Consumer complaint received 2023-07-27
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: IA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX I used Venmo to pay for a used aircraft part that I purchased from a XXXX seller. Shortly after I make the purchase I realized this was someone that was being dishonest or trying to scam people on XXXX. The total amount was {$1100.00}. On XX/XX/XXXX I contacted Venmo to dispute the transaction as I said this money was used for buying a product online, I also had my back put a stop pay on the transaction before the money was taken out of my checking account. The same day I called Venmo to make sure everything I submitted in my dispute was clear, I also asked the customer service agent if there was anything else I needed to do and she said all the info I provided was clear and they would take care of it. I let her know that I stopped the money from leaving my bank and she said that was good that I had contacted my bank. In my mind I had done more then most reasonable people would have done and this should be a easy situation for Venmo to take care of. Later Venmo asked me for info that I was unable to provide like a URL like to the listing that the seller had and communication between me and the seller. The seller had already pulled down the listing on XXXX and the only communication I had with the seller was on XXXX XXXX so I didnt really know how I was going to provide this info but as I said I had already talked to someone at Venmo that said I have provided what they needed and I still had the money in my bank. On XX/XX/XXXX Venmo denied my claim because they said they didnt have the info they requested, I called them immediately once I got the notification and they said I could submit screenshots of anything I had which would have been good to know when I talked to Venmo XXXX XX/XX/XXXX. After I submitted all the screen shots to the Venmo rep they sent me back an email saying that they would not be able to open up the dispute and that I needed to try to resolve this with the seller that was already not responding to any communication from me at this point, and as I told them this was a scam artist trying to steel money from people online. I called back Venmo again the evening of the XXXX and asked what the appeal process was and again I sent them all the screen shots I had between me and the seller and they said it would take XXXX for them to see what they could do. They also said that they had already sent the seller the money before it cleared my bank so I would still be responsible to cover the balance in my account, even thought I had done everything I could have at this point to stop a dishonest person from taking {$1100.00} from me. Did Venmo ever ask the seller for any proof that they sent me the used parts that I purchased? I feel that Venmo did a poor job of handling this dispute and notifying me of what they needed and how I would be able to provide them with information from a seller that was being dishonest. I also think it was incredible irresponsible of them to send them money to the seller before they had funds from my bank.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation