Consumer complaint received 2018-02-03
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: International money transfer
Issue: Other transaction problem

Complaint:
I purchased a used paraglider on XXXX from a seller in XXXX, using PayPal to process the transaction. The XXXX listing expressly stated that the wing was in good flying condition and completely usable, and I contacted the seller to confirm this before buying it. The listing stated " very low hours on this wing '' and " there is no problem flying with this wing. 

When the paraglider arrived, I was leaving on a trip and didn't check the contents of the package until several weeks later. I took the paraglider for a day course with a certified professional instructor at XXXX XXXX of XXXX, CA, and he requested that he let me inspect and test the wing with a standard porosity test before flying it in his course. The paraglider completely failed the porosity test for airworthiness, and the instructor immediately declared the paraglider unsafe to fly and estimated that it had a minimum of 300 hours of prior use, meaning that it was beyond its safe operating limits for flight. He would not allow me to fly the paraglider in the course as a result, and stressed that there was no legal or ethical way this paraglider should have been advertised as airworthy. 

I contacted the XXXX  seller, XXXX XXXX, through XXXX  to report the results of the inspection and to request an exchange or partial refund. XXXX closed my request for a return without responding to multiple messages from me. I contacted him again through the PayPal dispute resolution center, and he escalated my support request to a full dispute claim, again without responding to my messages directly in any way. 

PayPal sent me a message telling me they'd agreed to process the return and refund, and instructed me to ship the paraglider back to XXXX in XXXX at my own expense. They provided the shipping address, and I contracted for international shipping via USPS through an online shipping broker called XXXX. I paid the $ 160+ international shipping fee online and sent the package to the address PayPal had given me. I submitted a digital copy of the XXXX shipping label and the USPS tracking number ( XXXX ) to PayPal for tracking in connection with the dispute and return. 

I had grave reservations about shipping the package to XXXX at my expense with no assurance that the seller would accept the return package. I contacted PayPal to tell them I suspected the seller would do anything possible to avoid processing the refund, including claiming he never received the package or interfering with the shipment at the local level. I received no response to my concerns from PayPal. I sent the package as they had directed. While it was in transit, I contacted PayPal again to stress that I felt the seller was acting in bad faith and would not accept the return, and again I received no reply from PayPal. 

The tracking information for the package stopped after it reached XXXX, XXXX in XX/XX/2017, and has not been updated since. PayPal requires proof of delivery to complete the refund for the return, but the USPS tracking information does not list the delivery. I filed complaints with both XXXX and USPS to determine what had happened to the package. To date, both USPS and XXXX report that they are still conducting their inquiries to determine why the package has not been delivered. 

Although the shipping inquiries are still ongoing, PayPal closed the return case and told me they would not process the return because the shipping information I'd provided them was invalid. I called PayPal to dispute this, and the service rep I spoke with on the phone took the USPS tracking number ( XXXX ) from me again, confirmed that it was valid, and re-opened the return case pending more information from the shipping inquiry. I asked to speak to the rep 's supervisor for confirmation, and she asked me to wait on hold for a supervisor. After about 20 minutes on hold, I gave up and hung up. 

The next day, PayPal emailed me to tell me that they'd closed the return case again. This time the PayPal email said that the item had never been eligible for a return, because it did not meet the requirement of being 'substantially not as advertised. ' I contacted PayPal again to remind them that they had expressly instructed me to ship the paraglider to XXXX for a return. PayPal responded that the appeal was denied because I had already submitted that information, and added that any further communication from me on this dispute would not receive any response from PayPal. 

I paid {$690.00} to XXXX XXXX via PayPal for a used paraglider that he explicity advertised as being safe to fly, but which was determined by a professional paragliding instructor to be worn out and unsafe for any use in flight. Because the seller was immediately uncooperative when I requested an exchange, I would definitely not have paid to ship the paraglider back to XXXX if PayPal had not directly told me that I would receive a full refund for the purchase if I shipped the paraglider back to XXXX. The messages from PayPal regarding this return case are undeniable. As a result, I followed PayPal 's instructions and ended up losing the purchase price, the paraglider itself which still has not been found, and the addtional {$160.00} in shipping charges that I paid at PayPal 's direction. My total loss in this incident is now over {$850.00}, and PayPal bears direct responsibility for the shipping charge at a minimum. 

PayPal did not even dispute that they instructed me to send the item back to XXXX for a refund, but they still insist that it is not eligible for a refund under their buyer protection program. The USPS shipping information clearly shows that I sent the item to the address that PayPal instructed, which should be enough information to show that I followed their instructions and have met the requirements for the refund.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation