What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? New York
In November my girlfriend sold her used Canon DSLR on Ebay. The purchase went through, was delivered fine, funds were received through PayPal and everything seemed good.
One month and 2 weeks later, the buyer claims that the camera he received was broken. Ebay has a policy stating that defective merchandise can be returned within 30 days of receipt (obviously allowing the seller time to test the product and see if it were broken). The seller was outside the policy and we denied him a return, Ebay agreed. In addition, the only pictures that the buyer could provide showing the camera was broken was on the very day that he requested a return, so again 6 weeks later. I'm guessing that if you spend $1000 on a camera that you would test it much sooner that 6 weeks after receipt. The whole story seemed fishy since I know it worked when we sent it, then he doesn't file a claim until that much time passes and cannot prove that it did not work upon receipt. Again, Ebay DENIES him a return.
The buyer also files a claim with PayPal, the company that the transaction went through. We submit tons of paperwork showing the ebay policy, that he can't prove the camera was even broken within the policy time (he said he erased all pictures taken before that date) and he only submits 1 sentence saying something close to "the camera does not function as described and has a bluish tint to all pictures." PayPal forces us to accept a return despite the fact that Ebay already ruled in our favor and was willing to get on the phone with them (aren't they owned by the same company?). Paypal says they don't believe him and will let him return the camera. They pull our funds, so we have no choice but to accept the return.
We get the camera back and its totally fine. I've taken numerous pictures and video with it and cannot recreate the effect that he was showing. I'm not sure if it was a bad lens, bad memory card, or his lack of knowledge on how to use the camera (or that he made it all up) but it works. 100%. Paypal now says that they will not make the transaction go back through (us sending him the camera) nor reimburse us for cancelling a sale that they had no right overriding.
I'm obviously pissed about this for several reasons:
1. PayPal is merely a money transfer service. It's basically an online credit card. How can they overrule a return policy that the actual seller and buyer have to agree to in selling on Ebay? What right do they have to overrule a return policy? It's like saying if I buy a TV from Bestbuy and their return policy if 15 days and then try to return it in 20 days that Visa could then step in a force them to accept the return by pulling their money. That doesn't happen. This literally is not PayPal's business. They don't provide a means to sell items, they provide a means to transfer money.
2. Despite us saying that we did not want to accept a return even if the camera worked, we were force to pay for the return shipping. Now we lost out on the shipping cost and the auction fee. We shouldn't be financially liable for Paypal cancelling a perfectly good transaction (the camera freakin works) that directly defies Ebay's policy. What laws protect me here?
Please provide help. I feel like Paypal took advantage of us, specifically because there are class actions law suits against them in cases there buyers were taken advantage of. It just feels like they're over compensating now. I don't understand how a company that has any sense of doing the right thing would rule against us, and at the very least not compensate us the money they unjustly forced us to spend. What can we do
In November my girlfriend sold her used Canon DSLR on Ebay. The purchase went through, was delivered fine, funds were received through PayPal and everything seemed good.
One month and 2 weeks later, the buyer claims that the camera he received was broken. Ebay has a policy stating that defective merchandise can be returned within 30 days of receipt (obviously allowing the seller time to test the product and see if it were broken). The seller was outside the policy and we denied him a return, Ebay agreed. In addition, the only pictures that the buyer could provide showing the camera was broken was on the very day that he requested a return, so again 6 weeks later. I'm guessing that if you spend $1000 on a camera that you would test it much sooner that 6 weeks after receipt. The whole story seemed fishy since I know it worked when we sent it, then he doesn't file a claim until that much time passes and cannot prove that it did not work upon receipt. Again, Ebay DENIES him a return.
The buyer also files a claim with PayPal, the company that the transaction went through. We submit tons of paperwork showing the ebay policy, that he can't prove the camera was even broken within the policy time (he said he erased all pictures taken before that date) and he only submits 1 sentence saying something close to "the camera does not function as described and has a bluish tint to all pictures." PayPal forces us to accept a return despite the fact that Ebay already ruled in our favor and was willing to get on the phone with them (aren't they owned by the same company?). Paypal says they don't believe him and will let him return the camera. They pull our funds, so we have no choice but to accept the return.
We get the camera back and its totally fine. I've taken numerous pictures and video with it and cannot recreate the effect that he was showing. I'm not sure if it was a bad lens, bad memory card, or his lack of knowledge on how to use the camera (or that he made it all up) but it works. 100%. Paypal now says that they will not make the transaction go back through (us sending him the camera) nor reimburse us for cancelling a sale that they had no right overriding.
I'm obviously pissed about this for several reasons:
1. PayPal is merely a money transfer service. It's basically an online credit card. How can they overrule a return policy that the actual seller and buyer have to agree to in selling on Ebay? What right do they have to overrule a return policy? It's like saying if I buy a TV from Bestbuy and their return policy if 15 days and then try to return it in 20 days that Visa could then step in a force them to accept the return by pulling their money. That doesn't happen. This literally is not PayPal's business. They don't provide a means to sell items, they provide a means to transfer money.
2. Despite us saying that we did not want to accept a return even if the camera worked, we were force to pay for the return shipping. Now we lost out on the shipping cost and the auction fee. We shouldn't be financially liable for Paypal cancelling a perfectly good transaction (the camera freakin works) that directly defies Ebay's policy. What laws protect me here?
Please provide help. I feel like Paypal took advantage of us, specifically because there are class actions law suits against them in cases there buyers were taken advantage of. It just feels like they're over compensating now. I don't understand how a company that has any sense of doing the right thing would rule against us, and at the very least not compensate us the money they unjustly forced us to spend. What can we do