Consumer complaint received 2023-05-22
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: WY
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I opened some claims in PayPal ( XXXX XXXX XXXX & XXXX XX/XX/XXXX ) against a XXXX seller selling me counterfeit sterling silver. I submitted the documents and other additional evidence to back my claim. I even attached a document from a coin shop to back my claim. The cases ended up closing in the seller 's favor because I voided my purchase protection by doing acid tests on some of the items. I did not know this would void my case. I thought I was doing the right thing by testing SOME of these items to prove my claim. Instead, the seller will get away with scamming their customers. Only XXXX of the XXXX claims I filled were closed in my favor because I did not initially upload the videos of me acid testing the items. I was not required to sent the items back for those closed cases. All of these cases are the exact same. But since I decided to attach more information I thought would help me, I get shut down instead. Now I will never get my thousands of dollars refunded to be because of a XXXX PayPal policy. They ones I did test were not significantly damaged. Some of the items had the plating peeling off. They recommended me to contact my financial institution to do a chargeback, but they do not have a coverage period of 180 like PayPal. I feel so defeated. I have over 100 " sterling silver '' items from this seller and I only tested maybe 20. I also have no problem sending the items back, but the seller was being shady. 


Here is the formal complaint I put in the PayPal resolution center : " Seller is harassing me about sending the items back. They claimed they will test the items upon receipt and will test the items to verify if it's solid sterling silver. I am not against sending the items back, but I don't trust them anymore. I'm worried they will test the items and lie and say they're solid sterling silver. Then I would lose the money for counterfeit sterling and shipping fee. XXXX of the necklaces I received from them came with a certificate ( in XXXX ), but I tested those and they're also not sterling silver. This shows they ( or their supplier ) can not be trusted. They also showed a screenshot of their sales claiming their silver to be " higher than 92.5 %. '' The address provided was also very vague. I tried to verify the address with them, but they brushed me off and told me to send them back. They were also inconsistent with their solution. First they offered a refund to simply send the items back. They also said they will cover the shipping cost, then changed their mind later. Then, they said they will only refund me when they test the silver. If they tested to be real silver ( which it's not ), then I would not get a refund for the items or the shipping cost. Even after I brought this to their attention back in XXXX, they are still selling " sterling silver XXXX '' on their lives. I highly doubt they get these items tested. I have already tested and verified the items are not sterling silver ( XXXX ). They are not sterling silver at all or are only sterling silver plated. That does not qualify the jewelry to be marked XXXX, and that is fraud. The jewelry store, antique shop, and coin shop also agreed they're not sterling silver. I couldn't test every single piece because there's over 100 items, and they all require destructive testing. I didn't want to damage all of them just in case I have to send them back. 

One of the rings even fooled an antique shop owner. She did the basic nitric acid scratch test and tested it to be real silver. I took the same ring to the coin shop owner. He scratched the sterling silver plating off and tested it with his nitric acid. The acid turned a bluish green color to indicate it was nickle, not sterling silver. He examined the other jewelry I brought to him, and he agrees it's all counterfeit. I am simply following the advice of paypal representatives, and they're accusing me of wasting their time. They also worried about getting in trouble with PayPal because of the disputes and were willing to refund me to stay quiet. I'm pretty sure they're not the only sellers on XXXX selling counterfeit sterling silver jewelry. The XXXX market is flooded with these items. Buyers on XXXX are even complaining about it. The only reason I found out these items were not genuine sterling silver was because of a local jeweler. He randomly tested one of the rings I was wearing from the seller and found it was counterfeit. This led me to investigate this situation. This entire situation is shady, and I don't trust them anymore. I had a good relationship with these sellers initially, but now I'm disappointed. I also know another former customer of theirs that also had issues with them. They also didn't ship an item I paid for back in XXXX. '' This is some of the information I provided that I though would help my case but were used against me. 


Video Evidence XXXX : XXXX Conversation Screenshots XXXX : XXXX Photo evidence XXXX : XXXX Proof seller sold items as sterling silver XXXX : XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation