[insomniac]

Man, I've had my problems with PayPal over the years. Some HUGE, some small. So add this to my growing personal list.

PayPal has a statute of limitations on filing a complaint - 30 days after the transaction. Now this is not a problem in most situations but I just experienced one where it screwed me over.

I bought something from a Head-fi'er in Canada. Paid via PayPal. Paid directly from my bank account (instead of credit card), as always encouraged by PayPal. He had quoted me a shipped price. Without consulting me, he went ahead and shipped it via Ground Mail and said it would take 6 weeks. Now it's my fault that I didn't clarify his shipping method before paying but I think it would have been common courtesy to ask whether ground shipping was ok considering it would take 6 weeks. I would have been happy to pay a few bucks extra. Also, the product I bought was a CompactFlash card, so it's not like it was a big, heavy box or anything.

Anyhow, fast forward close to 10 weeks. Still no item has arrived. The seller will not respond to my PM's or e-mails. The phone number he has on his PayPal profile goes to a voicebox that has "not yet been initiated by the user". PayPal will NOT accept my complaint since it is past 30 days from the date of the transaction. I can't file a complaint with my credit card company since I paid with my bank account balance. So it's looking very well like I got screwed.

So the lesson here? Don't use PayPal. Fine, that's not very realistic these days. But I would ALWAYS use credit cards via PayPal to make payments. Your credit card company will offer FAR better protection than PayPal ever will. If you don't use a credit card, be extra wary of international transactions. Make sure everything is expected to be settled well within 30 days so that you'll have time to file a complaint if necessary. I can see why some folks avoid international transactions altogether. There's just so much more that can go wrong and if anything does go wrong, it's about a 10x bigger a headache to try to get things resolved.

Probably all common sense to y'all here, but I'm just venting. Ultimately, the transaction wasn't for a whole lot of money (perhaps why I wasn't more careful) and I've been screwed over by/through PayPal a lot worse, but it's still never fun.

Click for update

NEW UPDATE: username is markedman - BUYER BEWARE!

 

[grawk]

You should definitely post this warning in that users' feedback thread, too. Perhaps a headfier can drop by and visit him for you.

 

[Jahn]

yes paypal stinks but so does that headfier for not offering some help on that transaction gone bad. remember that 75ohm adapter? well a xin adapter sent first class mail to another head-fier didn't reach him either, so i told him if it doesn't get there soon I'm going to reimburse him and retro the paypal payment. honestly, i'm only using priority mail now, no matter how small the item!

the point is, if it goes south and it's out of both the seller's and buyer's control, the seller should remember that he still has the cash. yes, perhaps splitting it would be fair because now the seller has no item either, but the seller shouldn't leave the buyer high and dry.

 

[MintGreenGoblin]

Yep not a paypal fan. I had a similar problem and so I went to my credit card company and had them chargeback the transaction and refund me my money. Paypals response? They booted me from paypal. I got screwed, the person who cheated me is still scamming others, and now I cant use paypal ever again because I took action to protect myself and my money.

Insanity.

 

[socrates63]

For a second there, I thought it was our transaction that had gone bad. Hew!

That's pretty lame to mail a compactflash card via ground. I wonder how much the seller saved... 25 cents?

 

[canloader]

I got bit once with playpal~ Used buy it now for a subwoofer off ebay. Buyer stated NEW. Sub came in worked and used. Seller laughed. Of all the people right? I disputed with ebay, paypal, and Discover... Bad mistake. Discover will not help if you use a "third party" like paypal for purchases. Oh well, I re-listed it with the correct description and pictures and made $50 from the bidding war. But what a pain the the arse!

 

[Big D]

Quote:

Originally Posted by socrates63 For a second there, I thought it was our transaction that had gone bad. Hew! That's pretty lame to mail a compactflash card via ground. I wonder how much the seller saved... 25 cents?

Assuming the item ever existed.....

 

[kramer5150]

Did the head-fi'er have any feedback profile?

The folks I've bought from have all had some sort of positive profile. I turn the other cheek on sellers with minimal or negative F/B, and consider many to be scammers.

You should start a feedback thread on this member so others know who he is.

Would you mind P/M'ing me the sellers headfi ID?... so I can protect myself?

Thanks,
Garrett

 

[markkr]

They screwed me too a few years back, I ONLY pay PayPal from Amex acct now. Its a good practice IMO. If I have to use Amex to settle a problem and PayPal kills my acct; so be it. At least I didnt get completely screwed.

 

[insomniac]

Well what do you know, not longer after I posted this thread, I got an e-mail from the seller. He hadn't been responding to me for well over a month now. Nothing like a public calling out, eh? I will keep his Head-fi name private pending the outcome of this fiasco.

 

[Xeno7651]

I think the seller lied to you from the start. There is no such thing as ground from Canada that take 6 weeks. The slowest method takes about 2-4 weeks depending on the destination. Considering you live in NYC, the slowest method should only take 2 weeks.

 

[Jahn]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xeno7651 I think the seller lied to you from the start. There is no such thing as ground from Canada that take 6 weeks. The slowest method takes about 2-4 weeks depending on the destination. Considering you live in NYC, the slowest method should only take 2 weeks.

Tell me about it, the Melos was grunted from Canada to NYC in 2 weeks man!

 

[Xeno7651]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jahn Tell me about it, the Melos was grunted from Canada to NYC in 2 weeks man!

Most things shipped from Canada to the US should take no more than 2 weeks. The seller definitely lied to Insomniac and was planning to rip him off from the start.

 

[AdamWill]

Yes, I love the 30 day thing. Especially from another point of view.

Who owns PayPal? eBay. What does eBay do every time you complain to them about any transaction? They tell you you have to wait at least 28 days before registering any complaint, in order to give the seller time to ship the item.

So eBay's own policies give you a window of two days.

 

[boodi]

Quote:

Originally Posted by insomniac Well what do you know, not longer after I posted this thread, I got an e-mail from the seller. He hadn't been responding to me for well over a month now. Nothing like a public calling out, eh? I will keep his Head-fi name private pending the outcome of this fiasco.

why do you keep it private ?
just curiosity