PayPal accused of 'making' dissatisfied buyer smash antique violin

[owlie]

Don't know If you have read about this PayPal accused of 'making' dissatisfied buyer smash antique violin

I don't use Paypal or Ebay that much these days..

[jmattbassplaya]

You watch Philip DeFranco?

[jabsys]

I don't know why people still trust paypal with expensive items like that, I'd only use paypal for cheap stuff you can afford to loose.

[OldDog52]

Quoting from the OP's link @ PayPal accused of 'making' dissatisfied buyer smash antique violin | World news | The Guardian

Paypal's terms of service includes a clause saying that in order to resolve a payment dispute, "PayPal may … require you to destroy the item and to provide evidence of its destruction".

A spokesperson for PayPal said: "While we cannot talk about this particular case due to PayPal's privacy policy, we carefully review each case, and in general we may ask a buyer to destroy counterfeit goods if they supply signed evidence from a knowledgeable third party that the goods are indeed counterfeit. The reason why we reserve the option to ask the buyer to destroy the goods is that in many countries, including the US, it is a criminal offence to mail counterfeit goods back to a seller."

[colcifer]

There was a dispute of its provenience-that it was a real violin was never in doubt.

[longfinger]

The buyer was is an idiot. He destroyed the violin. And he expects a refund now? Moron. I can't believe Paypal even recommended that course of action. They were not dealing with shipping paper money. I hope the seller is protected and keeps the $2500. It would be reprehensible to have Paypal deduct $2500 from the seller's account now that the violin cannot be returned to her.

[OldDog52]

Neutral third party examines the item and certifies it is counterfeit. What would you have PayPal do?

People wonder why PayPal and eBay fees are so high...

[Herrick]

I wonder how the buyer proved to Paypal that the violin was a fake.

[ryansalmond]

Paypal once got me $243 in cheque-bouncing fees because I put the money in my paypal account the day after using paypal to make some purchases, and SIX DAYS later when the transactions went through, paypal only checked my backup account (my bank account) for the money, rather than the paypal account itself which by that time had had the money in it for six whole days. I talked to customer service for hours, they actually defended the policy of charging the backup account in this situation. I avoid using paypal at all costs now.

[longfinger]

Here's a companion article...

PayPal not so friendly over return of fake goods | Money | guardian.co.uk

The thing is there is a great, great difference between "fake" software and a violin.

For a good playing no-name violin that sounds nice, $2500 is a normal price. The violin was real. It was not a styrofoam violin, nor a photo of a violin. It was a real violin. Only an idiot would destroy it and then expect a refund. The buyer should have returned it saying "not to my aesthetic taste". Sent it back, the seller gets her violin back and can refund the money.

Software advertised as such can be counterfeit and should be destroyed. (It's not like selling "Used CD-R" for ¢25 and getting it with some "extra goodies" on it.) The cost of the counterfeit software is measured in pennies.

[electracoyote]

PayPal's "Buyer Protection" is a joke. I just got stiffed on a high dollar guitar by a dishonest eBay buyer, who got cold feet and returned it for no reason whatsoever. I was completely helpless in the process.

I'll never buy or sell high-dollar stuff on eBay again.

[Nev375]

So, if I'm understanding this correctly, I can order a bass on eBay through paypal and if the seller does something that I don't like (sayyy he charged me in-state sales tax which I failed to account for), I can then legally be a royal douchebag 1st class and claim the item is counterfiet. Paypal will then have me take the item to a 3rd party, sayyyy, my good friend and cousin (no one need know that of course) who owns a guitar store who will appraise it as a worthless forgery. Then I can take his appraisal back to paypal who will give me my money back, order me to destroy the instrument and send photos of the carnage back to them thereby screwing the seller of both the item AND his money?

Is that what this means?

[Bardley]

Originally Posted by Nev375

So, if I'm understanding this correctly, I can order a bass on eBay through paypal and if the seller does something that I don't like (sayyy he charged me in-state sales tax which I failed to account for), I can then legally be a royal douchebag 1st class and claim the item is counterfiet. Paypal will then have me take the item to a 3rd party, sayyyy, my good friend and cousin (no one need know that of course) who owns a guitar store who will appraise it as a worthless forgery. Then I can take his appraisal back to paypal who will give me my money back, order me to destroy the instrument and send photos of the carnage back to them thereby screwing the seller of both the item AND his money?

Is that what this means?

That's kinda what it sound like. From what I understand, the seller was out the violin and the money since Paypal refunded it. All she got was a picture of her smashed violin.

Don't sell your Sadowsky's with Paypal. They will say it's a fake Fender and it will become firewood...

[turbo chicken]

^ that was my take on it ...