Like many others here, as a seller I was ripped off by Paypal even though I had followed all of their policies and requirements. It was so bad that I ended up shutting down my online business because Paypal can't be relied upon and there are no other online payment methods for sellers that I am aware of or willing to trust with my personal account information. For years I ran my online business through ebay using Paypal as a payment method and never had one single problem or complaint. My seller feedback was 100% on ebay and I had not one single complaint through paypal.
Then I fell victim to a group of individuals who figured out that they could use Paypal to rip me off by waiting a short period of time after receiving my services and then filing a complaint with Paypal for a refund. After receiving notification from Paypal that an item not received complaint had been filed against me by multiple buyers all on the same day I was also notified that my Paypal account and funds were being placed on hold pending investigation. This took place despite the fact that the complaints themselves were a direct violation of paypal policy and according to paypal's own policy not covered by paypal.
I immediately provided paypal with proof of shipping and receipt along with emails from each of the buyers stating that they had received their items and were pleased as well as copies of the positive feedback each of the buyers had left on my ebay account. I heard nothing from Paypal and called in several times being told each time that they were still in the process of investigating the claims which could take 30 days.
In the meantime mind you, I was unable to send invoices, make my own purchases using my paypal account or receive payments from any other customers. Basically, my business was at a complete stand still until paypal finished their investigation. After 2 months of getting the run around from Paypal they finally denied the buyers claims and released the hold on my account.
I immediately withdrew all of my funds from my paypal account and vowed to never use their services again. Not done yet though....one month later I received notification from Paypal that my account was in the negative in the amount of 500.00 I was informed that the buyers had each contacted their credit card company claiming that the charges were unauthorized and that paypal does not dispute these claims with credit card companies. Paypal instead refunds the money to the buyers credit card and debits the seller's account telling the seller that they will have to deal directly with the credit card companies in order to recover the funds!!! This also goes against everything stated in their seller protection policy. If it weren't for the fact that these crooked buyers will continue to run their scam on someone else I wouldn't even bother to take the time to deal with the credit card companies involved, however; I do not want anyone else to have to deal with what I have had to so I will pursue measures with the credit card companies.
As far as Paypal is concerned though I will not send them one single cent unless I can recover it from the credit card companies. Paypal's policies are not worth the paper they are printed on and the company not only allows crooks to steal but actually make it EASY for them to do it!!
Cj
johnstown, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.