Walter Knapp wrote:
> Another hint for the paranoid, use the auctions that can be paid via
> paypal. Paypal will put a real hurt on someone who does not come
> through. And many items paypal also "guarantees". If they won't take
> paypal I'll usually use a postal money order, the PO has some teeth for
> mail fraud. Or I may use a credit card, I can have the credit card
> company zap them.
Dang it Walt, didn't I say DAMHIKT? (g)
Paypal is no protection for the *buyer*. It is owned by Ebay. Ebay
makes its money with a percentage of the price from the *seller*. Now
how do you suppose the complaint procedure is, um, tilted?
I returned a package to a seller, Cambridge Photo (those of you
familiar with the less reputable NY camera dealers are probably getting
a little nervous at this point). I did not put tracking on it. My bad
and never again. Cambridge said they had received the package, but two
weeks later had not sent me a replacement. When I asked where it was,
they turned around and said they never got my return. When I went to
Paypal with all the email correspondence showing this case, Ebay just
got stuck on the fact that I had no tracking numbers. Never mind
Cambridge admitted in writing to me they got it back; they told Ebay
they *didn't* get it back. Cambridge does hundreds of trades a week. I
do one a month. End of story.
Moral of story - if you use PayPal, make sure you pay by credit
card, instead of direct bank withdrawal. *You* have juice with *your*
credit card company; you have none with Paypal. PayPal would have you
believe that cancelling a credit card charge is against the rules. Well,
so is common sense, apparently.
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Chuck Bragg, Pacific Palisades, CA
Membership, Newsletter, Web manager
Santa Monica Bay Audubon Society
www.smbas.org
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