Be Careful: Paymate is NOT Covered by Money Back Guarantee Indeed!!!

[l_l9112]

I bought a Leica film camera ($ 1460) on eBay about 1 month ago. The payment method is Paymate which is covered by the Money Back Guarantee. (That's the reason why I paid for it immediately.)

Unfortunately, the camera is defective and I opened a case on eBay 5 days after receiving it.

List of Facts (according to previous communication records with eBay's Customer Service):

1) The item is defective based on the evidence I provided.

2) It is eBay who asked me to return it for a full refund.

3) The seller transferred only a partial refund to my bank account after receiving the item.

4) The case has been closed in my favor.

5) I still cannot get the remaining balance back.

6) eBay promised me that if the seller fails to refund, eBay will do it instead.

Happy ending? No!

This morning I received two emails from eBay's CS:

"You will need to contact your seller on this matter since they are the ones who have the payment you made and they were the ones who initiated a partial refund back to your account."

"Thanks for getting back to us about the lacking refund of the item, Leica M3 Film Camera which you've filed an item not as described for against the seller, (Seller's Name Here). I understand you're worried of not getting the total amount of refund but don't worry, I'm happy to explain this.

For this (My Name Here), Paymate is covered by our eBay money back guarantee buyer protection program since you've successfully opened a dispute here on eBay. However, we don't have any hold of payments for the items through Paymate. We can only hold payments that was processed through PayPal. Sellers need to process a refund manually through Paymate.

Just a heads-up (My Name Here), it's not eBay who will give a refund to the buyer. It's eBay who will processed a refund by deciding a case accordingly base on our policy and evidence. As what I have mentioned, if the payment was processed through PayPal then the seller will not be able to get the payment as it will be put on hold while the case was not decided yet. For Paymate, since we don't have any hold on the payment, it's the seller who needs to process it."

I was totally shocked.

1) I escalated the case becase I cannot work things out with the seller. But eBay want me to ask my money back myself?!

2) I win the case and eBay knows that the seller did not fully refund me. However, the one who replied my email claimed that Paymate is not covered by Money Back Guarantee indeed. (Money Back Guarantee = Open Case Only & No furhter Actions???)

Conclusion: Paymate is actually not covered by eBay's Money Back Gurantee program.

[lyndal1838]

Yes, Paymate is safe for the seller but not the buyer.....nothing new in that.  Sellers only decide to use Paymate when they have been made to refund money through paypal that they think they should not have to refund.

As far as I am concerned I am always wary of sellers offering only Paymate and not paypal.

[jensmanchester-australia]

I would ring ebay tomorrow and speak to the team that handles the money back guarantees. Their policy clearly states the Paymate is covered.

For reimbursement if they don't hold the funds as with Paypal they say they will add the costs to the sellers invoice which is what they should do in this case.

Reimbursements

If a seller is required to reimburse the buyer or eBay, the reimbursement amount is removed from the seller's PayPal account, and/or placed on the seller's invoice and/or charged to the seller's payment method on file. The seller is required to have a valid payment method on file.

[kopenhagen5]

Unfortunately I think ebay has not worded and explained it correctly. (MBG)

Yes if paying by Paymate you are able to open a case within ebay and should the seller refund, all is well. So in effect you are covered in the ability to open a case but it's not guaranteed you will get money back.

Unlike the agreements ebay have with PayPal and their underwriters, a case can be opened and guaranteed of a refund provided the circumstances of the case fall within the T&C's of the ebay MBG.

But as Jen suggests, I would be calling ebay asking to speak to a manager.

[phorum_junkie*]

Presumably uou funded the payment with a credit card so contavt your card provider to ask if they will do a chargeback.

If the seller is in Australia you can also reort them to the on line fraud report site.

[l_l9112]

Thank you for your reply. As you can see, I am new to eBay...
I trusted MBG blindly because of its name >_<

[l_l9112]

Thank you very much for your suggestion, I will call eBay again.

[l_l9112]

Thanks. I will update my post after calling eBay.

[l_l9112]

Thank you~ I may report the case to ACCC.

[phorum_junkie*]

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@l_l9112 wrote:
Thank you~ I may report the case to ACCC.

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Not the way to go IMO, much better to use the dedicated system for on-line auction fraud. That, or anything else, is only effective if the seller is actually in Australia. Reporting will not get your money back and before reporting you have to be pro-active, that means you try disputing the payment with Paymate (unlikely to get you anywhere), first.

The only way to get a refund may be to go down the chargeback route with your card provider as long as you used a credit card or a Visa debit card to fund the payment.