Consumer complaint received 2024-01-30
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Confusing or misleading advertising or marketing — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (MN)

In XX/XX/, I purchased a set of tires and wheels secondhand. The Seller represented to me that, despite being used, the tires were evenly worn. I specifically inquired about this, and he confirmed, twice. I agreed to purchase the items in reliance of this representation, and would not have purchased the tires had the Seller indicated otherwise. 

We subsequently agreed on a price, and Seller delivered them to my home and placed them in my vehicle. I relied on his representation and Venmo 's Purchase Protection program for the purchase. Unfortunately, when I brought the tires in for inspection a few days later, the tire center employee at XXXX XXXX advised me that the tires were, in fact, rather UNevenly worn and he did not advise installing even one of the tires on my vehicle- and that the tires were generally unfit for use. 

When I went to open a claim with Venmo, their first instructions were to first reach out to the Seller to request a refund. I knew this would not likely go well, but I did so anyway. The Seller not only refused to refund me for the items, but began to be personally attacking/threatening/goading : I kinda figured youll be like that when you turned on purchase protection Youre nervous cause I know your address and youre the one whos trying to scam me for my money and item. 

Let Venmo do its thing aha if they get you your refund Ill come grab my tires. If you throw my tires out Ill file another dispute for the cash. 

At the end of the day, you have to dispose them and lose money regardless. Even if you get your refund I dont really care. Its yours now, not mines. 

From the Sellers comments, its unclear whether hed prefer to get the tires back or not in one statement he vows to come get them or else file a counterclaim, in another hes relishing the fact that I will at minimum be stuck with disposal fees should my claim be approved. I am happy to provide a full, unredacted chronology and accounting of our exchange from start to finish, if requested. 

Fortunately, Venmo found the claim in my favor ; however, stated that I must ship the tires and wheels back to Seller with electronic tracking in order to receive my refund. Venmos Terms of Service states that they may require shipping with tracking back to Seller, which suggests that this is not always required and is at Venmos discretion. In light of the Sellers evident ambivalence to receiving the items back, combined with my offer to physically delivery the items to the Seller, I fail to see a good faith need for Venmo to make this a requirement other than to avoid honoring a valid purchase protection claim. 

I responded to Venmo that this is a near impossibility for regular consumers and places an unreasonable burden on the Buyer - especially when Venmo had adjudicated the evidence in my favor. I again offered to match the original method of delivery and physically deliver ( and provide photographic evidence of such ) to the address provided, to which Venmo subsequently denied my claim and ignored multiple requests for an appeals process and/or legal point of contact. Their own customer service representative, XXXX, declined to provide this information and actually " hung up '' on me during a live chat. 

Please note that Venmos own Terms of Service offers more reasonable and generous terms for Sellers : The shipping requirement does not apply to eligible transactions involving items that you deliver in person ; provided, however, that you agree to provide Venmo with alternative evidence of delivery or additional documentation or information relating to the transaction that we may request. 

Why should Buyers be held to a higher standard/requirement than Sellers? Isn't Venmo 's Purchase Protection program marketed to protect Buyers? 

I am requesting a full refund of my purchase price ( {$170.00} ) plus {$24.00} for disposal of unusable tires and wheels, for a total of {$190.00}.