets suspended. They’ll only change if and when the majority of people stop using them. Unfortunately, the majority still don’t have problems. So long as that’s the case, nothing will change.
I registered with ebay just a week ago. I filled in registration info honestly and accurately, then posted an item to sell. Eby very promptly took monet off me, and in hte meantime I’ve bid for a couple of items.
I’ve tried very hard to follow rules – even refusing offer from individual who tried to buy my item off-line.
However, to my absolute horror – I got a series of emails saying my bids have been withdrawn, I’ve received bid from unregistered member, and my account has been suspended and that payments will still be taken from me!!
I tried three time to call them – over 75 mins waiting time, and when they finally answered they hung up before I could even say hello.
Finally I got on the online chat – after a 25 min wait.
I asked politely for an explanation of my suspension. This is the answer I got: “I’ve carefully checked your account and can see it was suspended due to several discrepancies in your registration information. Due to the severe nature of the policy breaches on your account, your account cannot be considered for reinstatement. ”
SEVERE nature of policy breaches!!
I asked for clarification (I had registered completely honestly) but got told: “I understand you’d like more precise information about why we suspended your account. In order to safeguard our community, I’m afraid we’re not allowed to divulge specific information about what led us to take action. By revealing this, we could help members’ intent on breaching the policy to avoid detection.”
The discussion then went in circles.
Ebay’s final comment was this:
“I’m sorry if you feel that way but the suspension of your account will remain and you can no longer appeal for its reinstatement.”
EVEN A CRIMINAL GETS MORE RIGHTS THAN THIS! Actually, I wasn’t asking for reinstatement, just an explanation…. and I’d also like my money back for the service they haven’t provided.
I can’t believe there really isn’t any right of appeal, nor that they can suspend somebody without providing any explanation at all!
I have just sent an official complaint to Paypal. I am one of their victims whose money has been withheld. They are disguising their thieving from us saying that they are protecting the buyers or any other sordid excuse.
The issue here is that when our MP’s were found to abuse their expenses on our account, they were sacked. When high street banks a few years ago, were found to charge astronomical unfair charges, they had to refund those charges. When any bank is entertaining illegal practices, that bank is answerable to Big Brother!
Who is Paypal, that they are protected from investigation and being ordered to ‘get their act together’. I do not believe one second that if really the government of each country where Paypal operates were aware of their victimisation of small people such as buyers and sellers who are their customers, they would be ordered to change their practices or be shut down.
I also believe that solidarity, i.e. all people getting together to sign a petition ‘online’ would be a start to submit our complaints to the government of the UK and the USA first, and then submit it to the World bank, why not.
Remember the biblical story of David and Goliath? Who won? Check your bibles!
What is going on with this bogus buyers protection program , e-bay guarantees the buyer , winning bidder their goods , so the bidder has nothing to lose , that way they can get more interested parties to bid , hence increase their revenue , it also incourages bogus bidders , who have absolutely no intentions of paying for the item they are bidding on anyway , because they know the seller has to pay a refund otherwise they get suspended ! , their policies are an absolute joke ! , how can or why is it fair that sellers gets canned every time , also regarding to ebay controlling or having the right to control your finances or the way you run your auctions , ie when I list , I state I can not be held responsible for lost or damaged items in the post , but I can not fulfill my policies ,because I have to abide by theirs , pay back seller or close your account , the fees you pay ebay and paypal who are both the same company , so you are getting stiffed in total 3 time for various fees from ebay ,once when listing , 2 when selling the item and 3 paying pay pal , so even though I am aware they are scamming me ,I would be quite happy with that , but surely you should be paying all these fees for the use of their site , not for allowing them to control how you run your business ? , I have tried to complain , but as you can imagine they make it almost impossible to get your complaint across , I have had no reply from my appeal regarding a refund , that was 2 weeks ago , they allow you 45 days to appeal , in the knowing that you cant appeal any way , also in regard to the amount of fake goods that get passed through e-bay sites , but they are not held accountable for any of it ,even if the bidder has been found to be selling dodgy goods they still take their fees out of the conterfeit goods , so in fact that make them just as guilty ,I am sure there are laws in the way e-bay are running their site , they are getting away with millions of pounds , dollars what ever the currency ? from traders like myself and if it was not for the seller , there would not be any e-bay , prehaps they should think about that ?
Tanya, like all rip-offs, they get away with it because you and everyone else who uses Paypal effectively lets them. I agree there should be effective regulation, but we’ve seen that there isn’t any. So, after that, there’s only you left to vote with your feet. The trouble is that the vast majority are having no problems…yet. Paypal can afford to lose those that are having problems, so why should they change? They’re making an absolute fortune as it is… just exactly, precisely as it is. Doing anything else would just be a waste of money.
It will stop when enough people walk away from them and not before. Given they’ve got a virtual monopoly that moment is going to be a long time coming….sadly.
Dear Paypal
My account has been set as limited and I dont think it is a fair decision. I have been selling on ebay for quite a long time now slowly and keeping my customers happy all the way. I have always been faithful to ebay and paypal, but yesterday’s message from ebay has shocked me.
Seriously ebay has removed all my listings from the beginning of time and encouraged all my customers including bidders who did not won the item to raise a case against me so that they get a refund? for what? when they have already got the item and have settled happily.
Instead my customers have emailed me in my mailbox sympathising on what has happened to my account and wrote to me how rudely ebay and paypal emailed them.
No one has raised a fraud case against me or anything like that. I have posted all the items I promised and they are on the way to them with recorded signed for service.
And being unable to ask the reason for removal of ebay and limitation of my paypal account, you have already put a permanent sort of thing on it. When I click on ‘case resolution’ and how to resolve pages, it shows me nothing at all. The only case that are pending are one of them is chosen by a paypal staff to check for which I have already supplied info and the other one raised by a person who only paid the day before and was expecting a delivery for next day when I had already mentioned in my ebay listing that items should be expected within 1-3 woking days.
Can anyone be so unreasonable to limit just anyone’s account as they wish? It is totally unfair.
I have not done any anti money laundering stuff nor I have ripped off any buyer or anything. I am just a normal person trying to sell my stuffs and if my sales volume grow suddenly in one month, it does not mean that you should put a ban on it!
I mean this is ridiculous. In all the laws of the world everyone is allowed to express and be given a chance to justify the deeds and I have not been given one. I have been permanently closed on ebay without any justification. no appeal right on paypal as well. And paypal being such big companies does not have a proper procedure of filing such a claim on anyone they feel suspicious about!
And on top of that, they will hold the money I have in paypal account for atleast 90 days to 180 days? for waht? If claims are raised the procedure for buyer protection is to raise a case within 45 days so why should paypal hold money for so long? How many thousands of customers’ money does paypal hold for 180 days to earn an extra interest? The paypal policy is implying itself a money laundering machine and not poor people like us!
When I contact paypal. Staffs at paypal say the words copied from some pages and talk like a robot like they do not have a human opinion based on the decision? like they are trained to say to people what is written on the website or their guidelines?
I have not been treated fairly and my case is not justified so I would like to take this case to consumer watchdog in any case.
Big companies like you cannot just imply any case on anyone, there is no bit of customer satisfaction for their loyaltly.
I hope you appreciate my serious concerns about this unreasonable mentally harassing treatment from paypal all of a sudden.
No matter what you may be thinking reading this email, I am just writing to say that Paypal has not done a right thing to me and may be to so many other people and this should not be continuing at all.
Staffs should be trained to treat people like people and not some brand name ‘PAYPAL’ would do afterall paypal is also run by people.
I think I have said enough. Hope someone will listen. Even if you dont, justice is done from above and paypal is not the one who should.
Merry Christmas!!!
Hi Mercias. I assume this is the text of an email or letter you sent to Paypal, lols.
Surely the government has to get involved now!
I have been scammed a few times.
Most recently I sold a valor fire, The customer claimed I had sent them a Flavel fire (IMPOSSIBLE!)
The buyer opened a case and of course ebay found in the buyers favour.
THE BUYER WAS REFUNDED BEFORE I EVEN GOT THE WRONG GOODS BACK!
ALL THE BUYER HAS TO DO IS PROVIDE A TRACKING NUMBER VIA ROYAL MAIL AND THEY RECEIVE AN INSTANT REFUND!
FOR ALL EBAY KNOW THEY COULD BE SENDING BACK A BOX OF BRICKS!
