My husband and I worked hard to establish our online computer business and quickly climbed the ladder of success thru Ebays Power Sellers program. In 3 months we were Titanium level Power Seller averaging over $50,000 a month. Only to find that PayPal would be the only one to reap the rewards.
My husband had just recently suffered the loss of his Mother, Father, and Brother, and lost his job because his employer felt that another absence would not be excusable. We were left with no recourse because Arizona was a right-to-work state. We used the money he inherited to start our business.
In July of 2004, my husband was again battling with his own illness, and I found myself building 100 computers alone with very little time. De I sent form emails to all of my customers notifying them of the reasons for delays. Most of them were very understanding, but opportunity knocked for the PayPal thieves. All it took was a click of the mouse, and their payment was reversed without investigations.
PayPal offers 3 resolutions for buyers disputes, but they failed to indicate that all three of the questions had no relevance to the case. (1) Issue the buyer a full refund (2) Provide a valid tracking number. (3) Prove that a refund has already been issued. Failure to respond will be cause for an automatic reversal within 4 days. How Ironic, first the funds are placed on hold, so either way, you’re going to issue a refund. Second, when I provided them a valid tracking number, it was still reversed because the merchandise was not shipped within 7 days of purchase. This was another one of PayPal’s policy changes that took place immediately and were applied to past transactions that were made according to PayPal’s 21-day shipping terms on system builds. PayPal continued to reverse payments and hand out free computers leaving us in the negative of over $20,000. They had absorbed all the funds from a dedicated checking account that my husband kept for money orders, from buyers that stressed their concerns of not using PayPal.
The stress was overwhelming and my husband moved out. The phone was ringing off the hook, and my attempts for resolution thru PayPal and eBay were unsuccessful. I was ashamed to tell my customers that my husband had left me, so I told them he was in the hospital in hopes that the calls would cease and I could focus on resolving the issue. My attempts had failed once again, the phone calls increased, I was receiving numerous threatening emails, and also was approached by a friend of a buyer, at my residence without notice. He was sent to pick up the computer, although he knew it was not complete.
When I informed him of the situation, he immediately contacted Robert Adair in Phoenix Arizona, and have me speak to him personally. Robert was very irritated and insisted I either issue him a full refund or give the computer to him immediately. After I finally calmed him down, he said he would wait another day to pick it up. Unfortunately, things don’t always work the way you expect them to, and more so in the case where your resources have been limited to the extent, where you cant even replace defective components. The memory that I put in Roberts computer was defective, and I didn’t even have the money to buy another stick.
I was up all night worrying about the outcome, and 1/2 hour before his friend arrived, I broke down and contacted the local police department. It was time to turn myself in for the fraudulent scammer PayPal portrayed me to be. I just wondered why a seller that has stolen an excess of $40,000 was still on the streets? I showed the officer all the files I had saved, that directly indicated PayPals fraudulent acts, and furthermore, more computer knowledge, allowed me to detect that an outside source had tried to bypass my firewall. I was informed that this wasn’t a criminal matter, and civil action should be taken. Is PayPal above the law? What happens when the victims react? Do they become criminals?
Just prior to my suspension from eBay, I decided to inform my buyers that they could be reimbursed for their transactions thru a credit card reversal, and this would bypass PayPal’s dispute resolution. PayPal would have to fight the credit card services for reimbursement. I felt that these customers were treated unfairly, because many of them received free computers, and to deny them would be discriminatory.
I did this directly from my Ebays site, and less than 1 hour later I received a suspension notice, that stated I failed to include updated information in my registration, such as fax numbers, pagers, and cell phones. It was only 3 days prior that I had contacted both eBay and PayPal in tears because I was afraid to open emails or answer phone calls due to the continued threats. They informed me that it looked like I was doing the right thing and even sent me an email congratulating me on my continued success.
Now PayPal is sending emails to all the sellers I have purchased merchandise from, indicating that a dispute has been filed and a hold will be placed against their account for the transaction amount. They state that we claimed the product has never been received. I have never filed a claim, and furthermore, I have had no correspondence with PayPal since they froze my account. Now my house in foreclosure, I can’t pay my bills. I have to scrape up all my change just to buy dog food. Never in my life have I felt so violated, and every I fight to go on. My husband and I are trying to repair the damage, but at times I feel helpless. I will not let us become another statistic.
