INR PayPal Dispute - Possible Scam

[s1roberw]

Last October I sold an item with eBay and following day I sent the item using AusPost with tracking and signature, the item sold for $1200. The shipping address was a post office box within Sydney, item shipped and collected within 2 days.

In late December the buyer puts an INR in to PayPal and PayPal puts my account in to a negative balance for the $1200 plus the shipping. Since then I have contacted AusPost support to confirm the item was collected and signed for, I then advise the buyer he picked up the item and signed for it in October and ask him to reverse his dispute. He claims he bought several of these items and one has gone missing. Not at any time in the 60+ day period after auction did the buyer try to contact me about not receiving his purchase.

After requesting he reverse his dispute and get no response I escalate this to PayPal, after a week of no information they find in favor of the buyer. Their reasoning is that the tracking is not valid, apparently after 35 days AusPost archives their tracking details such that if you query the tracking number their website says the tracking number is invalid. So I contest this with PayPal and provide them with an email from AusPost with the buyers signature with the date and time he collected with this tracking number and PayPal then says that is insufficient as I could have edited the email.

Has anyone else experienced the same thing? If so were you able to get PayPal to see the error in their process?

[shoppingbag*]

I'm speechless! I hope someone can give you some sound advice on this. The only thing I could suggest is, can you get Australia Post to forward the email directly to Paypal, so they cannot accuse you of editing it?

[davewil1964]

If you uploaded the details to Paypal at the time of the dispute, they have them and you have seller protection.

I would ring Paypal and point this out. If they refuse to see reason, I would be going to the FOS (or whatever it's called this week). I would let Paypal know you will be doing that as well. It is amazing how often the threat is enough, but if they don't release your money, definitely go ahead with it.

[kopenhagen5]

AFCA - https://www.fos.org.au/

As mentioned, don't give up and call PayPal instructing you will need to take it to AFCA if they won't look at it in detail.

[countessalmirena]

Complaint to Australian Financial Complaints Authority (formerly FOS).

Finally, another option is to make a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) (formerly the Financial Ombdusman Serivce (FOS). You should only start such a complaint if you've tried and failed to achieve a resolution through PayPal or whatever financial institution was involved in the transaction. (They will ask you about this!)

You can read more about contacting PayPal before making a complaint with AFCA in this post. - particularly in relation to recording the call. (Please keep in mind that where I referred to the FOS/Financial Ombudsman, that is now AFCA - as of the beginning of November 2018.)

[jellybirddesigns]

Sounds awful.

Did you enter the tracking number into the order on the day you sent it, or did you only upload the tracking once the buyer disputed?

I'm so paranoid about these things, I will always input the tracking number the minute I get home from the PO.

[barginsales2014]

Hey mate,

head over to any post office ( try go to a company owned post office and not LPO)

provide them the tracking number - they can provide you a print out of the tracking details in FULL. also have it "stamped by the post office "

then scan the tracking details page of the print out and provide it to paypal . this should have all the tracing details paypal will need.

Good luck with the case mate.!!

Regards,

Ron

[s1roberw]

Thanks for the info, I will be sure to make a complaint with the Financial Ombudsmen today..

[s1roberw]

Dealing with PayPal and their offshore helpdesk has been a painful experience. 

I uploaded the Tracking information in to eBay, the only problem is that AusPost archives after 35 days and the disputes people at PayPal go to Auspost and put the tracking number in to that page. In this case 60 days later it has been archived and shows as invalid.

Saying that this experience tells me its best to use a courier of some sort for high value items and not to except PO Boxes or Lockers, take a photo of the parcel with the reciept before handing over to be shipped.

[go-tazz]

Also report the buyer to Acorn:(the Australian Cybercrime Online reporting Network):

https://www.acorn.gov.au/

If they get away with doing it to you they'll do it with others,(which they may already have done with all the

ones that he's bought),

The onus is on them to ensure they know which ones they did and didn't receive.