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PayPal Does Something Truly Evil
Yahoo Finance ^ | 01/03/2012 | By Mike Schuster

Posted on 01/04/2012 3:31:35 PM PST by Swordmaker

 If truly dispicable acts are now the norm for PayPal (EBAY), Scott Thompson should kick off his new Yahoo (YHOO) gig with a dog fight.

Sharing a heartbreaking account of a buy gone horribly wrong, Helen Killer of the hilarious Etsy send-up Regretsy posted an email from a reader who saw a treasured item destroyed at the behest of PayPal. Reader Erica writes in describing a recent sale she made to a buyer in Canada.

The item in question was a pre-WWII French violin worth $2,500. The buyer, however, disputed the label -- which isn't uncommon, Erica claims, but shouldn't detract from the craftsmanship of the instrument.

She writes, "Rather than have the violin returned to me, PayPal made the buyer DESTROY the violin in order to get his money back. They somehow deemed the violin as 'counterfeit' even though there is no such thing in the violin world."  And to the delight of the buyer, he sent Erica a photo of the destroyed antique.

Erica has since been on the phone with "numerous reps," but they have "100% defended their action and gave me the party line."

And lest you think Erica's situation was solely due to one disgruntled PayPal executive who's declared a war on art, the destruction of items that are simply suspected of being counterfeit is actually laid out in the company's Terms of Service. The very definition of "Smash first, ask questions later."

Although this seems a tad excessive, it doesn't stray far from other acts of delusional and malevolent behavior perpetrated by PayPal.

(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Computers/Internet
KEYWORDS: evil; paypal; thieves; thugs
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1 posted on 01/04/2012 3:31:39 PM PST by Swordmaker
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To: Swordmaker

I guess you better not use paypal to sell antiques!


2 posted on 01/04/2012 3:35:08 PM PST by mamelukesabre
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To: Swordmaker

From her own words, it sounds like the seller knew the label was counterfeit.


3 posted on 01/04/2012 3:35:54 PM PST by Sacajaweau
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To: Swordmaker

I’ve watched antique roadshow enough time to know than even forgeries are sometimes worth a bundle.


4 posted on 01/04/2012 3:35:54 PM PST by mamelukesabre
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To: Swordmaker

I guess I’ll never pay for anything that can be destroyed by using PayPal. Then again I haven’t had need to use it for anything for some time.


5 posted on 01/04/2012 3:37:08 PM PST by wastedyears (Not too long you devious little parathyroid. Soon I'll be rid of you and I'll be free.)
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To: Swordmaker

Lawsuit?


6 posted on 01/04/2012 3:38:10 PM PST by Vindibudd
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To: Vindibudd

Based on what? EVery user of PayPal agrees to their terms of service explicitly. You don’t like them, don’t use them. This is simply a matter of taking responsibility for your actions . . . and knowing what you are doing before you do it.


7 posted on 01/04/2012 3:41:01 PM PST by Sudetenland (Anybody but Obama!!!!)
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To: Swordmaker

In any dispute with Pay Pal I’ll destroy them first. I mean who am I to argue with their corporate policy?


8 posted on 01/04/2012 3:41:01 PM PST by MeganC (No way in Hell am I voting for Mitt Romney. Not now, not ever. Deal with it.)
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To: Swordmaker
Paypal is a pain in the neck, and I avoid it wherever possible. I have been using dwolla, which is marvelous.
9 posted on 01/04/2012 3:42:36 PM PST by M. Thatcher
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To: mamelukesabre

A few years back I sold on ebay and one customer complained that one of the items was chipped and she wanted to keep all 9 plus get her money back...ebay told her to package up all items and send back to me then they would take the money out of my paypal account...she never sent them back, I was watching her site and she sold them....she didn’t get her money back cause she had no proof that she returned them to me...but paypal still stinks and I finally just quit selling...


10 posted on 01/04/2012 3:44:36 PM PST by goat granny
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To: Swordmaker

What’s to prevent the buyer of the alleged fake from buying a cheap POS violin from a thrift shop, smashing it and using that to satisfy PrayPal, then keeping the money and the good violin too?


11 posted on 01/04/2012 3:45:57 PM PST by Fresh Wind ('People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook.' Richard M. Nixon)
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To: Swordmaker

I read about someone being told to destroy a Hermes purse without proving it was counterfeit! Paypal really messes up sometimes. Hate them, but if you use EBay, not much choice.


12 posted on 01/04/2012 3:47:46 PM PST by ozaukeemom (No to Romney, no how, no way, no money, no vote)
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To: Swordmaker

that’s really insane. If you know anything about violins, it’s that half the violins made in the 19th century say that they are Stradivari. Of course they are not, but they can be perfectly serviceable violins. It’s very different transaction to sell one of that than selling a counterfeit modern consumer good.


13 posted on 01/04/2012 3:49:27 PM PST by babble-on
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To: goat granny

When using paypal you got to sell”as is where is, no warranties expressed or implied, all sales final” on the invoice!


14 posted on 01/04/2012 3:50:09 PM PST by eastforker (I'll pick Rick but I still root for Newt.)
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To: ozaukeemom

Burned last year at Christmas using both Ebay and Paypal.

Never again.

There is some truly stupid corporate leadership afoot here in the US. Verizon Wireless was the latest idiot, charging money to people who want to pay bills a certain way. Pulled the policy the next day, but the damage was done - shareholders found out the company is run by morons.

I can’t believe Netflix CEO still draws a paycheck.


15 posted on 01/04/2012 3:53:01 PM PST by RinaseaofDs (Does beheading qualify as 'breaking my back', in the Jeffersonian sense of the expression?)
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To: Sacajaweau

You said:
“From her own words, it sounds like the seller knew the label was counterfeit.”

— —

I missed where the seller implicated herself by her own statement. Could you show me where those words were?


16 posted on 01/04/2012 3:53:49 PM PST by HighWheeler
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To: Swordmaker

I use paypal rather irregularly and for small purchases and sales. I don’t trust it at all, but there is no doubt it makes things SO much easier.

I used to be a huge ebayer - one of the first in, when it really was “one gigantic garage sale”. Listed everything for one penny, and had a lot of fun. But somewhere along the way Ebay decided they didn’t want people like me, and they used paypal to make that very clear to me.

For me, Paypal is in the same category as Google and Verizon. It’s a great product, but the company is rotten.


17 posted on 01/04/2012 3:59:32 PM PST by I still care (I miss my friends, bagels, and the NYC skyline - but not the taxes. I love the South.)
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To: Swordmaker

The ONLY time I used Pay Pal, I ended up with fraudulent charges on my Visa.

No big deal you say?

When you have had a card for 15 years, it is a significant anchor in your credit rating.
When it is replaced with a new card, that continuity evaporates.


18 posted on 01/04/2012 3:59:32 PM PST by G Larry ("I dream of a day when a man is judged by the content of his Character.")
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To: HighWheeler

Paypal offers nex to no protection for sellers. They greatly, greatly favor the buyer. There is seller protection but it regularly fails. What’s worse is that as a seller you have to deal with credit card chargebacks that paypal has no control over and can be dragged out over months and even years. If the buyer defrauds you(more often than not) and wins the credit card chargeback(which they normally do b/c CC companies don’t want to lose customers), Paypal will come to YOU looking for the money. There are plenty of stories of Paypal bringing collections agencies against people. Oh, and they also charge a fee against you if you get a chargeback against you(even if it’s a fraudulent one that is eventually found in your favor.

Avoid using paypal unless you absolutely need it.


19 posted on 01/04/2012 4:01:05 PM PST by bigdirty
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To: bigdirty

I will add though that all the paypal help center people I spoke to on the phone were prompt and spoke English as a first language. I just wish their ToS didn’t make it so easy for buyers to defraud people.


20 posted on 01/04/2012 4:03:37 PM PST by bigdirty
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