Screwed by Paypal once again! Need some Help

falcor · #1 04-21-2008, 08:30 PM

Hey guys looking for some advice on this issue.

Sold a bass on ebay for a total of $300 (including all shipping costs). Sent it USPS w/Tracking number. Plugging in the tracking number USPS both say it's delivered.

The buyer today filed a claim saying it never arrived. I called paypal and in their round about way (you know trying not to say anything for certain so they aren't held accountable for saying something wrong) pretty much implied that because the item was over $250 I needed to get signature confirmation delivery, and they will most likely side with the buyer (EVEN THOUGH it was clearly delivered!!!).

Has this happened to anyone here? some advice on what to do? Its ridiculous that I'm being held responsible for this!!

ibanezcollector · #2 04-21-2008, 08:34 PM

contact the local authorities and local post office for that area and explain its been delivered and the person is saying its not.

They will find out. And worse case scenario you have that at your disposal to tell paypal to let them know your not screwing around.

But...

Always request a signature... Cant hide behind there lie if you got them to sign for it..

play4zero · #3 04-21-2008, 08:34 PM

Did you put insurance on it?

Rawkabilly · #4 04-21-2008, 08:35 PM

Man, I wish I had some sage advice to offer. I had a similar thing happen to me last year when I sold my SG bass. I swore off Paypal altogether. Paypal is okay for a buyer, but sellers can really get screwed.

Baird6869 · #5 04-21-2008, 08:43 PM

PayPal are ba$%^$ds. I have been screwed a couple of times and their reasoning flabbergasted me.

The most recent one.... I sold a Eastwood Hi-Flyer bass to a guy for about $350. It was damaged a bit in shipping. It was insured with Canada Post and Canada Post needed photos, a repair quote, etc. This takes time. The guy I sold the bass to filed a claim with PayPal (which he should do in the event that I stiffed him on the repair or sold him something that was not in the condition I advertised, etc.) and the ba$&%*ds refunded him in full after a week!!! No reason given except the repair issue wasn't resolved quickly enough. A week?!??!

I had to call the buyer and basically threaten him with legal action. Luckily he was fairly reasonable and paid the sell price less the repair cost. If I didn't keep on the buyer, he would have got a free bass AND $150 for the repair. Sweet deal!

I avoid PayPal every chance I get.

YCBass · #6 04-21-2008, 08:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by play4zero

Did you put insurance on it?

+1. They may have left it at the door cause no sig was required and it may have gotten stolen... I don't think it's really Paypal, the issue is with UPS - it's the buyer's word against theirs, I think???

And yes, report to the police if you need to.

EDIT: Just an extra rant... I think even if the pickup & delivery went perfect and you got your money from Paypal, etc... I think you still get screwed cause they just made 3% for pretty much just transferring money - sure they offer covenience (to buyers), security, confirmation & etc but still 3%??? IMHO.

jtc_hunter · #7 04-21-2008, 08:49 PM

I have sold alot of items , mostly on Ebay, and a few here. I can only tell you that in the future , ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, pay the extra .60 cents for Delivery Confirmation. No matter how much the item costs. That is YOUR ins.

falcor · #8 04-21-2008, 08:50 PM

thanks guys, will reporting it to the police really do anything? I mean, I'm going to be calling the guys local police department and saying "i sent a package to this guys house and it was stolen" I cant imagine they'd be able to help. They'd probably give the whole song and dance about how it would be impossible to track down the criminal (which im sure is true!) And i stupidly didnt do the insurance! cus i printed the label from paypal and didnt see the option at first glance to insure it...not sure if it was even there...but i did rush so not 100% sure

RMay · #9 04-21-2008, 10:53 PM

It is possible that the item was delivered to the wrong address. Delivery confirmation is your friend but doesn't always work. This happened to me recently, I was lucky as the recipient of my $$$ vintage bass delivered it to me. Our addresses were confused by the postman. Mine is 9739 Similar St. and their address is 9139 Similar Dr.

Spector_Ray · #10 04-22-2008, 05:37 AM

Just a friendly word of advice from your friendly Talkbass letter carrier/supervisor. If you're shipping something of value, always and I repeat, ALWAYS purchase an extra service where a signature is required be it Signature Confirmation, Certified/Return Receipt, Registered mail or Express Mail. This way when you want to find out if the item has been delivered, you can literally see an online copy of the PS From 3849 that has to be signed by the person accepting the item.

When it comes to the USPS mail service, the police are out of their jurisdiction per se. You can file a report with them, but it would probably be better to contact the postal inspectors if there's suspicion of the package being stolen.

Basically, the buyer needs to contact his/her local post office and speak to a delivery supervisor and explain the situation. The supervisor, in turn will speak to the regular carrier or any of the replacements to investigate whether they remember delivering the package. I know that it's not everyday a long, narrow 15lb. box comes to a route, so somebody should remember delivering it.

danomite64 · #11 04-22-2008, 06:15 AM

Wow. I think the worst part for the OP is that his 'screwed again' comment implies that Paypal got him more than once. They got me once for about $100 (I ended up recouping about $25 of it), and they never got another chance to get me again.

falcor · #12 04-24-2008, 11:17 AM

UPDATE: After a few phone calls and sending an email threatening legal action, Paypal decided i was in the right. They refunded my money! Thanks for the support

i_got_a_mohawk · #13 04-24-2008, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YCBass

EDIT: Just an extra rant... I think even if the pickup & delivery went perfect and you got your money from Paypal, etc... I think you still get screwed cause they just made 3% for pretty much just transferring money - sure they offer covenience (to buyers), security, confirmation & etc but still 3%??? IMHO.

I'd hardly say thats a problem

Ever looked at getting coverage like that from another company?

It is just like people who complain about ebay taking a fee, they have never auctioned things in a real auction house, where the fees are much higher!