has Paypal ever gotten you your money back?

[eyeballkid]

This isn't in reference to anything at the moment. I have no disputes or problems with any transactions currently, BUT over the years I've had a couple of problem purchases. Some were on Ebay and one was a problem that has been beaten to death here about a group buy gone bad. In no cases did Paypal ever successfully retrieve my funds, but did once manage to charge me a $25 fee for trying... am I alone in this? I hear people always saying that Paypal will cover you and don't worry, but has this ACTUALLY happened for you? were my situations an anomaly? or do many find the Paypal reality to not live up to the promise?

for disclosure... one of my instances was a custom build that went over the 45 day period, which I sort of understand..even though the promised delivery date was beyond that so by the time I knew there was a problem it was too late...but shouldn't have been.
the others were people who withdrew the funds and abandoned their account and Paypal said they could do nothing. in those cases the promise of protection was meaningless.

[bongomania]

I've gone through a few Paypal disputes, and yes they got me my money back in all but one case. In that one, the other guy had no money in his bank account, so Paypal couldn't withdraw any to give to me. So you're right about that part, if the other person abandons their account then Paypal can't do squat to protect you.

[Stephent28]

NO but they have taken it back from me a couple times....even when they ruled in my favor.

The latest incidence was with a guitar that the fellow who bought it changed his mind on. He returned it without even asking me and then filed a claim to get his money back.
Paypal ruled in my favor so he went to his CC and filed a dispute. They refunded his money and charged it back to Paypal who then charged it back to me....so I ended up getting hosed in the deal.

[kcandme]

I got $ back from paypal once.
I bought a bass that was claimed to be something quite other than what it turned out to be.

In order to receive satisfaction, I had to enlist the help of my credit card company, (American Express), And file a police report for fraud.
The police report was a challenge, as the police are not interested in this sort of crime. (Be Aware!)
But, American Express was Great! They went to bat for me, and PP straightened right up!
I sent the piece of crap instrument back to the seller, and upon providing proof of shipment to PP, my $ was refunded.

That ebay seller was NOT HAPPY! He had sent me all manner of messages informing me that there was nothing I could do, being 2000 miles away, and how he knew lawyers, and I should sue him, and various other obsceneties and what not. As it turned out, he who laughs last...

The point is, if you purchase with PayPal, extra security can be gained by using a credit card as the funding source. Especially if that CC company is Amex.

KC

[eyeballkid]

so..so far it looks like most refunds needed a credit card company involved... hmmm.

[elgecko]

Yes, I had an EBay seller send me the completely wrong item then refuse to refund me since "all sales were final". I filed a dispute then EBay/Paypal sprung for return shipping and promptly refunded my money including shipping.

[Toptube]

One time I got Key logged at an Internet Cafe on an Air Force base. My ebay account was hacked and about $18,000 in attempted purchases were made.

"only" about $800 cleared my bank account, because that's about what I had in checking at the time. Paypal did a 30-day investigation that actually only took about 17 days. They got back $600 or $700 and then just credited me the difference that they couldn't recover. This was in 2007.

[nashvillebill]

No, Paypal has not gotten me any money back, I got stiffed once and did not get all of my merchandise. Paypal's response was basically "tough s**t"

I avoid Paypal now unless it's absolutely, absolutely, absolutely necessary.

[DWBass]

Yep! Simple story. Ordered something from internet retailer. Got email that items were shipped. Month went by and nothing. Retailer did not respond to emails. Filed claim, got refund!

[Junk420]

About 10 years ago, I got a gift for my sister off of eBay. The guy turned out to be a bogus seller and I reported him to Paypal. It took a while, but they gave me my money back and the seller ended up being shut down.

[levis76]

Always, always, always use a credit card through Paypal, NEVER a direct bank account. This enables you to file disputes with both PP and your cc company. A bank will do next to nothing in these cases, if anything at all. Your cc company however will then notify PP of the disputed claim and Paypal will do whatever it takes to make the cc companies happy or risk losing the ability to process cc payments which is their bread and butter. Without a cc company in your corner, you are at a severe disadvantage and risk not recouping any of your lost money.

[boisebassco]

No. I'm sure there are different levels of success that people will tell you about... But in my case, they woudln't even respond to my attempts to speak to a human, open a complaint, or refund my money, (Used a direct bank account through them). I would never use them again, if I had a choice.

[Pilgrim]

I had a seller just disappear - couldn't be reached, never delivered. I submitted a claim and Ebay paid it within 2 weeks.

[lyla1953]

I had a used Ashdown ABM 410 cab delivered to the house...bought thru Ebay/Pay Pal delivered via UPS...Darn thing was stolen before I got home. Full refund including shipping was provided about 3 weeks later.

[sleepy_monkey]

I got money back after receiving pirated software. My parents ordered Rosetta Stone and was sent 1 burnt disc of nothing. Contacted seller, nothing of course. PayPal made me send them pictures if the blank disc (really?) and after a few weeks I was able to get my parents money back.

So those that filed a CC dispute.....this was on used or new gear?

[1958Bassman]

I tried to buy one of those $32 Lucite basses last year and when the auction was canceled, the payment wasn't, so I sent a message to the seller and that did nothing, so I went to Ebay with it. The money was back in my account in a few days. Haven't had any problems with any accounts, either.

[hibachiduck]

I've actually had money returned to me multiple times in Paypal. Once I had it taken from me (idiotic eBayer put a dispute in on an item cleared marked in the description "*PARTS ONLY; DOES NOT TURN ON*" after getting it and......didn't turn on. eBay ruled in his favor......***). Other than that one experience, I prefer to use Paypal for all of my purchases online. I've had lots of good luck with them.

[xush]

paypal found in my favor after a Talkbass seller never sent my item or refunded my payment. I think the key is submitting the case to PP before your time runs out; this seller kept putting me off- if I'd waited any longer than I did I would have lost my window to submit.

[markkoelsch]

Involved in one dispute. I purchased a used SWR Grand Prix vie ebay. It showed up, but the outputs were messed up. I contacted Paypal and the seller. After a bit of back and forth I sent the preamp back and got my cash.

[GLEN18INCHSPICA]

I filed a dispute once with Paypal when a seller didn't ship an item to me, I received the the item broken after 3 weeks only to find out that I couldn't file another complaint with Paypal, one dispute per auction I was told. I was SOL.