OF COURSE I GOT HER OLD FLAVEL FIRE BACK.
WHEN I APPEALED THE CASE EBAY DEMANDED A POLICE REPORT!
EBAY ARE CLAIMING THAT THE POLICE FORCE HAVE A DEDICATED TEAM THAT YOU CAN GO TO WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN SCAMMED FOR A POLICE REPORT.
SURELY THE GOVERNMENT HAS TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS
IT IS TIME FOR THEM TO BE REGULATED!
It’s not sellers that get rip off there is also the buyers. I bought a tablet pc and it arrived and it worked for about two hours. I’ve been trying to get my money back for about 3 months now and I’ve now had enough of the EBay and PayPal so call safe way of buying thing over the internet. I’ve now decided to put it down to experience and have at least got a good paper weight.
Agreed, Bob. The way it looks to me is that Paypal don’t mind who ends up with the pile of bricks so long as they and eBay can take the commission and – preferably – hold on to as much money in their account for as long as possible before giving it back.
Bob,
This is my full time business.
If you buy something on Ebay as a buy it now, you have 7 days to return the goods regardless of whether it worked or not, this is your legal right under the distance selling rules.
If the item turns out to be faulty as yours has, you have 45 days to open a case.
All you have to do is provide Ebay with a tracking number via royal mail and you will receive a full refund.
If the tablet was new, then it will be covered under the manufacturer warranty also.
I cannot see how you are not getting anywhere as all cases that are opened against me by scammers are settled in their favour, whether the refund comes from me or Ebay.
I agree with Sam, I have no control whatsoever over what is essentially my money.
I have had another case opened against me today.
I sold an air cooler/air humidifier.
It was clearly described and photographed (It was brand new)
The buyer (after a couple of weeks) said he had bought it in error as he thought it was a dehumidifier.
I refused a return as it had been unpackaged, used and was correctly described.
What did the buyer do?
Opened a case claiming the goods were not new, not as described and were the wrong item.
Even though he admits it was his mistake via messages in Ebay and he is now lying, all he has to do is send the goods back, provide a royal mail tracking number and he will be issued a full refund at my expense.
Happy days!
Paypal have stole over $1200 from me I can not get a reasonable answer from them only automated answers..They have destroyed my online academic writing job..I live in the philippines ,so I cant access landline and their ridiculous answering service makes it impossible to use a mobile. I have spent 3000 peso trying. I am so mad and frustrated
PAYPAL is rubbish. There are only interested in making as much money as possible. There must be a better way of getting and sending money than paypal. If you find one let us all know I WANT TO STOP USING PAYPAL. I asked them for the UK Registered office and after four emails I am still awaiting a reply.
Have been victim to one of the scams. Sold a 9ct gold necklace and the buyer said it was fake and returned me a completely different plastic gold coloured necklace. £300 is a lot to lose. I have refused to pay the money by taking my card details off my paypal account, , but what I want to know is could this affect my credit rating? I don’t give a monkey about ebay and have cancelled my paypal account as a result of this, but I am looking to buy a house next year, so need to know if this.
Hi Lee – that’s a good question and I have to say I haven’t heard anyone here yet report credit rating problems because of PayPal suspending accounts for any reason. Unfortunately, I’m not in a position to advise on this – but let’s see if there’s anything out there on Google or possibly people visiting here and reading this?
I’m posting this sorry tale on behalf of my partner. She had created an Ebay account in order to sell her old (but quite unique hand-made) wedding dress, at just over $700. Very quickly she had a buyer who claimed to have paid–and yet no monies were paid into my partner’s PayPal account linked to her Ebay account. My partner emailed the buyer 3 times to query whether the buyer was going to pay; she received no response to any of the emails.
The ‘buyer’ in the meantime had raised a case with Ebay complaining that she had paid but not received the dress, quite in spite of the fact that no payment had been made. My partner thankfully did not dispatch the dress; and remains in dispute with Ebay.
My partner meanwhile re-listed the dress; and within 24 hours had another buyer. Same pattern: the US-based ‘buyer’ claimed to have paid, yet no payment was visible; the ‘buyer’ ignored emails from my partner; and the ‘buyer’ raised a case demanding a refund.
In each case the ‘buyer’ had created the Ebay account on the very day of purchase. The ‘buyer’ user name in each case followed a pattern: initial of last name+forename+middle initial+2012 with, in each case, an address in the USA which, when we checked it today, was a house currently up for sale.
After sending many unanswered emails to Ebay, my partner has now received a menacing message: “What you should know: If you issue a refund before Customer Support makes a final decision, the case will be closed, and you wont be held at fault.” Won’t be held at fault? the unbelievable impudence of it!
That this is a scam is obvious. That Ebay is, in sending such a message to my partner, complicit in the scam is equally obvious–by refusing to answer my partner’s emails and to therefore address her complaints, Ebay is criminally abetting the scammer.
My partner and I are almost hoping that Ebay will take this to court, thus giving us the public platform (together with the volumes of incontrovertible evidence that we have of a scam, most of which I have withheld from this post) to profile in the national media the appalling business practices of Ebay that favour the scammer over the genuine seller. We are very angry!
Hi Chris – thanks for posting. Please keep us posted where you go with this. To get scammed twice in quick succession and then to be ignored by eBay is incredible. Set them up and shoot ‘em down, I say – good luck with it.
I have actually had to change my bank account, cancel my credit card, cancel paypal, and order a new credit card from scratch, to prevent Ebay from taking money and giving it to the buyer who never paid! (I am Chris’ partner, yes).
Sam, the scammer’s user names, published names, addresses, and email addresses are:
[1] ealicep201s2
===========
Alice P. Esposito
2591 Elkview Drive
Roswell, GA 30075
USA
ealicep201s2 (sacbxbiu8@hotmail.com)
[2] delainep2012
===========
Elaine P. Dawson
9665 Light Ave
Hastings, FL 32145-4514
USA
delainep2012 (sacva0988@live.com)
I checked the home addresses: both houses are currently up for sale; so phony. We have also contacted, and received detailed responses from, two other sellers who were scammed by this person. The pattern seems consistent: creating a new short-term account and new Hotmail/Live.com address to perpetrate a couple of scams (always expensive clothing), demanding refunds by raising a case, and then disappearing only to re-emerge later with a different phony account. We have now amassed a great deal of further evidence; and my partner has given Ebay my mobile number for them to call me (I’m ready to do battle). I’ll keep you posted.
PAY PAL ARE A COMPANY TO BE TRUSTED CUSTOMER SENT ME OVER £2000 THEY THEN SUSPENDED MY ACCOUNT AND THE CUSTOMERS MONEY WAS ALSO FROZEN THIS HAPPENED ON THE 19TH APRIL I AUTHORISED PAY PAL TO RETURN THE CUSTOMERS MONEY AND AS YET AS STILL NOT ARRIVED IN HIS PAY PAL ACCOUNT THIS SORT OF THING IS DEPLORABLE AS THEY FIRST TRIED TO RETURN THE CUSTOMERS MONEY FROM MY BANK ACCOUNT ON 2 OCCASIONS ANOTHER CUSTOMER SENT ME £700 BY BANK TRANSFER NO CHARGE EITHER WAY AND WAS IN MY ACCOUNT IN 2 HOURS NOW THIS IS WHAT YOU CALL SERVICE. E/BAY PAY/PAL HAVE A BUYER PROTECTION PROGRAMME I THINK IT SHOULD BE RENAMED SELLER PROTECTION PROGRAMME AS E BAY /PAY PAL TAKE LITTLE OR NO RISKS THEY ENCOURAGE CUSTOMERS WERE THERE SILLY FEEDBACK REMARKS AND YET IF CUSTOMERS WERE ABLE TO LEAVE FEEDBACK FOR THEM THEY BOTH WOULD HAVE BEE SUSPENDED A LONG TIME AGO I HAVE BEEN SUSPENDED BY PAY PAL BUT DO NOT GIVE ME ANY REASON FOR DOING SO SO THEY HANG YOU WITH NO REAL EVIDENCE I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG100% POSITIVE FEEDBACK AND THEY JUST KEEP REPLYING TO MY E MAILS THAT I AM A POSSIBLE HIGH RISK YET ALL ITEMS PURCHASED WERE SENT BY TRACKED MAIL AND HAVE BEEN RECEIVED BY CUSTOMERS AND THEY SAY THEY HAVE CARRIED OUT THERE INVESTIGATIONS THE PROBLEM S OF COURSE YOU CANNOT SELL ON E BAY UNLESS PAY PAL IS LISTED AS A PAYMENT METHOD I THINK THIS SHOULD BE CHANGED AND IS ANOTHER WA YOF E BAY RUNNING YOUR BUSINESS BOTH E BAY AND PAY PAL ARE DEPLORABLE AND TREAT THERE CUSTOMERS LIKE DOG SH- -
Thanks Pauline..
I don’t mean to be unkind but unless you use lower case letters, at least SOME punctuation and spell-check your comments, it’s nearly impossible to understand what happened. I’m not being picky about spelling and punctuation for the sake of it; in this case, some of the sentences can be read two or more ways because of the lack of full stops or commas. It really matters if you want PayPal or its regulator to understand your situation.
Just read a lot of comment here about Ebay and Paypal. Did anyone knoe that Ebay and Paypal are the same people scam[ng your hard earned cash ?
Yes – a lot do Nigel, thanks.
I have spent five days listing my trike, it has been a very stressful time. I go to customers support, the either mislead me, try to blame me for way I have listed my trike, or whist chatting, they exit the chat.
I listed my trike for sale but does not show up on the correct site, it shows up on m/cycles or quad bikes. I was told by Nancy Roll (custom support), I had listed it under passenger tricycle, checked this, there is no such listing. I was told by the same person the reason it is not on this site is because my item is indexing and can take up to 24hrs to do this, last night at 9.00 pm, it had not gone on my site.
I asked her why it has taken all this time and I have lost a day listing, the chat was ended by her, I got on site with Adam, I asked if I could talk to Nancy, he informed me she was not there, after five days of explaining my listing, one came back with a stupid excuse, bread crumb lincar, he as all the custom support ended the chat and left me with my listing in the wrong place and no chance of selling but they will take my £10 listing fee, customer support have taken this as one big joke, it has been a long five days of listing and relisting and going back on the wrong site.
Some thing has to be done about this.
Hi Thomas Henry Ricky
Sounds like you’re having a bad time with eBay, right? The problem you have is that the majority of people listing and selling have no issues and that keeps the business going and keeps out the competition. It’s too big to stop (or to manage properly either if you ask me). We’re in an era where it doesn’t really matter if they do customer service well because a) people with problems are in a minority and b) they have an effective monopoly both on online auctions AND the payment gateway that auction site requires.
In short, it leads to a ‘customer with problem can basically go f*** himself’ mentality (of course, it’s never spoken of that way) because so long as the rest keep on comin’ why the hell should they eat into their profits to spend time dealing with people with problems? I mean, where else they gonna go??
There is ONLY one thing you can do about this, Thomas, and that’s STOP USING a service that treats you so badly. I know, I know – how the hell will you sell your trike without eBay? Well – the way we did in the old days, that’s how. Ads in specialist trade mags, local newsagents – hey even Craigslist.
I’ve never used eBay and these days I don’t touch PayPal (unless someone else has it as a payment processor and I have no alternative). The reason? Because I don’t want the grief when things go wrong that you’re experiencing. I’m too old and have too little time left to spend ANY of it getting further and further from any satisfactory settlement with some poor sap in a far away country who has no idea what I’m talking about.
WHEN IS AN AUCTION NOT AN AUCTION? WHEN YOU BUY FROM EBAY
It is surprising how many people do not know that PAYPAL is owned and run by EBAY.
Did you also know that PAYPAL can freeze your account for 180 days for no reason and if you do by a miracle get PAYPAL to unfreeze your account, they do not pay you interest on your balance for that period. If you decide to close your account they charge you a massive fee to clear your funds and after the 180 days they will pay the funds into a given bank. They are not governed by normal banking rules, so do not expect to be treated the same way as when you are dealing with a bank.
WHEN IS AN AUCTION NOT AN AUCTION WHEN YOU BUY FROM EBay
Definition of an auction: A public sale in which property or items of merchandise are sold to the highest bidder.
Under this definition EBay is not a true auction due to its selling policies and legal action should be considered to question their claim to be so.
