Consumer complaint received 2019-03-26
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: PA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Confusing or missing disclosures

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX, I sold an XXXX XXXX Watch on XXXX for {$1600.00} to a XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX from XXXX XXXX. The funds were transferred to my account and a hold was placed by PayPal  as is standard procedure until item delieved. See Image 1 attached showing original transaction. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I shipped the item with XXXX XXXX  Mail Flat-rate box with the watch inside ( with proof via US Customs form given to me by XXXX ) with tracking number XXXX. See image 1 and image 1b attached. 

The package was delivered on XXXX XXXX at XXXX XXXX XXXX local time. Can be proved by typing tracking number above into XXXX tracking website. 

On Feburary XXXX at XXXX XXXX, I was notified via email from PayPal that the buyer had filed a claim against me that I shipped him an empty box. See image 2 attached that shows first contact from buyer claiming to receive an empty box. See image 3 from PayPal as first contact regarding a claim filed. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, at XXXX XXXX, I provided PayPal with the US customs form showing the item that was in the box. See image 4 attached showing email to PayPal providing evidence and image 4b as the actual US customs form. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX, PayPal decided the case in my favor. See image 5 attached On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX, PayPal notified me via email that the case was reopened. They did not make me aware of why the case was re-opened. See image 6 and image 6b. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I called PayPal to find out why the case was reopened. PayPal informed me at that time that the case was reopened because the buyer provided a police report that indicated the box was empty. I questioned how that could be possible and received no answer. PayPal asked if I had any additional information that could prove I shipped the item. I said I provided said evidence already with the customs form. I asked if I could provide anything else and they said any additional documents if I had them, I said I did not. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX, PayPal informed me via email that they decided in the buyers favor. See image 7 On Feburary XXXX, I contacted PayPal via phone to inquire why I was not covered by the PayPaXXXX  seller protection policy, which states sellers have protection against " Items Not Received '' claims by buyers.I was informed that the case was decided in the buyers favor because of the police report. I was not given an answer as to why I was not receiving protection from a buyer claiming to have received an empty box. I explained that the additional information should have been considered from the US customs form and that is all I could provide. I was told that I should wait until Monday, XX/XX/XXXX to hear back from PayPal regarding my appeal of this decision. 

XX/XX/XXXX came and went and I did not hear from PayPal. Due to personal reasons ( which I am more than comfortable disclosing/explaining if necessary, but this is a lengthy explanation and I feel irrelevant. If this reason is relevant, please contact me ), I was delayed in following-up with PayPal regarding my case. I placed a phone call to follow-up with PayPal, who informed me that they had not heard from me after the decision, and the case was closed. This was not true, as I explained above, I contacted PayPal and explained that my evidence of shipment was in the US customs form and that should be more closely considered. At this time, PayPal informed me that they would open my appeal. 

On XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX XXXX, PayPal informed me via email that they were unable to grant my appeal of the case. See image 8 attached. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I reached out to PayPal via email/paypal  message to find out why I was not able to appeal the case. Despite asking numerous times why my evidence provided was insufficent and why seller protection did not apply, I was not given an answer and was simply told that the buyer provided sufficient evidence. It felt as if my evidence did not matter and was not considered. Furthermore, my confusion over the seller protection was completely ignored. See images 9, 9b,  10, and 10b attached. 

After numerous phone calls with PayPal, I finally was in contact with customer service via XXXX. 

On Friday XX/XX/XXXX at XXXX, I was informed by one XXXX on PayPal  support 's verified XXXX account that " empty box '' claims by the buyers do not classify as " Item not Received '' because the buyer technically received an item ( the physical empty box ) and therefore seller protection did not apply. This information was not clearly stated in any form in the seller agreement or any user agreement that I agreed to or that I could find. I utilized PayPal as an exchange medium with the understanding that if a buyer claimed he received an empty box, I would be covered by seller protection because the buyer is claiming that he did not receive the item. See image 11a-11d attached. 

Despite the proof I feel I provided to meet the " Item Not Received '' clause in the seller protection ( with tracking number and US customs form ), PayPal informed me nearly a month later that because the buyer received a physical box, it could not be considered an " Item Not Received '' and would then be " Item Significantly Not As Described ''. This was not made clear to me upon agreeing to user terms when I opened my PayPal account and is extremely misleading in my opinion. 

PayPal 's User Agreement is freely available ( XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX ) on the internet. There is no indication that the " Item Not Received '' clause is invalid if the buyer receives a box and claims that said box is empty. My understanding of " Item Not Received '' is that the buyer is claiming I did not ship him the item. While I will maintain under oath that I placed the watch into the box, I did so fully believing that PayPal would protect me if the buyer claimed that I shipped him an empty box.

Not only is there ambiguity in PayPal 's user agreement, but I believe I fulfilled the requirements set forth in the " Item Not Received '' claim, met seller protection requirements, and proved I shipped the item.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation