Another reason to stop using paypal...

[Gunner Recall]

http://www.regretsy.com/2012/01/03/from-the-mailbag-27/

Short version:
Seller ships an "antique" $2500 violin to buyer, has it authenticated by a "top luthier" prior to shipment.
Buyer receives violin and files dispute of authenticity.
Paypal instructs buyer to smash the violin to pieces and submit photos for refund.
Buyer gets refund. Seller is out $2500 and the violin.

Can we start using google checkout or amazon payments yet (even if it's just on ILF)?
Paypal's draconian dispute policies are just too much for me.

[coldbrightsunlight]

That's....completely insane. Why would destroying the item in question help anybody here? Their dispute policy is to say "fuck you" to the seller and give them nothing. Awesome.

If paypal have shit like that in their policies, I think switching to a different service is a good idea. I definitely will if I'm selling stuff...

[Birthday Boy]

+1

I seem to come across these kinds of pages pretty frequently. Fuck paypal.

[Ilikewater]

+1

I seem to come across these kinds of pages pretty frequently. Fuck paypal.

I'm down for google wallet or amazon. probably finish setting up my account today.

[Birthday Boy]

Do any of those not require card linkage? Cause my bank won't let me do that with my Visa on Paypal at least..

[hclapp219]

That is unbelievably fucked up.

What are some reasonable alternatives to Paypal? I know all the big names in tech are horrible in some way or another, but sometimes you just have to make a point...

[kbit]

Yepp, I think gonna cancel my account as soon as I clear my balance transfer.

[delaydecay]

WTF?!? that story is horribly sad. i cant fucking believe they have it written that you can destroy property.

[Schlatte]

wtf? what other similar services are out there we could use instead?
oh- I can't use a credit card so it has to be linkable to my bank account... like paypal...

[Gearmond]

also i've had my card hooked up to it for ever-since-i-got-an-account and i STILL have to wait days for shit to clear.

i could have my delay pedal by now.

ebay is honestly to blame for why they're still around at all

[nieh]

Paypal is putting holds on all payments I receive from ebay sales because "I haven't been selling enough lately." So the hundreds of dollars I'm getting for selling pedals I wont get till the end of January, which I need to pay for recording gear I bought off of ebay. FUCK PAYPAL AND EBAY. They can eat my ass.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I've got an unexplained hold of a week on a payment, when I made 2 other payments in the same day that went fine and have it linked to credit card or bank transfer, and definitely have more than enough in my account... Thanks paypal.

[ifeellikeatourist]

I have no clue how destroying it made more sense than just sending it back to the seller...

I'm pretty sure that she can get a pretty good lawsuit going here though. I really hope she canat least get her $2500 back.

[Toonster]

That is unbelievably fucked up.

What are some reasonable alternatives to Paypal? I know all the big names in tech are horrible in some way or another, but sometimes you just have to make a point...

Same story goes for most financial institutions

[the_carl]

I have no clue how destroying it made more sense than just sending it back to the seller...

I'm pretty sure that she can get a pretty good lawsuit going here though. I really hope she canat least get her $2500 back.

If it actually is a counterfeit item, the policy makes sense. If it gets sent back the seller can just try to pass it off as legitimate again to the next unsuspecting buyer. It is explicitly stated in Paypal's terms of use, which no one reads, that this can happen. In this case, Paypal seems to have exercised incredibly poor judgement in having it destroyed without consulting another expert or anything, but as far as I know we don't have Paypal's side of the case yet and you really need both sides of the argument before jumping to conclusions in this kind of thing.

Do I agree with what Paypal did here? With the currently known information, not at all. I haven't personally had problems with Paypal before and didn't know so many people did. Guess I'll be looking at alternatives... It's one of those things where Paypal has become so prevalent as the de facto standard that it will be really hard for any comparable services to get a foothold.