Credit Card Charge Dispute - Paypal/ebay

[William_K_F]

What is the name of your state? CA

Hello,

My wife purchased a doll on ebay and paid with a credit card by clicking on the AMEX icon on the page. The doll came and she considers it not to be of the described quality and wishes to return it for a refund. The seller refuses. Disputed with Paypal and they won't handle since it is a quality issue not lack of receipt. Tried to dispute with AMEX and they say:

However, because the transaction involved a payment off of your Paypal account, rather than a charge against your American Express account, it was essentially a cash transaction.

For this reason, it is not governed by the same procedures for goods and services purchased with the Card. As a result, we have no recourse with the payee. We can therefore only suggest that you contact the payee directly if you wish to pursue your claim.

This seems bogus:

1) AMEX icon was used to pay for item.
2) Charge say Paypal and name of 3rd party on my bill.

Should this transaction be covered under the Fair Credit Billing Act? The amount is over $50 but the seller is in Texas but the purchase was with a computer at home in California so not sure on the 100 miles rule.

Thanks.

-William

 

[djohnson]

You might have better luck posting this under internet law but I will try to help. I really don't think you have any recourse. You purchased it sight unseen and it probably had pictures. If it was misrepresented or not may be a matter of opinion unless it is blatant and you may have a small claims case.

 

[ladyc4]

Have you taken this up with Ebay itself? Though their position is that they are only a "venue" they don't like stories like yours to get known by the general public-I'm not saying that they will refund your money or intercede with AMEX or PayPal(they own PayPal anyway)but if they've received other complaints about this particular seller they may suspend or revoke their membership-

 

[JETX]

Specifically, the FCBA settlement procedures apply ONLY to disputes about "billing errors." For example:
* unauthorized charges. Federal law limits your responsibility for unauthorized charges to $50;
* charges that list the wrong date or amount;
* charges for goods and services you didn't accept or weren't delivered as agreed;
* math errors;
* failure to post payments and other credits, such as returns;
* failure to send bills to your current address - provided the creditor receives your change of address, in writing, at least 20 days before the billing period ends; and
* charges for which you ask for an explanation or written proof of purchase along with a claimed error or request for clarification.

Regretably, there is nothing in this Act that would protect the buyer in the event that "she considers it not to be of the described quality".

Your only recourses are:
1) Try to negotiate some type of solution with the seller;
2) Try to get assistance from eBay (unlikely)
3) Try to get assistance from PayPal.

From the PayPal User Agreement:
"If your claim involves receiving not-as-described goods, we suggest using an online-trackable shipping service if you choose to return the goods to the seller. Please be aware that though you are not covered for not-as-described claims under this Buyer Complaint Policy, using an online-trackable shipping service may help you in working directly with the seller to resolve the problem. We also encourage you to file claims with us as you feel necessary for not-as-described merchandise. We will pass your complaint on to the seller and keep track of the claims for fraud control purposes."
http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_buyer_complaint-outside

 

[William_K_F]

So the clause:

failure to post payments and other credits, such as returns;

Does that mean that if we send the item back by a trackable means and the seller accepts receipt of the item that we now fall under the FCBA if they do not post a credit for the return?

 

[JETX]

"Does that mean that if we send the item back by a trackable means and the seller accepts receipt of the item that we now fall under the FCBA if they do not post a credit for the return?"
*** If you did return it, you might try to argue that point with the credit card company..... but they can also point out that there was no agreement to allow return.