PayPal Harassing eBay Members Filing Disputes Against eBay Sellers of Fake MP Players, Memory Cards, USB Flash Drives

SOSFakeFlash reports ebay members discovering mp players, memory cards or usb flash drives are fake – false capacity and file a dispute, are being harassed by PayPal. This is not new.

Over the last 15 months, SOSFakeFlash has observed PayPal use many different tactics to avoid living up to their promise of buyer protection. The latest tactic is to demand buyers submit documentation to support their claim the item is not “authentic”. What should you do?

Victims of fraudulent sellers on eBay for these devices frequently submit the output of a testing software H2testw, to support having been sold a fake capacity item. This is a usb flash drive, mp player or memory card digitally altered to report a much higher capacity than the nand storage flash chip is in size. Through software manipulation a 4GB chip can appear to be 16GB or even 500GB. For usb flash drives and memory cards this is deadly – the moment the true capacity is exceeded all files and data are lost. Only information about the file is written to a contents table and so “appear” to exist. When a person attempts to access these files, error messages result and the file can not be retrieved. This is to be expected since the files were never transferred to the device in the first place, there was no place to put them once the true capacity was exceeded. In many cases not only is the device a “fake” but also a counterfeit using famous brand names.

The latest ploy to avoid refunding frauded buyers is force buyers to have the items appraised. Oddly MP Players, usb flash drives and memory cards are not works of art, nor are they gemstones. Detection is achieved by running the software program H2testw, written specifically to test the true capacity and state of flash storage chips.

Paypal is refusing this evidence and buyers receive responses such as:

To continue with the investigation of your complaint, we must request documentation to support your claim that the item is not authentic. Please obtain a document from an unbiased, third-party, such as a dealer, appraiser, or an organization that is qualified in the area of the item in question (other than yourself), which clearly identifies the item as not authentic. The document must specifically state how the item received differs from an authentic item and must include a detailed explanation of how the person evaluating the item determined that it is not authentic. If possible, the document should include a serial number, and must be on letterhead that includes the name, address, and phone number of the business or organization so that PayPal may contact them if necessary.

The documents should be faxed to PayPal at (402) 537-5760 (please note this is a United States phone number, if you are faxing from outside the United States, you will generally need to dial 00 1 before the number). Please include a cover sheet with your fax that includes the email address registered on your PayPal account and the ID number of your claim (PP-695-063-079), so we may attach the documents to your claim as quickly as possible.

We must receive your fax by June 12, 2009 in order to proceed with the investigation of your claim. If we do not receive your fax by June 12, 2009, your claim will be canceled. We are unable to grant extensions to this time period. Please note that PayPal is unable to reimburse you for any costs or fees that may be incurred in obtaining the requested documents. Any documents you provide may also be supplied to the seller in your dispute if necessary.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience. We regret any inconvenience this request may cause.

Sincerely,
Lori
Protection Services Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

SOSFakeFlash has seen these robotic email template responses in the past.

Disputes are increasing at PayPal and they are feeling the heat.

As they do not wish to lose their fees this is the newest road block to try and get you to give up and go away.

What should you do?

1. If you paid by credit card, call your credit card to do a reversal. For many this is the fastest way to get a refund. It has a double sting. Paypal loses it’s fees, the fake flash seller also loses the money and is stuck with fees from ebay and paypal.

2. If you have a friend in the computer field who works in an IT company, get them to write you a letter with the information required above and fax it in.

3. f you have a friendly computer store, visit them and tell them your story. How you were frauded on eBay and show them the documentation that PayPal is holding your funds to ransom. Take your device along and if you have the output from H2testw show them that as well. Many local stores have been happy to write a short letter stating the item was a fake and false capacity. After all these fraudsters on eBay are damaging their local business. Many will be sympathetic realizing that you have learned a hard lesson. It is good customer relations too. Having learned your lesson, you are now likely to buy locally and stay away from any further eBay purchases or dealing with PayPal again.

4. If you have a brand name counterfeit contact the company. Call or email and present your evidence and send that in to PayPal. You can also visit a local store that sells the real items and have them state yours is definitely a counterfeit as they compare against the real items.

5. You can also try to call PayPal directly to take some sense into them. See PayPal Telephone Numbers – eBay Fake Flash USB Flash Drives, MP Players Memory Cards. SOSFakeFlash is hoping more telephone numbers and email addresses will be added as comments to that article by victims over time.

SOSFakeFlash advises victims to read PayPal How Long Do You Have To Claim For A Refund In Disputes? A Guide About PayPal From eBayer’s Experiences.

You will find a great deal of information on PayPal and PayPal behavior. SOSFakeFlash can not counsel each victim individually with Paypal issues. We would like too, but there are just too many of you! That is why we wrote so many articles and collected information to help you. You can leave information on posts and help each other with your claims by responding to each others comments.

There is one observation that we have, people who will NOT give up and who continue to fight PayPal and refuse to let the matter rest are the ones most likely to get a refund. This fraud has being going on for a long time. eBay fake flash sellers, and eBay try to hide under PayPal’s skirts. PayPal will try to ensure that you do not receive buyer protection – it means they loose money. They are in the business of making money, not loosing it.

It this bothers you or is against your principals – fight back!