Online Fraud and Paypal won't help - calssaction suit?

[michew82]

What is the name of your state? MA

I signed up with a online company that promised to do some online advertising for my website through their online blogs and forums. They sent me anemail of everything they promised to do for me for 3 months and $135. It seemed like a fair deal, so I paid them through Paypal (the only way they would accept the payment).

After I paid they promised me that my advertising would go up that same day. After two weeks and no advertising and this company not returning my emails (the phone number they had on file with Paypal was disconnected), I filed a dispute with Paypal to get my money back. Finally the advertising company emailed me back, but to my dismay it was only to threaten me saying that if I did not stop the Paypal dispute they would spread rumors about my business and take me to court. Because obviously I did nothing wrong (except trust that they were a legitimate company) I proceeded with the dispute.

A few days later Paypal closed the dispute saying that they only handle cases regarding goods, not services, and they can not get my money back even though I can prove I never received the services I paid for and I have treats from this company to me in several emails.

I tried to file with the Better Business Bureau, but they can not do anything because this company is not a registered business. I tried submitting them to Internet Fraud sites, but without a physical company address (which Paypal refuses to give me because it violates the rights of the people who committed the fraud) they really can’t do anything.

Now here is my question: I know it is pretty impossible to get my money back from this company. It's not worth it for me to sue them over $135 when we are from different states. Can I start a class action suit against Paypal for not doing enough to protect their customers (they should have at least had a warning when I clicked the "service" box that this purchase would not be covered and they should check to make sure that business’s information is up-to-date, not allow out of service numbers). Even from looking at this forum I see a lot of people feel that Paypal does not do enough to protect them from fraud. Do I have a class action suit here?

 

[janedoe23]

Was this an Ebay purchase and what is the companies name?

 

[racer72]

Step one in starting a class action lawsuit: Raise about $100,000 miniumum to hire a law firm that will take the case. Come back when you have dont this.

 

[jjoshua]

What should PayPal have done to protect you from fraud? Even if they warned you that the purchase would not be covered, would that have stopped you? Does the TOS contain all of the necessary information regarding goods vs services?

 

[michew82]

reply #1: No, it was not an ebay purchase. I contacted them through their website and emailed back and forth with a representitive.

reply #2: Do you need to pay upfront for a class action suit, I know they get 1/3 of the settlement, but you have t0 pay them upfront in addition?

reply #3: Paypal should make it clear when you check off that this purchase is for services that they will not protect you against fraud. And yes, it would have made a difference. I assumed I was protected by Paypal. Had they posted a warning next to the services option I would have paid with my credit card through Paypal instead of a Paypal balance because I would have been made aware . I use Paypal regularly, never had a problem with them, and never saw a warning in my 4 years of using them saying they don't protect against those types of purchases. And, like I said, they need to ensure business's keep their information up-to-date. They are allowing this company to repeatedly do this.

 

[jjoshua]

The user agreement is pretty clear:

2.2 PayPal is only a Payment Service Provider. PayPal acts as a payment service provider by creating, hosting, maintaining and providing our Service to you via the Internet. We do not have any control over the products or services that are paid for with our Service. We cannot ensure that a buyer or a seller you are dealing with will actually complete the transaction.

2.3 Identity Authentication. We use many techniques to identify our users when they register on our site. Verification of Users is only an indication of increased likelihood that a User's identity is correct. You authorize PayPal, directly or through third parties, to make any inquiries we consider necessary to validate your registration. This may include ordering a credit report and performing other credit checks or verifying the information you provide against third party databases. However, because user verification on the Internet is difficult, PayPal cannot and does not guarantee any user's identity.

Always use a credit card with PayPal. This gives you extra protection.

 

[michew82]

Exactly, that is all it says. I know they provide protection in there for the purchase of goods, how was I supposed to know from that they don't provide the same protection for services? They don't spell it out. My point is that they need to make it clear to users that when they purchase a service they are not protected. No where in the statement you posted did it mention that they help retrive lost funds for goods, but not services when that is in fact their policy.

I really don't want to argue about the nitty gritty. I am just asking if a lawyer would take my case over this matter because Paypal does not do a good enough job of explaining what they do and don't cover and they have no notification that you are not protected by a service purchase when you pay for the item.

 

[averad]

I am just asking if a lawyer would take my case

No, unless you have money for their time.

Do you honestly think you are the first person to try this? Go to paypalsucks.com and post your woes there.

 

[Zigner]

Exactly, that is all it says. I know they provide protection in there for the purchase of goods, how was I supposed to know from that they don't provide the same protection for services? They don't spell it out. My point is that they need to make it clear to users that when they purchase a service they are not protected. No where in the statement you posted did it mention that they help retrive lost funds for goods, but not services when that is in fact their policy.

I really don't want to argue about the nitty gritty. I am just asking if a lawyer would take my case over this matter because Paypal does not do a good enough job of explaining what they do and don't cover and they have no notification that you are not protected by a service purchase when you pay for the item.

Paypal does an EXCELLENT job of explaining things. Why did you ASSUME you had protection?
You say you don't want to argue about the nitty gritty, but then you want to know if a lawyer would take your case. Well, of course, if you pay enough money a lawyer will take your case. But you will still lose. There is no argument about the "nitty gritty" because you are wrong.
Paypal can't be responsible for your lack of effort in educating yourself.

 

[michew82]

I guess we all can't be as smart as you.

This forum is designed for people who have legal questions to ask and get answers from knowledgeable people. If you have no helpful information please do not respond.

 

[racer72]

I guess we all can't be as smart as you.

This forum is designed for people who have legal questions to ask and get answers from knowledgeable people. If you have no helpful information please do not respond.

This is a public forum open to all. If you don't like any of the answers, tough, you got what you paid for. No one responding to your post caused or was any part of your problem. It was your failure to explore all the legal ramifications prior to entering into an obligation that cost you money. It happens everyday to a wide variety of people, you are hardly unique to this situation. I have read every post and all give you helpful information, some to help your current situation and some if you ever decide to do something stupid again. And guess what, none of us were stupid enough to give $135 to someone over the internet. Consider yourself damn lucky that there are people out there that will help you. If you don't like what I just said, please do respond. Or may I suggest you take your tale of whoa to a local attorney. I will give you back your $135 if you are not told the same basic thing you have been told on this forum free of charge.

 

[Zigner]

This is a public forum open to all. If you don't like any of the answers, tough, you got what you paid for. No one responding to your post caused or was any part of your problem. It was your failure to explore all the legal ramifications prior to entering into an obligation that cost you money. It happens everyday to a wide variety of people, you are hardly unique to this situation. I have read every post and all give you helpful information, some to help your current situation and some if you ever decide to do something stupid again. And guess what, none of us were stupid enough to give $135 to someone over the internet. Consider yourself damn lucky that there are people out there that will help you. If you don't like what I just said, please do respond. Or may I suggest you take your tale of whoa to a local attorney. I will give you back your $135 if you are not told the same basic thing you have been told on this forum free of charge.

The only thing I'd differ with is that I *would* pay $135 over the internet, but only if I was totally prepared to never see that money, item or service. Then, it's a nice suprise when I do see it