Consumer complaint received 2022-09-07
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc (NJ)

On XX/XX/22, I made a purchase at a sneaker business named XXXX XXXX which used PayPal as a payment option. My payment for {$220.00} USD came in the form of {$170.00} USD from my existing PayPal wallet balance and {$56.00} USD from my checking account. PayPal had always been a preferred payment method for me as they have amplified marketing around their buyer payment protection, going as far as to have large fonted advertisements stating " Protection you need, peace of mind you deserve '' which gave me confidence in purchasing from this seller in the event that there were any issues as PayPal would make things right with me, the consumer. Furthermore, PayPal very clearly states that I'm protected if my order does not arrive as reflected in Item 2 on the following site ( https : //www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/paypal-safety-and-security. ) Given my purchase was a pre-order, I was not expecting to receive it immediately. On XX/XX/22 I received a note from the merchant directly that their business was going into receivership and that the business would be dissolved. Given my receipt from PayPal stated that I have 180 days from the date of the transaction to open a dispute in the Resolution Center should I have an issue, I Immediately went to their website to raise a claim and saw that my dispute should take approximately 30 days. A dispute was raised with case XXXX XXXX Over the course of the dispute, PayPal did not kept me up to date, and continued to push out their resolution date. On two occasions, where it was noted to me that resolution should take place within a week or so, the date has come and gone with no resolution from PayPal. On XX/XX/22, PayPal provided me with an update to let me know that my case was denied citing that my purchase was ineligible for purchase protection. The specific reason for ineligiblity was because PayPal cited that these items were intended for resale. To be clear, this single pair of shoes was for my specific personal enjoyment and not any type of after-market profiting and for PayPal to make that assumption is offensive, unwarranted and also a way of cheating honest consumers by finding a loophole. 

In the past few weeks, court filings have come out against the merchant where it has been deemed that they were in fact a veiled Ponzi scheme now being investigated by the FBI. In reaching out to the receiver of the dissolved business, as well as reviewing court filings made by them, their response has been, " The Receiver has determined that no refunds will be made at this time and no orders will be fulfilled. '' What is further disturbing, PayPal has drawn out the duration of these dispute investigations to the point that my bank no longer gave me an option to file a Reg. E dispute, something which I believe PayPal knowingly did with intent to avoid the obligation of paying these funds. In hindsight, I cant help but feel that PayPal engaged in predatory practices by steering me into a payment product with which they feel they do not have to abide by their own warranties and protections.