Consumer complaint received 2018-06-11
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Money was not available when promised

Complaint:
I bought an authentic XXXX handbag on XXXX from a XXXX seller, based in XXXX according to his site, for {$470.00} on XX/XX/2018 and paid for it with my PayPal account. I was sent a XXXX counterfeit from XXXX and the seller was XXXX, not XXXX. 
On XX/XX/XXXX after I received the counterfeit Handbag, I called XXXX. They immediately opened a case and decided in my favor in less than a day. They told me to throw out the bag, which is made of plastic not leather and smells like gasoline. ( I did not throw it out because I had not received my money. It is still sitting in my garage. ) XXXX immediately closed down the counterfeiter 's account so I can not send the bag back unless they or PayPal give me an address and postage. AND they immediately transferred the refund money to my PayPal account. They said it would a day or two before I would see it.

I saw after three days the money did not reach my account. I called XXXX. They said they sent it but it did not go through ( my PayPal account is open and in good standing, I have a seller account and receive money several times a week from buyers, no problem ) and I should talk to PayPal and tell them what happened and to have PayPal call XXXX for a three way phone call. They transferred me to PayPal. PayPal said they never got the money or the notification from XXXX and they weren't going to call PayPal. I called XXXX. They said have PayPal do a three way call. They transferred me to PayPal. This went on for three days and about 15 hours of phone time on my part. Needless to say I was furious after this incompetent sideshow. 
Somewhere in this mess a PayPal rep who barely spoke English, like most of them, opened a case on PayPal 's end without telling me what he was doing OR informing me that it would close my already settled XXXX case. Most of the people I spoke with at both companies are foreign, speak broken English and do not know the rules or protocol of either company. This is especially true of PayPal, who still won't return my money, even though XXXX decided the case in my favor. PayPal has no desire to investigate. A simple call to XXXX would clear this up BUT they refuse to do anything to help. Instead they are worried about the rights of the criminal counterfeiter. 
They told me the XXXX counterfeiter needs to tell his side of the story before I have a chance of giving me my money back. And what if he never replies or closes his account? When I said I was the victim of a crime and selling fakes as real is a felony and all they had to do to confirm this was reach out to XXXX, they refused. They said it didn't show the case as closed on their end -- which is a glitch in THEIR system they refuse to address. AND they didn't care what criminals who have accounts on PayPal do to get their money and their criminal enterprises are none of their business Someone needs to police PayPal. It is ridiculous to have a company based in the USA that covers up for the fraud of XXXX counterfeiters, and has a system that is so broken they don't receive simple transfers from XXXX -- a company who once owned them and who they are closely affiliated with. To the point PayPal is the only service every SINGLE transaction goes through on XXXX, including personal credit cards. 
This is a simple fix. PayPal needs to communicate with their partner company XXXX, the company you do the MOST business with and find out what happened. Instead they refuse and they are condescending and unhelpful. Bottom line I want my money back.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief