Hi everyone, just wanted to share a recent experience with paypal and their so-called buyer protection.
November 2019: purchased an item using PayPal, paid roughly $45.
Dec 2019: Since the item had not arrived, I wanted to contact the seller for an update, and their store no longer existed. Cue alarm bells
Dec 2019: contacted PayPal about my concerns, they obtained a tracking number from the seller, said it was on its way.
January 2020: item still had not arrived, made claim on PayPal. While that was being processed, an item did arrive with the tracking number given by the vendor. Not only was it not the correct item, it wasn't even close and was something I would not pay $2 for in a dollar store. Utter garbage. PayPal denied my initial claim on the grounds that a tracking number had been given, so I then informed PayPal about the bait & switch scam, providing photos for evidence. Their eventual response: return the item with tracking for a full refund. The cheapest shipping option with tracking for me was $60, so obviously I refused to do that. Their response? Too bad.
I have since discovered via PayPal's facebook page that the same seller has done the same exact thing (same item paid for, same garbage shipped) to multiple people. PayPal has not only refused to issue us refunds, they have also thus far taken no action against the scamming seller.
This particular item had nothing to do with shaving gear, so I hope no one else here has been affected by this particular crook. But please be aware that if someone sells you X, but ships you Y, PayPal will do NOTHING to protect you unless you pay to ship it back with tracking even if that exceeds the value of the transaction. To me, this demonstrates that PayPal values a scammer's business more than they do mine. I had been a loyal, honest, and regular customer for years and years, but they have now lost me as a customer as I refuse to support any business that so clearly protects scammers.
So please be aware of whom you are sending $$ to via paypal. At $45 I consider this a relatively cheap lesson. It could have been much worse.