08-02-2009, 11:11 AM

So on the forum my.is I posted a WTB ad for a suspension for my car. I was contacted by a member that said he had it, etc.

So I send him the money on Tuesday July 14th and the guy said that he will send it out on Friday. I wait and send him a message on Sunday asking if he had a tracking number for me. (No response) So I file a dispute with Paypal. After 4 days with no response I make it a claim. The seller has 10 days from then to respond to paypal. After those ten days I receive this in my email:

Hello XXXXX XXXXXXXX,

We have concluded our investigation into the following case:

Case ID: PP-748-877-318
Transaction Date: Jul 14, 2009
Transaction Amount: -$300.00 USD
Seller's Email: fj8482@yahoo.com
Seller's Name: FRank Alcantara


After careful review, we have determined that the seller is at fault but
regret to inform you that we were unable to recover any funds from the
seller's account.

We'll make every effort to recover the funds from the seller although we
can't guarantee you will receive a refund. For more information please
review our Buyer Protection Policy in the User Agreement.

To ensure that future transactions proceed smoothly, we recommend that you
review these Security Tips:

http://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cm...buyers-outside

Sincerely,

Protection Services Department

What do I do from here? I think they should charge his account and make him pay the overdraft fees, but it seems like I will not get my money back. Has anyone else experienced this?

08-02-2009, 03:11 PM

I got the exact same response from paypal, he said he had a rear bumper for my IS300, sent me pictures and everything, then i never heard from him again after the money was sent.

Case ID: PP-747-961-295
Transaction Date: Jul 14, 2009
Transaction Amount: -$240.00 USD
Seller's Email: fj8482@yahoo.com
Seller's Name: FRank Alcantara

08-02-2009, 05:45 PM

The problem may well be he has no funds in his account. If he is a con man no doubt transfers asap. Here in Australia PayPal require a minimum of 98% positive feedback and a minimum number of transactions by the seller before recognising claims.

I did purchase an ATI Radeon 9800 graphic card some time ago from an eBay seller, and after it was never received PayPal made a full refund. Good luck.

I suggest you guys report this to your State Police as you have both been ripped off, as well as the auction company.

08-02-2009, 06:14 PM

He could of as well removed all bank accounts and credit card accounts associated with his PayPal. That could be why they can't recover funds from him as well.

08-02-2009, 06:41 PM

I had someone file a claim against me and even though I had no funds in my account Paypal just charged it anyway to make me have a negative balance. Luckily I didn't end up having to pay, but I wonder what Paypal would have done if I refused to pay the debt.

I don't know why they won't do the same for you with this guy that ripped you off.

08-02-2009, 07:13 PM

Is there a way to pursue this legally with such limited information?

08-02-2009, 08:08 PM

Do you know where he lives? Something similar happened to my brother years ago before paypal (he sent a money order) and we were able to file a police report with the city he lived in. Or perhaps you can file one with your local police department. We were actually able to have the local police where this guy lived show up at his house and once that happened he was much more willing to give my brother his 300 bucks back. Now I don't know how typical that is but even if they don't go to his house you can file the report. Also if you have his name and address you can file a small claims lawsuit against him. It's not that difficult really. Just a matter of paying a small filing fee. I would pursue it further and not let this person get away with this. Good news is paypal found in your favor because I do know that once a dispute is closed that's that. They will not reopen it.

I did some googleing on the guy that ripped my brother off and I found a whole hobby community of people that were either aware of him or had been screwed by him as well and they helped me out with info.

08-02-2009, 08:37 PM

infra knows his city/state location and name but we do not have an actual address. I think were going to work on this together

08-02-2009, 09:43 PM

It's only possible to remove a credit/debit card (of any kind) from paypal before a claim is filed. If you have a card in the paypal system, such as my banks debit card on file with paypal, it will lock that card until the claim is resolved. If I sold something, and the claim was against me, my card would get locked automatically until the claim is resolved. If they find out that I(the seller) was at fault, they would take the money out of my debit card...even if there is no money in my bank! The same will happen with a credit card. So it looks like they must have booked it or something...which makes me really hate doing any sort of online transaction with actual people...unless it's with a legitimate business.

Good luck man. There is no real answer to your question yet, this happens to so many people! I'm surprised there hasn't been a law against this introduced yet!

08-03-2009, 01:37 AM

Course there is a law against this - it is called false pretenses and not being up lately on US law may even infringe Federal law if goods advertised interstate

08-03-2009, 12:33 PM

What state is the seller in? Paypal sometimes will work with you on getting any additional information to help you pursue other alternatives.
But sometimes paypal can be sticklers on tiny rules.
If you have enough info you could do a small claims civil suit if the amount was under your states small claims limit.

08-03-2009, 01:04 PM

Best bet is to contact your local police, credit card/ what ever you paid with through paypal, and paypal. I hope that you have better luck than my parents did with this.

08-03-2009, 06:19 PM

I highly doubt Paypal will willingly give us any information regarding this guy. Remember they are there to "protect" the buyers and sells of course that way nothing bad ever happens.....I will contact my local police and see what my options are.

08-06-2009, 03:29 PM

check out pipl.com

08-06-2009, 10:37 PM

interesting case. looks like your options at this point is limited