Word of caution regarding PayPal

[onnect17]

After receiving more than one "automated" email message from Paypal and the bank behind the card (Synchrony, I think) in response to a claim, I believe the service is not as reliable as I was expecting. The amount in question was small, only a couple of hundrend dollars, considering the 10k+ I used to "move" every year, with some transactions in the 2k-3k range. I still think the service is convenient so for small amounts ($50 or less, I guess).

The post is just a word of caution so other buyers/sellers be aware the level of protection you may expect is not there.

[Oren Grad]

It's not clear from your post what actually happened: what was the nature of the (attempted) transaction, what was the nature of your claim, what did the automated messages say, whose card are you talking about, what exactly has the outcome been so far?

[onnect17]

The nature was a payment, via Paypal, done with Paypal Extras MasterCard, to a seller located in California. Not a member of the forum, AFAIK. After speaking on the phone to some "Maria" in India several times and explaining the issue, still they are asking me to return the item before filling a claim. I never got the item. Not worth the time anymore.

Here's is a copy of the letter.

[djdister]

Yikes, what is Paypal Extras MasterCard? It sounds like yet another way to extract extra fees and interest out of the already bloated Paypal transaction. If this was a transaction handled under the normal rules of Paypal, you should have filed a claim that said you never received the item, and a letter like the previous should not have shown up. Shoulda, coulda, woulda...

[HMG]

I don't know the other demands on your time, but dropping this rewards a possibly dishonest seller (for all we know, he/she sent it and it's lost in the mail) and rewards incompetent customer service on the part of paypal. I assume you tried just disputing the charge via the credit card.

[onnect17]

The PP rewards card is just another credit card, with near 2% cash back in PP transactions and 10k credit line. I do not know the interest because I do not keep a balance in any card. I used it exclusively for purchases online where PP was accepted. Then PP automatically deducted it from it. Never used it as a mastercard directly.

Followed the established procedure (claim, dispute, etc.) and more than once I received the same letter, like nobody in PP even bothered reading all the info entered in the system. I am not even questioning the sellers honesty, it's PP handling of the issue. So far a bigger waste of time than money.

[Old-N-Feeble]

The nature was a payment, via Paypal, done with Paypal Extras MasterCard, to a seller located in California. Not a member of the forum, AFAIK. After speaking on the phone to some "Maria" in India several times and explaining the issue, still they are asking me to return the item before filling a claim. I never got the item. Not worth the time anymore.

Here's is a copy of the letter.

I had a similar issue with a Chinese-based company very recently. Even though I had the tracking number with SIGNED delivery to one of their USA warehouses, PayPal couldn't confirm the item was returned because the seller's registered PayPal address is in China... despite the fact they ship to USA from USA warehouses. I finally got my refund but it was a friggin' mess.

[B.S.Kumar]

Interestingly, this bank uses a P.O. Box address...

Kumar

[DonJ]

The nature was a payment, via Paypal, done with Paypal Extras MasterCard, to a seller located in California. Not a member of the forum, AFAIK. After speaking on the phone to some "Maria" in India several times and explaining the issue, still they are asking me to return the item before filling a claim. I never got the item. Not worth the time anymore.

Here's is a copy of the letter.

Seems clear from the letter that your problem is with the issuer of the card (i.e. Synchrony Bank), not with PayPal. And if you never got the item, the procedure would have been to file a "Not received" case directly with PayPal, not with your credit card issuer. I can assure you that they wouldn't be sending you letters telling you to send the nonexistent item back.

But if a few hundred dollars is "not worth the time anymore", you don't really care about that, right?

[pdh]

a few minutes googling suggests synchrony is legit company (as much as any bank these days is legit, I mean) and frequently uses PO Box numbers for contact by ordinary mail.