Can paypal be disputed?
 

I am thinking of paying a Kenyan tour operator by paypal. The reason I am thinking about this is just in case he does not perform I would like dispute and am wondering if I would have the same disputing power as a regular credit card.

PayPal is nowhere near as good for disputes as a credit card. They have very specific rules and requirements and side with the merchant far more often than credit cards do.

If you fund the payment with a credit card, however, you should have more protection. I say "should" because it's been my experience but I'm not sure it's universal.

I had a bad transaction several years ago. I tried to get the seller to refund. No luck. I disputed it through PayPal. They said it had been too long and refused to do anything. I had funded the transaction through American Express, so I disputed it there. PayPal then accepted the dispute and it went through.

I think you still have the best protection directly through a credit card, but funding a PayPal transaction with a credit card is better than from your balance or through another source.

(Side note: You can't fund with a credit card if you have a balance, but there's a pretty simple workaround for that. Transfer your balance to another email address, pay the transaction, then cancel the transfer.)

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8310/4.2.2 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/102)

I'd be extremely hesitant to do this, especially given the amount that this may be. That being said, my girlfriend successfully disputed a Paypal charge on her AMEX relating to a purchase of a fake Gucci purse on Ebay. Paypal wasn't too helpful, but AMEX was.

DON'T, DON'T, DON'T use PayPal. This cannot be stressed enough! For info on just how bad PayPal is - and how much IT DOES NOT stand by its customers - do some searches on FT. Or just see this site:

http://paypalsucks.com/

Please use caution when paying for anything with PayPal.

I would just use amex to pay your merchant via paypal. Then if something happens, file a dispute with amex.

Is this possible? I thought that paypal TOS prevented this?

Definitely possible and THE ONLY way to go. I went through a huge mess disputing PayPal transaction and they were not helpful at all. Fortunately it was funded with my CC and once I disputed with my CC PayPal was on my side really fast.

I definitely agree - I've read quite a few horror stories on this website. However, if your transaction is funded by a CC, specifically Amex, it is a bit safer since filing a dispute with your CC will usually put Paypal on your side real fast.

But I thot you waive the right to dispute?

Yes. You are absolutely correct. Once you file a dispute with your credit card, you do waive the right to dispute it through paypal. However as others stated in this thread, paypal is not very helpful lately :(

PayPal = Noun; Name of a company factoring transactions. Adj.; Ripoff. ADV: BEWARE :D

Worked for me with a Citi Mastercard funding a Paypal transaction, resolved by Citi in my favor with no hassles. IMO, you're much better letting the credit card company handle a dispute than having to deal with Paypal's convoluted rules.

Paypal doesn't like it because they are charged for disputes, plus they will generally lose if the complaint is legit.

what was the amount of the transaction? Citi might just have given you a credit to keep you happy.

You don't transfer money with yur credit card into your paypal account. Where did you get this info? Paypal just serves as an intermediary for the transaction and charges fees to a merchant for it like any other credit card processing center or bank.

Last year I have disputed a transaction with PayPal for the Shell gift card for $480 total charge and Amex had help me with a dispute and I got it solved within 30 days. Before hand I filed a dispute with paypal and did not even here from them for 45 days except that they are still investigating. That is when I have filed with Amex. Much easier and more friendlier process.

This was several hundred dollars, don't recall the exact amount. They did go through the process, I know from tracking it with Paypal. But even Paypal caved and couldn't contest it.

The dispute involved an item, purchased on eBay, which didn't work (probably damaged in shipping, but that's up to the seller to resolve.) The seller agreed to accept the return, but then didn't get around to refunding the money. Case closed.

i spent 1900 on a safari and now the agent wants $300. not sure whether to continue or dispute.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=835460

anybody have experiences with google checkout?

All good IME. Plus $10 off for new users (ie new email address and diff reg CC).

I also used Google Checkout when $20 promotion was available last year at buy.com No problem at all. It showed up on my Amex as Google Checkout - Buy.com

I always use CC with paypal transactions, it's a great back up for protection. Should you contact your CC Co first and then dispute through paypal, they will deny and let your CC Co handle the transaction. So I dispute with paypal first and then contact my CC Co. Most of the time it was positive and when they declined, I just contacted the CC Co (Amex was smooth & fast) and it was always favorable.

This is the correct procedure. To keep your PP account safe and sound you must open the PP dispute first and then dispute the charge via CC.

I disputed a PayPal transaction once. Girlfriend had bought a purse on eBay that never arrived -- or rather, was never shipped.

Filed a dispute with PayPal - nothing, as they agreed that the seller had ripped us off, but since they had no money in their account they couldn't/wouldn't do anything.

Given that she and I each had a Paypal account and was not so worried about losing one of them, I disputed the charge with Amex. Amex sided with us, and reversed the charge. Paypal then proceeded to get angry, but conceded that we were right and did not lock her account.