EBAY offer very little protection for sellers, its ‘no returns’ facility is worthless and misleading. They have a fatal flaw in their policies which is being abused by criminal buyers. EBay have been made fully aware of this issue and for some reason choose not to close this loop hole. Like many other honest sellers, I fell for this scam and will never sell another item on EBay again, there are now many other reputable sites other than EBAY that give better protection to sellers.
For example:
If you list a pair of jeans on EBay and choose ‘no returns accepted’ you would assume that once the highest bidder wins the item and pays by PAYPAL it’s a done deal, NOT SO.
The buyer might wear the jeans, damage the jeans, find they are too small, to large or simply don’t like them and return them back to you for a full refund if you excepted PayPal as payment, however by not using PayPal you are safe to sell. PayPal promotional pitch is they offer a secure method of payment for both parties, when in truth they have their own motives in promoting PayPal, that being profits and nothing more.
(Anyway, back to the scam).
All the buyer needs to do is file a complaint with EBay that the jeans where not ‘as described’ such as a small mark on the knee or any other trivial made up complaint. (They could even damage the jeans and say they came like that, which happened in my case). I complained that this had occurred but EBay and PayPal say it’s not there problem and take the side of the buyer and open a one sided case against you. When the case progresses certain scammers are very clever at getting you to argue or get you to say the wrong things, this will give EBay more excuses to conclude the case in favour of the buyer. (It is a proven fact that no matter what the seller says in their defence including the seller assumed he was selling in a so called auction and covered by EBay ‘no returns accepted facility’ the seller rarely if ever wins the case. EBay progress with a joke of a process that is supposed to be fair to both sides but ends up being one sided, that being on the side of the buyer).
More about the scam:
Once the buyer who paid for the item using PayPal files a complaint with EBay you will find that PayPal instantly remove funds from your PayPal account without your permission, even if your account has no funds, leaving your account in the red. Some seller have complained that PayPal have even removed the outstanding money direct from there bank without the account holders permission and had no chance of getting it back, EVER. EBay/PayPal are a multimillion pound company and posts like mine are soon removed from the net as it exposes its weaknesses, any lesser company would be on rogue traders.
Something EBay do right, however,
Rightly so, EBay encourage both parties to try and conclude an agreement between both parties, which is fine but this is done with loaded dice in the favour of the buyer as he has nothing to lose. Once EBay have completed the farce of a one sided case they ask the buyer to provide a tracking number for the returned item which should arrive back in 3 days to the seller. When it arrives and you sign for the returned item, the buyer gets a refund from PayPal. You open the returned box and you get a brick inside or some crappy pair of jeans you never sent the buyer. You complain to EBay who say it’s not there problem and you should contact the police, yea right, another bee in my bonnet that one is, you have more chance of Russia and China backing the West against Syria.
!!!!!!!!!!!!! EBay/PayPAL CARRY A PUBLIC WEALTH WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sellers who except PayPal payments are open to EBay’s flawed policy that helps criminal bidding as follows: Bid for the item to the highest level, win it, pay by PayPal, receive the item, lodge a win win case with EBay, buyer sends you back a frog or a brick in a box. Getting to keep the item and get a full refund from EBay/PayPal, simples!
I must add, there are many honest buyers on EBay and not all use this form of EBay policy scam, but it is my aim to make more people aware about this loop hole used by certain people and try and protect sellers, EBay/PayPal don’t care how they make their money and its only people power who will make them change their policies to be fair for all. My advice to sellers is not to use PayPal and only except cheques, postal orders, bankers draft or collection only, avoid PayPal like the plague as this does nothing to protect the seller or protect your funds within your PayPal account; they treat the money as their own. I nearly forgot, just try and find a live customer care line for PayPal lol, no chance, only contact is by email or a premium charge phone number that you will spend around 20 minutes waiting to get an answer, such is the high rate of complaints to PayPal, but method in there madness, every penny is a profit and premium phone charges ads profits to PayPal.
I intent to post this around the net and if you agree with my findings then please feel free to copy and post it any place on the net to help advertise and warn other people about EBay/PayPal and criminal buyers.
EBay and PayPal will remove this as they don’t want honest sellers getting a fair deal. Please remember EBay is not a true auction and PayPal do not respect you as a customer, they treat your money in your PayPal account as there’s and use it to promote EBay/PayPal.
