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A long-standing eBay customer has accused PayPal of facilitating a scam that left him £650 out of pocket and suffering from stress in the weeks leading to Christmas.
Richard Edy, 46, has been a customer with the auction website for eight years, however he’s spent the past three months appealing the payments provider, after selling a Samsung phone online.
The dad-of-four said he was forced to defend himself ‘for no reason’, with PayPal taking the buyers’ side during all three of his appeals.
Now, he’s been left £650 out of pocket, without the phone he was hoping to sell, and with a £60 court bill.
“Last November I decided to sell my old phone on eBay,” Richard, who lives in Redditch, Worcestershire told Mirror Money.
“I listed, it and when the auction ended, proceeded to ship it to the buyer’s address.
“But that’s when I noticed the seller’s name didn’t match up to the location – and that the delivery address was to a storage box in Portsmouth.”
(Image: Bloomberg)
Feeling sceptical, Richard said he got in touch with eBay to try and verify the legitimacy of the seller.
“I explained that I thought they might be fraudulent – but they insisted it was all fine. They told me to continue as normal as I was protected by eBay’s seller guarantee. So with that in mind, I posted it and forgot all about it.
“That was until a week later when I received an email from PayPal stating that the buyer had written to them claiming that it was a faulty phone.
“I was shocked as it was a new device, so I asked the buyer if to provide some photos or evidence of the fault so that I could check it out. However, I never heard back.”
Richard said he then got in touch with PayPal – who advised that he shouldn’t worry.
“They told me I’d only need to worry if a full claims report is filed, but that’s when I noticed PayPal had taken the £650 back and placed it on ‘hold’.
“I was placed in a negative balance – and within weeks, they were calling me asking me to reimburse the amount. I was told my details would be passed over to a claims management firm if I refused to pay up.”
A few weeks later, Richard received an email from PayPal stating that a full refund was being issued.
(Image: Getty)
He claims PayPal did not let him see this report which again alleged that the device was faulty.
“They told me that they would hold on to the £650 until the item had been sent back to the original address with tracking details. I had no choice but to agree to it.”
However, that’s when things spiralled even further for Richard.
“On November 12, PayPal refunded the buyer, stating they’d received confirmation that the item had been sent and delivered. I started to panic as I hadn’t received anything back.”
It later transpired that the item had been sent to a different address in Wolverhampton – and signed for two days ago.
“I called up PayPal and explained this to them. I even got it in writing from Royal Mail – but they refused to listen. They told me that as the item was delivered within three miles of my address, it was all fine.”
But it was far from fine as Richard was yet to receive his item – and was now £650 out of pocket.
“I then tried to contact eBay, who advised me that my seller protection had been overwritten by PayPal. They basically said it was out of their hands. I also tried to appeal PayPal’s decision three times – and on all occasions was rejected.”
In a last ditch attempt to recoup his money, Richard made a claim via the Government’s Money Claims court online in January.
“After 14 days, PayPal requested a 14 day extension to investigate the case. Just before it was due to go to court, they made the decision to refund me the full £650 plus £60 court costs. I felt relieved.
“It’s been a long, stressful nightmare,” he said. “I already suffer from anxiety and depression, and this just exacerbated the problem.”
‘I genuinely feel like PayPal helped the scammers steal the £650 from me. To date, I’ve still not received my phone back.”
Mirror Money has contacted PayPal for a comment.
