Hole In eBay and PayPal Protections Discovered
As eBay moves closer to guaranteeing buyer satisfaction we discovered a hole in protections offerred by eBay and PayPal. A six-week investigation concluded on December 31, 2009 with a final telephone conversation with PayPal. Here is what we found:
An eBay seller advertises a product with free shipping. Unknown to the buyer at time of purchase, the seller uses an eBay-approved third party checkout system. When the buyer purchases the item and pays for the item, the seller demands payment for shipping.
The buyer does not pay for the item and sends a message to the seller. The seller does not reply.
The buyer sends and email to eBay, reporting the violation. Instead of investigating, eBay sent a reply to the buyer claiming that eBay does not investigate ‘quality of merchandise’ complaints.
The buyer must pay for the item soon or the seller will file an unpaid item strike against the buyer. They buyer sends another cry for help to eBay, and another email to the seller. Neither party replies, so the buyer pays for the item, protecting themself from the unpaid item strike.
The buyer is charged for shipping, so the buyer opens a PayPal dispute. PayPal takes a week to reply, saying PayPal does not get involved with ‘quality of merchandise’ complaints. The buyers dispute is closed.
The complaint is not about quality of merchandise. The complaint is clearly about shipping charges when the eBay listing clearly says “Free Shipping.”
The buyer sends another email to PayPal, this time asking if anyone actually read the complaint, while expressing concern that the excuse given by PayPal has nothing to do with actual facts as described in the complaint. Nothing happens.
Refile News called PayPal to inquire about this complaint. “Unfortunately we cannot refund the money” said a PayPal representative. “Once the buyer paid for the item through a third-party application the buyer agreed to all terms and conditions”, said PayPal.
Refile News determined that the scam is still ongoing, with the eBay seller having sold 834 of the item in question. Shipping charges, advertised as free, netted this seller an extra $2075.00
PayPal and eBay refuse to help buyers, while more sellers have learned how to run this eBay scam. For eBay and PayPal supervisors we reference PayPal claim PP-827-380-581.
The seller uses https://marketplaceadvisor.channeladvisor.com for eBay checkout. The application is eBay approved and ties in to PayPal.
In a previous article we said “One complaint about Ebay is lack of support. Often described as frustrating, sellers and buyers have described Ebay support as slow to answer, and answers may not pertain to the question.” Evidence suggests that answers from PayPal may not pertain to the question either.
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