UPDATE WITH THE JOKE OF A CASE OPENED AGAINST ME BY A SCAMMER.
EBay have told me I have lost the case, surprise surprise, and I have to except the now damaged goods back and give a full refund, although I posted the item undamaged and marked in my advert on EBay no returns accepted. EBay promote scammers and sellers have no protection what so ever.
Thanks,
Mr Scammed by EBay & PayPal
We are all complaining….But HOW DO WE get democratic regulation of eBay ?..Who will take them on. They recently stole £42.02p from me in commission, after taking a buyers word against mine, and they REFUSE to give me a reason WHY I was found at fault . I was really angry that they kept the commission…that is naked THEFT.
I got the impression that they were just taking the mickey out of me with puerile answers, after MANY letters from different eBay “officials”, with their condescending “you are a valued customer” twaddle.
Even alternative auction sites are bound to have a similar system. This business should be regulated properly.
I do not approve of money being taken from my Paypal a/c without my permission either ….. to reimburse the “buyer” after they found against me !
Captain Not Happy.
Agree with you Neville.
It’s a game of percentages. The vast majority of people aren’t currently experiencing a PayPal problem… versus the tiny minority who are. And the business model says ‘who cares?’. You can survive losing the unhappy ones easily. Since there’s no viable alternative, you don’t have to worry about stories ever getting so bad that people leave cos where would they go? The other problem is that eBay becomes a necessity for people rather than a utility and that’s another reason they can act with impunity.
Hey everyone,
I would really appreciate it if you would please sign my petition if ebay have been biased towards you when a buyer has opened a case then stolen money from you! – or if they have mistreated you in any other way! I am aiming at 1000 signatures then I will post it to my local financial ombudsman along with my take on the matter and will shove it in ebay’s face too. Probably the press somehow too…
Ebay shouldn’t get away with this anymore!!
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/sellers-screwed-by-ebay/
Thank you to all of you who do end up signing this!
Hi eBay PayPal complaing department.
My complain regard for an item that bought from eBay by papal
In the 12th Dec I bought from eBay an external charge for my iPhone 4S also in the 13th I bought charger cable for iPhone 4S and I payed for both item a full payment in direct debt using the Paypal method. But tell now I have not received the item so I want to receive my item as soon as possible or i need to get my money back. Thank
Hi Jamal. I’d love to help with your problem, only I’m not PayPal’s complaint department. It worries me that you can’t tell the difference…can’t help thinking that you’d be easy meat for a scammer.
It’s amazing how many sellers are ripped off by Ebay. What’s evene more amazing is that I cannot believe there is nothing anyone can do about it. They are in a position of responsibility and to be held accountable.
Briefly…
I sold a genuine Microsoft Windows XP disc. The buyer claimed it was fake, scanned a different disc to the one I sold him. After telling Ebay, submitting the photo of mine and the fake scanned copy, letting them know how to test and prove an authentic copy (which the buyer refused to do), compared it to Microsoft official list of genuine and fake copies, they still ruled in the buyer’s favour. Furthermore, I recieved an email response from Ebay during the dispute telling me how they would honour my evidence, yeah sure. I’ve quoted this back at them as a contradiction but still waiting for them to address this.
SO I’ve decided to go down the lines of fraud, and my allegation is against Ebay for assiting this act of fraud despite having all the overwhelming evidence presented to them and ignoring it, By doing this and issuing a refund causing me loss, they are committing fraud by abuse of position. They are to be held accountable and I am taking this all the way…..out of principal.
Should I get the fake copy returned to me (which I probably will) this will only strengthen my case. Should I get the genuine copy back (yeah right) and find that it’s nee activated on his PC (by contacting Microsoft) then this will add strength to my case also.
Can I also suggest that a government e-petition raised to stop Ebay’s immoral, and fraudulent activity.
I feel for all of you sellers out there.
I have a petition against ebay but sadly not many people have signed since I created it. It’s disgusting what they did to you! They wouldn’t even provide me with their contact details for me to send my extra proof to (in my case where the buyer lied about the item I sold them) – I just don’t know how ebay can keep getting away with harassment and fraud!
Please sign this: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/sellers-screwed-by-ebay/
Best of luck with getting justice against this vile people (Ebay and Paypal) grr