Consumer complaint received 2024-11-18 00:00:00
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service — Mobile or digital wallet
Issue: Fraud or scam — 
Company: Paypal Holdings, Inc
State: RI

Complaint narrative:
On XX/XX/XXXX we made a down payment with a project manager to finish our basement by XX/XX/XXXX. Prior to this he had presented us with several companies he works with that have licensed electricians, plumbers, mechanics, and contractors. He originally quoted us a price of {$17000.00} and provided us with an estimate outlining all of the work that he was going to do. 

We paid him a deposit of {$9500.00} to finish the basement and based on additions to the project ( specifically, mini-split, a garbage disposal, sump pump, sprinklers ), he requested an additional {$9300.00}. For labor ( electrician, plumber, and contractor ), we paid him an additional {$5300.00}. All together on this project, we have paid him {$24000.00}. All of these payments were made from my XXXX XXXX and Venmo account. 

This complaint is specifically in regards to the transactions that occurred from my Venmo Account : 1. A {$9500.00} transaction on XX/XX/XXXX for a down payment and labor for basement 2. A {$2500.00} transaction on XX/XX/XXXX for labor that was incomplete 3. A {$2100.00} transaction on XX/XX/XXXX for sprinklers that never arrived nor installed I labeled each of these transactions as for goods/services in the " What's this for '' section of the transaction. Specifically : 1. The transaction on XX/XX/XXXX was labeled " Deposit for Basement Remodel? 
2. The transaction on XX/XX/XXXX was labeled " Basement Labor '' 3. The transaction on XX/XX/XXXX was labeled " Sprinklers for basement '' The project manager submitted a building permit ( XXXX ) \ on XX/XX/XXXX to begin work ( approved on XX/XX/XXXX ), another building permit ( XXXX ) was submitted on XX/XX/XXXX ( stopped ) and a mechanical permit ( XXXX ) was submitted and approved on XX/XX/XXXX ). On XX/XX/XXXX, he arrived to our home and stated that by the end of the week he would bring all the materials to our home, the plumber would begin work, the electrical permit would be submitted, and he would sign a written contract that is aligned with our verbal contract and exchanged text messages. He did not follow through with the above and during a recorded phone call with me on XX/XX/XXXX, stated " I'll give you all the money back for the entire project '' if the expectations above were not completed by Wednesday, XX/XX/XXXX. We have not seen him since this date, though he texted us daily. 

On Saturday, XX/XX/XXXX we told him that we would need a refund for the money that we prepaid him or we would contact the authorities, your office, and the media in hopes of preventing him from defrauding others. To date he has not paid us back. I filed charges with XXXX XXXX Police Department against him for giving false documents to a government official. 

I contacted Venmos customer support on XX/XX/XXXX and disputed the charges listed above ( XXXX ), however they sent me an email on XX/XX/XXXX recommending that I would need to reach out to the recipient for payment. However, I had already done so and the recipients account has been locked on Venmo. 

Venmo would not let me dispute these transactions. They said that this does not qualify for Venmo XXXXchase Protection even though their terms state that " Payments sent using the Pay and Request feature in your Venmo account that are sent to business profiles or that are identified as for goods and services '' are eligible for purchase protection. 

You can see these at the following link : https : //venmo.comXXXX XXXX XXXX

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation