SELLERS encouraged to stop accepting Paypal!!


If you are selling anything on the internet from any site I encourage you to NOT ACCEPT PAYPAL AS A PAYMENT METHOD!

IT APPEARS THAT PAYPAL IS SO BACKED UP AND OVERWHELMED WITH DISPUTES AND CASES THAT THEY ARE NOT DECIDING THEM BASED ON MERIT, THEY ARE DECIDING THEM BASED ON NUMBERS. THEY PROBABLY KNOW THAT 85% - 90% OF BUYERS CLAIMS ARE LEGITIMATE SO THEY DISPOSITION THEM IN FAVOR OF THE BUYER JUST TO REMOVE THE CASEFILE FROM THEIR PIPELINE. THAT WAY THEY ARE ONLY PISSING OFF 10% TO 15% OF THEIR CUSTOMERS WHICH IS ACCEPTABLE IN ORDER TO MOVE THROUGH ALL THE CASES IN A TIMELY MANNER. THIS IS ONLY MY OBSERVATION AND OPINION, BUT IF YOU READ THE FACTS OF MY SITUATION BELOW YOU'LL AGREE!

Here are the facts of my case:
I listed an item (speaker cables)on Ebay that was described 100% accurately. Here is the content of my ad:
Here is the content of my ad:
"I have a 10-foot pair of essentially UNTERMINATED AudioQuest Audiotruth Midnight 3 Hyperlitz speaker cables. They spent their lives running from Yamaha M-1 monoblocks into B&W Matrix 801 Series 3's. They include a combination of spades and bananas BUT THE SPADES ARE BENT OR BROKEN AND THE BANANAS HAVE NOT BEEN PROPERLY TERMINATED. I have been using them by just tightening the bananas on the ends...seems to work fine BUT IF I WERE TO KEEP THEM I WOULD DEFINITELY TERMINATE THEM PROPERLY. In addition to the unterminated ends the writing on the cables is faded in places. Probably a decent cleaning would make them look great again."

Please note, the capitalized words are to highlight them for this post, they were not capitalized in the ad but this was my description.
Now, anybody reading this would know for absolute certain that 1) these are essentially unterminated, 2) the spades are bent and broken, 3) the bananas are not terminated, and 4) the seller is advising the buyer to terminate the properly because that is what he would do if he kept them.

So this Ebay buyer "buythemall2016" bid on this item several times to beat out 6 others to win the auction. I sent a congratulatory email with instructions for speedy delivery. I received back an email telling me to cancel his bid he does not want the item.
I contacted Ebay to let them know he was a non-payer on an auction he won. They obviously contacted him and told him he would get a "non-payer" status that would hut him on Ebay in the future. He paid me for the item and sent me an email saying simply "please ship fast". I knew he could be trouble.
I shipped immediately, he received the package and contacted me saying "the banana plugs are falling off and the spade plugs are bent and broken. Please advise."
Hmmm. I advised him how to use them the way I had been using them but suggested he terminate them properly per my description in the ad.

Not satisfied he called me a scammer and complained to Ebay asking for a refund. He also hit me with a negative feedback. I contacted Ebay who used common sense and good judgment to reverse the negative feedback and deny the buyers claim that the item he received was not as described. They decided in my favor.

A couple of days later I get a notice from PayPal that the buyer asked for a refund and permission to return the item since what he got was not as described in the ad. I was pissed that this guy was still trying to lie and dishonor his agreement to buy my item by being the winning bidder. I sent in all the same information to PayPal sure they would also find the item indeed was described 100% properly in the ad and they would rule in my favor. I wasn't even concerned at all.

About a week later I get an email that the buyer was given permission to return the item for a full refund.

I was enraged! I called PayPal, waited on hold for about an hour to talk to a manager who agreed with me and told me he was sending it to the "back office" to be reviewed further and reversed. He even released the hold on the funds since he was so certain it would be reversed and decided in my favor.

After not hearing anything for a couple of days I called back and waited on hold for 2 HOURS AND 28 MINUTES to talk to a manager before I heard someone pick up the line AND HANG UP ON ME!!

Now I cannot get anybody to call me back to discuss further. They are avoiding me entirely, and calling them is not an option since the shortest hold time is an hour!

Today I got the email saying they cannot change their decision and removed the money from my account and gave it back to the dishonorable "buyer". So I am out shipping both ways and the Ebay fee which I probably will never get back.

SO I ENCOURAGE ALL SELLERS WHO ARE ABOVE BOARD, HONEST AND LIST ITEMS WITH INTEGRITY TO STOP ACCEPTING PAYPAL AS A PAYMENT OPTION. YOU MAY SUFFER THE SAME SCENARIO I DID!

128x128Ag insider logo xs@2xkevinagurney
So, what type of payment can be accepted? 
If its a check or money order most buyers do not want to wait to complete the transaction. Plus there is no protection for them.

I hear your message, but to me, your case is rare and you did get the cables back. 
A negative feedback on the Buyer is all you can use.

ozzy
Cannot leave a negative feedback on him.  Don't know why.  I've tried several times.

I just sold a pair of Revel Studios and requested a bank transfer.  Worked this time.

I understand what you are saying though, about the buyer protection.  But where is my protection from idiots like this?

The problem is that PayPal is so overwhelmed with cases to decide that they are just processing them with no thought or concern...just move 'em through.  I'm researching other methods of payment to accept now.  Hopefully somebody knows of other services to use that they can share with us.

I know Paypal dominates the category now, but they are ripe for a competitor to come along and erase them if they don't concern themselves with outcomes like mine.

I have done 115 transactions here and every one of them was with PayPal.  I never had a problem and will continue to use them.

I am having a problem with an importer I purchased from in Japan.  He sold me an Acrolink cable for 270.00 which was supposed to be delivered between Jan 2-9 and I am still waiting.  It was sent via Japan Post and according to the tracking#, is still in Japan waiting for export.  I have emailed the guy twice and I am getting the run around, things like it is delated due to Customs and then today he said it is delayed due to bad weather in the USA.  I am giving him until next Wednesday, if I don't receive I will contact PayPal for a refund.


I tried going through The Cable Company, but after calling 5 times and waiting for a price, I gave up.

OP, I feel your pain. Like Ozzy, I haven't had, thankfully, any bad experiences. I am surprised that Ebay sided with you and Ppal did not, since both are practically joined at the hip.
I would contact Ebay again and see if they can intervene. I have found Ebay to be quite responsive to reasonable requests.
Bob