Ripped off by Thunnus!!!!!!

[engine]

First time that I ever puchased anything from paypal or another member on RC and I get ripped off. Thunnus has many post and has been a member for a long time here on RC, so I thought I would be safe. After sending him $250 through paypal, he wouldnt respond to any emails and I never heard from him again. I went through paypal to resolve it, and they ruled in my favor but said they were unable to recover funds....What a joke!! So now Im out $250 and I dont plan on buying anything through paypal or RC forums again. Im sure most people on here are trustworthy, bu I can't afford to take the chance

[dkh0331]

Sorry to hear about your situation. To help recover your loss, you might try contacting the local police department where Thunnus lives. Since Paypal ruled in your favor, that certainly would help when you speak with the police.

Good luck and keep us informed.

[cap1956]

I'm sorry to hear that you were burned, especially your first time. I thought Paypal would stand by your purchase at least up to $200 I think. Are you saying Paypal only protects you if they can recover the loot? What good is that?
This is a great forum for information, trading and sales, I hope it isn't ruined by lowlife cheats in the future.

[reefpeep2004]

Paypal has never offered to repay any money lost. They will only try to recover it from the Paypal account if it still has funds in it.

[LouPhoenix]

Did you use a credit card w/ Paypal? If so, you could file a claim with your credit card company and they will most likely refund you for most if not the full amount.

[scowiii]

The $200 coverage is only with items purchased on Ebay. Any other purchase is best case effort of recovery.

[Sharkonwheels]

Another thing you have to remember, when you sign up, and complete creating a PayPal account, you have essentially agreed that you WILL NOT dispute any credit card charges, but instead will go through PayPal's process.

if you do, their agreement with you says they can go after you, up to and including all legal and collection fees.


Nice huh? They know they don't protect you, so they force you to agree to give up the only protection you do have!


Makes you wonder ....



Tony

[reefman13]

Thats very interesting. From what I have seen the best way of performing all these transactions is buy paying via check and then mailing it. That way you have a record with your bank and keep track of exactly what is going on.

[zooboy74]

Engine:

What did you order? Livestock? I'm in the Orlando area and have a lot of frags to trade or sell. This could be face to face so you feel better.

[plummike]

PayPal just adds to your cost they are no help at all when you get ripped off.

[hurtback]

why not start a thread about ' Thunnus ',maybe rc should get involved, after all,he is a ' premium member 'he should not be allowed to post anymore
if hes done this to one person, he'll just continue cause he's thinking he can get away with it
go to the police, thats fraud
good luck, i'll remember to not deal with this joker
steve---nj---DEVILS

[theplatypus]

Originally posted by reefman13
Thats very interesting. From what I have seen the best way of performing all these transactions is buy paying via check and then mailing it. That way you have a record with your bank and keep track of exactly what is going on.

Actually the best way is to use a United States Postal Service money order.

[redox]

I wouldnt buy goods from somebody who is "selling out" or "getting out of the hobby" . Hell he hasnt posted since january and I doubt he even cares about your concerns? And... just because he's a premium member means squat. Well it means that he shelled out some cash for that title nothing else

[engine]

I did pay w/ credit card. I called the c.c. company and it looks like they are going to refund/credit the money back to my account.

Paypal would only give me money back if they were able to get money back from seller. Since he ignored paypal in addition to me, I dont see how they can ever expect to get money back for me. I think paypal is a joke and dont plan on using them again.

[engine]

Zooboy74......it was a Euroreef skimmer that I was trying to purchase.

[DarthBaiter]

I doubt PayPal can come after you, especially if they claim that you are in the right. They will not let you open another account though.

That's why they put the "pay by credit card" option on another link, and ask you if you are sure if you want to pay by C.C. and then try to tell you you are better covered if you pay by check. It covers their a$$$, not yours, you can't dispute a charge if it goes out from your checking account.

[LouPhoenix]

Correct. I never charge anything on Paypal to my bank account. It renders you powerless against PP.
Always use a credit card...!

[engine]

that is very good advice for anybody louphoenix

[justletmein]

I got ripped once a long time ago, paid through PayPal bank draft from my account. Long story short, filled out a form with my bank and they instantly put the money back in to my account. PayPal didn't like that and closed my account, but after I moved to a new address I opened another account with a different bank account and been good to go now, several hundred transactions without a problem.

[Abynum1]

Why does paypal careif you get your money back from your cc or bank acct?

[rcgates]

your bank or cc will not eat the lose, they will claim it against Paypal
and if Paypal proves it is you at fault, then the bank or cc will move the claim back on you. In the end, someone pays.

[GMAX]

PayPal is not a buyer's friend. There is no reason to use them in my own opinion. They were a device to allow small sellers to accept credit cards who would have been rejected by the card companies. Paypal is very dishonest, again in my opinion, by the way they try to get you to link to your bank acct. It gets them out of any potential liability for when a transaction goes bad. They never tell you that but instead go on and on about getting verified yada yada. If they had more liability, they would be much more selective on who they admit as sellers. Again all my opinion, but I have had to use the dispute process with my credit card company once with PP, and if I had not I would have gotten nothing. Their process is a true joke.

[Bryan]

They encourage users to open up a PP account linked to a bank account. they push all these wonderful reasons as to why it's better.

[chrisguy]

First, I am sorry for your bad experience. This is one reason I do only buy from locals.

I've had a PayPal account for a VERY long time. Seems like I've been buying and selling online forever.

Couple things I follow:
~ Keep a separate bank account connected to paypal. This limits your exposure to Paypal going after you. I make a deposit to the account to buy something or I sell items and use those funds to buy other items. It requires patience, which is something we all need in this hobby.
~ I take the opposite approach as others have stated. I do not and will not connect a credit card to Paypal. If they go after me, they can charge the card. Too many stories of people getting hit with thousands of dollars in Paypal fees on a CC.
~ Always get the persons full name address and phone #. Private messages are not enough. Call and talk to the person, the minor long distance charges (free on cell phones) can save you a lot of headaches.
~ Last and most important, IMO, (and very sad) if you can't afford to lose the money in a bad transaction, don't do the deal! Outside of large eBay purchases, my largest person to person deals have been less than $50. Just to limit my exposure.

[only4fudge]

You can file the claim on paypal. ( Aside from the unconfirmed and unprotected transactions, thats another story )

Open a dispute in their dispute console.

If there was no tangible evidence that the item was sent, nor tracking is provided. It is ruled in your favor.

Paypal always favors buyers, end of story.

You will get your money back, if you know how to regard transactions as these.

I have a friend that works there, and hes helped me out a lot, you will not believe.

Just follow the dispute, and for how ever long it takes, its well worth the wait for a check to arrive to your door.

Hope this helped, and goodluck!