paypal threatening to send my 16 year old to collections

[demj1308]

You are missing the point that he cannot make an honest deal with somebody because he committed fraud to be able to engage in the actions he did. That means there is no such thing as an honest deal after that point.



first, the terms of paypal are going to limit what is available. If he wanted to play the game, he is going to get burned by the rules. I don't use paypal and don't read their terms but I suggest you do and attempt to learn if there are any actions available to you or your son in this situation. Once you have exhausted your rights under paypal, if son wishes to sue the Canadian, well, it simply wouldn't be worth it.

I agree with you on the payapl terms, and he should not have set up the account, but if he had done this thru my paypal account, we would be in the same situation

 

[Ohiogal]

Are you kidding me, i thought this was a place to get advice, not be prosecuted. The person in the transaction that is really "the bad guy", is the guy that got the paintball gun and got his money back. You seem more upset about a minor doing something stupid by checking a box, the adult who has stolen from a 16 year old doesn't seem to bother you at all. If he could get the item back he would be able to resell it and pay the money back to paypal, were not trying to get away with anything here, he traded the gun for $425, he no longer has the $425 and does not have the gun anymore to resell, where does the money come from to pay them back ?

Your son LIED to get on paypal. How do you know he is telling you the truth? His credibility is going to be seriously questioned and held in doubt because he pretended to be 18 thus engaging in fraud. Now since he did that anything else he says is going to be scrutinized. Where did the $425 go? What did he spend it on? He needs to get a job and pay them back. Again, if he pushes this too hard, he can end up facing CRIMINAL charges for his role in this.

 

[Ohiogal]

I agree with you on the payapl terms, and he should not have set up the account, but if he had done this thru my paypal account, we would be in the same situation

Actually you wouldn't. YOU would be on the hook for it. And that would put YOU in the position of waging the battle.

 

[demj1308]

I think a big issue here is that the buyer still has the merchandise. Not disagreeing with the contractual issue but it sounds like paypal has refunded the money prior to the return of the merchandise. To me, the greater fraud here are the actions of the buyer and paypal.

I suggest op needs to step in and address the issue of the retained merchandise with both paypal and the buyer

Thank you, if we could just get the merchandise returned we could repay the fund to paypal, everyone here seems more interested in sending a 16 year old college kid to jail, and not even mentioning the guy keeping an item he didn't pay for.

 

[justalayman]

Are you kidding me, i thought this was a place to get advice, not be prosecuted. The person in the transaction that is really "the bad guy", is the guy that got the paintball gun and got his money back. You seem more upset about a minor doing something stupid by checking a box, the adult who has stolen from a 16 year old doesn't seem to bother you at all. If he could get the item back he would be able to resell it and pay the money back to paypal, were not trying to get away with anything here, he traded the gun for $425, he no longer has the $425 and does not have the gun anymore to resell, where does the money come from to pay them back ?

in the law, there is something called the clean hands doctrine. Basically, what it means is the courts will not help a person that broke the law to get where they are to enforce a contract. Your son committed fraud by marking that box so now the courts can say; he broke the law to get where he is. why should we help him now?

 

[Ohiogal]

Thank you, if we could just get the merchandise returned we could repay the fund to paypal, everyone here seems more interested in sending a 16 year old college kid to jail, and not even mentioning the guy keeping an item he didn't pay for.

There are two issues. You seem to want to defend your child who is a liar and engaged in fraud. You need to stop defending him and make this a learning situation for him because if he engaged in fraud now and he is a "16 year old college kid" he may very well engage in more crimes (drinking, drugs, other types of fraud) but whatever. Your child is not as smart as you seem to think. Nor is he as honest. And jail? Try he committed a crime but is a juvenile.

 

[justalayman]

Thank you, if we could just get the merchandise returned we could repay the fund to paypal, everyone here seems more interested in sending a 16 year old college kid to jail, and not even mentioning the guy keeping an item he didn't pay for.

not at all. we are trying to get you to understand that your son broke the law and from there on out, he is tainted. he is where he is because of what he did. If he had not broken the law, he would not be in this situation.

while you argue you would be if he used your account, well, not really because he cannot use your account. Any transactions through your account are considered to be your transactions so you could put the gun up for sale for him but it is still your transaction.

so, if this happened using your account, what would the rules of paypal allow you to do that your son is not being allowed?

 

[demj1308]

Your son LIED to get on paypal. How do you know he is telling you the truth? His credibility is going to be seriously questioned and held in doubt because he pretended to be 18 thus engaging in fraud. Now since he did that anything else he says is going to be scrutinized. Where did the $425 go? What did he spend it on? He needs to get a job and pay them back. Again, if he pushes this too hard, he can end up facing CRIMINAL charges for his role in this.

How do i know hes telling the truth ? Im not sure on what matter ?, as far as the money he used it replace the gun he shipped out. As far as selling and shipping the item we know it was received by the buyer, he advised paypal that it was dirtier than he though. I understand the issue with the fraudulent paypal setup, but the fact that paypal can just refund the money back to a buyer without requiring the item be returned and have absolutely no liability in the matter to be completely unfair, if this had been done thru my paypal, there would have been no fraud, and we would be in the exact same situation.

 

[demj1308]

Does anybody know if what the buyer has done would be criminal, paypal suggested contacting the local police ? If i can just get the item back, then i can return the funds to paypal and put this whole mess behind.

 

[Ohiogal]

How do i know hes telling the truth ? Im not sure on what matter ?, as far as the money he used it replace the gun he shipped out. As far as selling and shipping the item we know it was received by the buyer, he advised paypal that it was dirtier than he though. I understand the issue with the fraudulent paypal setup, but the fact that paypal can just refund the money back to a buyer without requiring the item be returned and have absolutely no liability in the matter to be completely unfair, if this had been done thru my paypal, there would have been no fraud, and we would be in the exact same situation.

How do you know your son never received any notice? How do you know your son just didn't ignore the notices he got because he wanted to keep the money.

You would have legal options that your lying fraud-committing son doesn't have because he lied and committed fraud. That is the point we are trying to get you to comprehend. Your son COMMITTED A CRIME. If he had not engaged in fraud, there would be legal options available that aren't. Tell your son to get a job and pay back the money he spent. End of story. This will turn out to be an expensive lesson for him. Or he can deal with 7 years of bad credit that he won't be able to dispute legitimately because of his crime.

 

[demj1308]

Actually you wouldn't. YOU would be on the hook for it. And that would put YOU in the position of waging the battle.

exactly, thats the problem, paypal is able to what ever they want with your money, and basically have no resposibility when things go wrong.

 

[Ohiogal]

Does anybody know if what the buyer has done would be criminal, paypal suggested contacting the local police ? If i can just get the item back, then i can return the funds to paypal and put this whole mess behind.

You are NOT a party to this. YOUR son could try contacting the local police in Canada but then again he runs into the issue of his fraud. This is not as simple as demanding the gun back. The money will not magically appear if the gun returns. You would actually be in a stronger position to get the gun back IF the money is repaid.

 

[Ohiogal]

exactly, thats the problem, paypal is able to what ever they want with your money, and basically have no resposibility when things go wrong.

Would you quit blaming everyone but your lying son? Paypal is bound by their terms of service as are all users. YOUR SON IS THE ONE TO BLAME HERE. I posted the terms of services. Did you read them all? Every single one of them?

 

[demj1308]

in the law, there is something called the clean hands doctrine. Basically, what it means is the courts will not help a person that broke the law to get where they are to enforce a contract. Your son committed fraud by marking that box so now the courts can say; he broke the law to get where he is. why should we help him now?

That seems to be a fair answer, Thanks You, perhaps others should read your post, i appreciate a straight forward non-confrontational answer. Its much easier to see the message when its not full of suggestions that your kid should go to jail.

 

[demj1308]

Would you quit blaming everyone but your lying son? Paypal is bound by their terms of service as are all users. YOUR SON IS THE ONE TO BLAME HERE. I posted the terms of services. Did you read them all? Every single one of them?

I hate to say this but are you frickiing kidding me, but as far as your concerned the major crime here is setting up a paypal account fraudulantly which has no victim, if everything had gone as it should have, and the person who is keeping something that dosent belong to him (something that does have a victim) in you book is fine.