Seems like Amex is the way to go with Paypal; although I don't know if they still have that annoying $2500 per month limit they used to have.

This will NOT get your PP account locked. As I just posted above you must FIRST dispute with PP. If they do not side with you or are unable to recover the money you must then dispute with your CC.

It looks like you are correct, per their chargeback policy. The last time I had to deal with a chargeback was a few years ago (probably '04) and they were MUCH nastier than they are now. The account did get locked for a short period before they released it - I probably still have the "We agree you got stiffed, and as a gesture we'll unlock your account" letter somewhere.

I had a similar experience. PayPal takes forever to conduct and investigation, and, to begin with, it doesnt really care if you get your money back.

do you have to get a decision from PP before starting with CC? I ask because it looks like PP takes so long to respond and it might cross the 60 day window.

Back in college I bought a DVD player on eBay and paid with paypal. The guy shipped it just kinda wrapped in cardboard, not in a real box. Needless to say it arrived damaged. Paypal didn't care since the seller did indeed ship the item and I received it. That was before I learned about CC disputes.

I gave up paypal for 4 years after that. Then recently my BF insisted on paying me rent by paypal. One month he put "for sexual favors" in the memo line. Both of our accounts were frozen and it took 6 calls on his end and 3 on mine to get the transaction through. That finally got him to realize that paypal sucks and I am again off them and just get a paper check each month.

I had a very similar experience! Basically my account is also frozen and I can't remove my bank account information or my cc info because PayPal is angry I did a dispute through the cc instead of them. Perhaps if I did the dispute through PayPal first this would not have happened, but even when I showed them proof that I sent back the incorrect items, they still refuse to reinstate my account--so I opened up a new one with a different bank account and credit card.

Probably you should wait to have their decision but it probably takes 4 to 6 weeks. Just make sure that you are within the dispute policy of your CC.

When did Paypal become such a**holes? The seller fees are ridiculous - they force you to upgrade to a premiere account, then charge for bank transfers. The only reason they have any weight is that they're owned by Ebay, and therefore "trusted".

I have disputed a few things over the years for payments through Paypal. I think almost every time was after the Paypal time limit but inside the CC limit. Usually I spent the initial 30/60 days arguing with the sellers or waiting for some sort of response from someone before running out of time. The CC was very good about refunding, and then I'd get a form letter from Paypal reminding me of filing disputes through them first. Paypal's henchmen seem so incompetent it seemed pointless to me to bother trying to file a dispute with them so I never even tried it - just went straight to credit card.

Now that's really funny. I guess he learned his lesson...

I wouldn't trust paypal, personally. I got burned big time last year as a seller on ebay and paypal was no help to me. I took a big hit, but that's the risk you take, eh?

paypal stinks!
 

i once purchased coins on the internet for approx 10,000 i was buying silver proof sets and recived clad proof sets so i contact paypal they let me hang! beacuse they only protect if you buy via ebay and not from the seller direct
we are talking about $10.000 bucks so i called up my cc amex and master card i used both of them and with no problems at all i recived my refund
paypal then closed my account for disputing a charge against them:p

watch out when usind paypal

you have to be careful with the disputes. For a period this year, i bought creams off ebay and 3/3 times, they came defective or were never sent. Disputed all 3. after the 3rd time, paypal tried to freeze/restrict my account asking for bank account statements or electricity bills to be sent in. I never send these bills to ebay/paypal anymore. The one time i did, they lost the form and bam, i got defrauded on my credit card and found out i had phone bills opened up in my name when i did not do so.

check out www.paypalsucks.com

I had an incident where paypal closing both buyer/seller account without any dispute from either party because it felt no longer comfortable doing business with me. They asked me to verify a whole lot of information and when I successfully completed all of their requirements, they closed the account anyways. Naturally, I don't feel comfortable doing business with it ever since so I do not use it.
Their customer support is a total waste of time as they are not able to get anything done and not very knowledgeable.
I think it should go out of business and I'll do everything in my power to support that.

I have disputed paypal plenty of times when paypal ruled in favor of the seller. Credit Card always works it out.

I agree that ''Paypal'' is bad news. www.paypalsucks.com , as previously mentioned, sets out a lot of information as to why. They make disputing a charge with them so convuluted that it is a total pain in the ....

I purchased two gold Coins from Latvia and paid over $4,000 for them. after 25 days, I received the items and took them to a gold shop and they told me that they are not Authentic and tat I can get into trouble for having them. I went directly and opened a dispute on AMEX and I still haven't heard anything. I trued to send the items back and give AMEX the tracking number, but sending coins and stuff from the US to Latvia is prohibited...Any suggestion?

Welcome to Flyertalk.

I see that you replied to a 2008 thread discussing PayPal. How is PayPal involved in your transaction? Does the transaction appear on an American Express statement?