Consumer complaint received 2021-05-07
Company: SYNCHRONY FINANCIAL
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
I visited a website at toyonly.shop after seeing an ad on XXXX. I placed an order for a XXXX XXXX XXXX through Paypal credit in the amount of {$99.00} on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX. After completing the purchase, I continued browsing the website while waiting for my email confirmation. After a few minutes, I started to suspect that the website could be fraudulent. I never received an email confirmation for my order. I also did some investigating on the website and could not find any " Contact us '' page so there was no way for me to initiate a refund or even contact the seller. I also checked the website domain and found that the domain had been registered just 3 days prior. Additionally, the website, as of this day is already no longer up and running. On the same day on XX/XX/XXXX, I started a claim with Paypal through their Resolution Center because PayPal has a buyer protection policy. I explained to them my situation and asked that they help me resolve it. They sent me an email saying that they've contacted the seller and were waiting for a response. On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX  I received an email from XXXX informing me that the seller added shipping details and provided a USPS tracking number. I'm not sure if the paypal email was actually sent from paypal or a spoofed, fraudulent account because when I checked the claim tracker on the Paypal website 's Resolution Center, it remained in the step " waiting for response from seller ''. Regardless, I checked the tracking number that was provided in the email. In the tracking history, it showed that the item was picked up by shipping partner on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX. I didn't even place the order until XXXX XXXX  that day. Even if it's a different time zone, XXXX XXXX  EST would be XXXX PST so there is absolutely no way that this was a legitimate tracking number. The Paypal Resolution Center claim tracker was still in " waiting on seller '' step so I just waited. Finally on XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX  I received an email from Paypal stating that they finished reviewing my case and that they were going to deny my claim and close it. They said that the reason being the seller provided tracking information and it showed that it was delivered. They did not allow me to comment on the issue such as the issue with the time or even dispute the decision. I tried submitting a new claim as new evidence did surface since I submitted the initial claim ( the new evidence being the bogus tracking number that they provided as well as the website no longer being up and running ). I don't believe that Paypal handled my case properly. They did not allow me to initiate the refund even though I discovered the issues immediately and then ultimately sided with the " seller '' even though the evidence that the seller provided only further proves that it was a fraudulent sale.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation