In no way is this a criticism of this site. I love this site, the people involved and appreciate all the mods are doing to keep it going. I was not so lucky. Whereas most immediately got their transaction stopped, Paypal assured me that I would be safe. The following day, they withdrew the funds from my bank account even though their system flagged the transaction as possibly fraudulent. Three times, during lengthy discussions with advisors, I was told that I just had to endure their process but I was pre-flagged to receive my funds back. The first step was allowing 10 days to pass to allow the fraudster to reply to my dispute. I was also assured that in these cases, there is seldom a reply which would automatically assure my refund. After 10 days, with no reply, I was then told that it was forwarded to claims to adjust. 20 days later, I was notified that the judgement was held against me and that the funds had been released to the Chinese Imposter. I then called back to PP and asked to hear all of the taped conversations with multiple assurances from their staff that I would be ok. The supervisor would not cooperate and basically told me tough luck. The basis for decision was that I had sent it to a friend and therefore, I am not privy to the protections that PP eagerly advertises. Thankfully, a friend of mine works for a bank and since my debit is tied to my credit card, she advised me to call the credit card company. I did, filed an attestation of fraudulent charge, submitted the case file I had built and provided to PP and my bank made the correction, taking back the money from PP. Looking back over the whole ordeal....it's ultimately my fault. If the deal is too good, it's probably not true! Throwing this back up here so those of us not aware, there's one more method of recovery if all others strike out.
. Dont trust me to follow through then it is your loss. No pun intended. The other side of the spectrum I have even sent guns to members long before I got paid . Certain people you know for years you just know you can trust them . One incident of a scammer shouldn't change everyones attitude. Auction sites are easier to get taken in on a bad deal than on the forum.
