Do you have to pay for Pay Pal, personal?

Has anyone been scammed by a buyer/seller on e-Bay or had a locked Pay Pal account due to e-Bay?

• I have sold stuff here and there for about 5 years on eBay...too lazy for a garage sale or did not want to drive to Goodwill! These last two months have been a nightmare for me on eBay! I first wonder how in the world eBay can freeze my Pay Pal account when an item is in dispute that can take weeks to resolve!!! I have committed to buy things from this craft website that is like eBay but you don't bid and everything is handmade PLUS they use Pay Pal. I also have a store on there too. I was on vacation and I was getting e-mails from buyers with a Pay Pal message "account in suspension contact seller for details." Makes me look good! I sold a scanner for $100.00 on eBay. I stated that it was given to me, it looks in mint condition (it did), I stated there was no software or USB cable. I again,stated "I" never used but I listed it in used condition. I noted at the bottom contact me for insurance and "item is as is condition." So, I took it to the post office and they packed it with shipping peanuts for me. Plus, I wrapped it in bubble wrap too. So, they buyer tells me it did not work and Canon told him it was from shipping. The buyer told e-Bay it scanned green plus... The scanner was wrapped in a thin piece of bubble wrap (lie #1) and was packaged with plastic grocery bags (lie #2) and it was in a huge box and it was shook around (lie #3). I had to buy a box at the post office for it! So, e-Bay has placed my account in -$100.00 and it locked from money going in and going out until I pay this guy. This is on all websites not e-Bay only! If I was going to pay $100.00 for something I would ask the seller if it worked and get it in writing! So, I called e-Bay and asked about seller rights and they got horrible with me on the phone. They told me it was seller fraud what I wrote and they can close my account. Nothing was fraud. Also, those who e-Bay here and there is is an insurance requirement now....e-Bay now wants the seller to buy insurance. That is fine. I just wish I knew it in this case! Two weeks ago I bought a cell phone case cover for my daughter. It was advertised as new in box. The paint was chipping and the side corner was crack to where it kept coming off the phone. The seller denied it. Filed a claim and e-Bay said my daughter probably did it...not knowing what she was doing putting the cover on! I have a high rating with e-Bay! So, they were found in the right in a situation I am in now. Plus it was her dad that noticed it when he was putting the case cover on and the faults in it and told us it was used. Plus the same day two weeks ago I sold 2 Lexmark Printers to the same guy. I also sold a Blackberry Tour Phone. The Lexmark guy sent me a message stating he had no e-Bay account. He has stars buy his name and he messaged me back on e-Bay and he has no account. Then the guy that bought my Tour sent me a message and told me he bought an i-Phone instead and did not want the Tour. So, I did a claim dispute on both and when I was talking to e-Bay about the $100 scanner they told me to close out my two other disputes and they did not have to pay and I would get a final listing fee. I have yet to see that. I thought once you committed to buy you were basically obligated too and did not get off the hook that easy. I was wondering if it is just me? I have several positive ratings too. What would happen if I closed the credit card (saying I lost mine) get a new one or use a different credit card instead, plus I am moving so I will have a new address? Would Pay Pal catch on? I am scared to do e-Bay. I just need Pay Pal and don't see how e-Bay has the authority to lock my account with funds still there!!!

• Answer:

  You, too have gotten stuck in the "paypal/ebay customer service loophole hell!" I am there right now. I got scammed for almost $1330. I've gotten paypal to cover two of the transactions, now I'm down to fighting them for the remaining $540. My blog is here, it may help you learn some stuff that can help: http://paypalhorror.blogspot.com/ Especially the buyer/seller protection posts. MY nightmare has lasted over 6 months, and doesn't look to end soon. You can try going to the police with all the information and filing a fraud report. They want AMPLE proof of the fraud, though. My evil buyer sent me death threats so I got a police report for THAT too. Go on this buyer's feedback page and look at his feedback left for others... look at ALL pages. I learned this way that my buyer was doing the same thing to many people, and extorted someone back in February. I quickly contacted all of those people. Don't close the other disputes- STICK BY THEM. INSIST to send evidence. this is hard with ebay because their customer service is THE WORST EVER. They DO NOT HELP. That person who was extorted? they said to her "oh, that's not extortion" when anyone that had a kindergarten education could see that it was. In any case, REFUSE TO CLOSE YOUR DISPUTES. www.screw-paypal.com has resources.. people to contact who may be able to help, including the president of ebay AND paypal. Write those two some letters (this site has example letters, too), explain how you were never helped, and be firm that you want to your money back! To paypal and ebay, it doesn't matter that you have been a good customer for all this time. They don't care. In fact, THOSE are usually the people they target because they have the most money in their account. TO STEAL. If you ever want to talk to paypal, when you call- a receptionist picks up first. Explain what you want and that you demand to talk to a SUPERVISOR of whatever department they transfer you to. The regular employees can't do anything for you but talk in circles until you hang up, frustrated. Finally, try giving [email protected] an email or twelve. They actually respond with intelligible answers sometimes, unlike every other department at paypal. NEVER use the "contact us" page for emailing paypal- they won't respond. I changed my bank account so they don't have access to it. I'm thinking of doing the same thing with my credit card as you mentioned. I say- GO FOR IT. I never want to use paypal EVER AGAIN, so what the heck do I care? The site you mention, is that Etsy? Try signing up for google checkout. I've heard good things about them. And I think etsy lets you use them. Ebay doesn't because they are a threat to paypal- even ebay knows they are superior! Finally, PAYPAL AND EBAY ARE THE SAME COMPANY. That's why they can hold your funds. Actually, they can't hold your funds.. go to that site I sent you, or look at links on my blog. Contact your states and the federal attorney general. Complain!