PayPal

While they cater to multi-million-dollar corporations, they have no problem leaving small business owners without their hard-earned money for weeks. People rely on this income to survive. This isn't pocket money. Meanwhile, they run scams, pretending to help consumers while profiting off stolen user data. Their behavior isn't just unethical; it’s illegal. They blatantly violate their own Terms of Service, US law, and EU regulations that protect sellers. But why would they care? It's clear they're more interested in exploiting their customers than providing actual service.

Infringement Report

Date: November 30, 2024

To: PayPal, Inc. From: Abebooks, Inc.

Subject: Infringement Report - Fraudulent Refund Claim

Dear PayPal Support Team,

We, the representatives of Abebooks, Inc., are writing to formally report an incident of fraudulent activity conducted by one of our buyers, leading to an illegitimate refund processed through PayPal.

The purpose of this report is to request the reversal of the refund and the reclamation of the funds, and the prevention of similar occurrences in the future.

The buyer in question managed to obtain a refund for a purchase made on Abebooks by providing false or misleading information. This illegal act was carried out through deceptive means, which violates the terms of service and trust protocols established by both PayPal and Abebooks.

The specific details of the infringement are as follows: The buyer claimed the item was not received despite evidence of delivery confirmation. The buyer provided altered or falsified documentation to support their refund request. The buyer has a history of similar fraudulent activities, as indicated by previous reports.

Evidence Supporting Our Claim:
Proof of Delivery: Attached is the delivery confirmation and tracking details confirming that the item was delivered to the buyer's address.
Name: Leonardo Pantoja Munoz
Address: Mercer Court, 6 Candle Street, E1 4SG London
Correspondence: Attached are copies of emails and communication between Abebooks and the buyer, wherein the buyer's conflicting statements can be observed.
Transaction Details: Enclosed are the transaction details and the buyer's purchase history, highlighting a pattern of suspicious refund requests.

Criminal Background Information: Leonardo Pantoja Munoz has been reported to the official authorities for theft of valuable books from Middlesex University library, which he sold on eBay at exorbitant prices. He is known as the 'colouring book thief' of Middlesex University library and has been found to hold a fake academic degree. He has published false accusations of scams against several of our sellers, leading to the temporary suspension of their accounts. Additionally, he has been repeatedly reported for defamation, forgery of evidence, verbal abuse, and criminal incitement to arson at our sellers' warehouses, as well as the infliction of physical harm on sellers and their staff.

Impact on Abebooks: This fraudulent activity has adversely affected Abebooks in the following ways:
Financial Loss: The illegitimate refund has resulted in a direct financial loss to Abebooks.
Operational Impact: Significant time and resources have been diverted to investigate and address this issue.
Reputation Risk: Such incidents can tarnish the reputation of our platform and undermine the trust of legitimate buyers and sellers.

Request for Action: In light of the evidence presented and the impact outlined, we kindly request PayPal to take the following actions: Reversal of the refund processed for the transaction in question. Reimbursement of the funds to Abebooks.

Goodday,so what happened was, this lady in Kempton(Joburg) park named Thando wanted to buy my iPad which i had posted on Facebook marketplace wanted to buy it for her father,she messaged me saying she wants me to courier it for her since i stay in Durban and she said she would send R1500 along with an added R200 which would be a reimbursement for the money that i would spend out of my own pocket to travel to a post office as well as pay for the courier fees as i had placed delivery for 3-5 business days, and i would have to wait for that duration to get payment for my sale.We then spoke through text and she insisted we use paypal to ensure both of our safety, however i had never used paypal before and I verbalised this to her and suggested an EFT, but she insisted that she had been using them for 6 years now and that it would be a smooth process, so i agreed and downloaded paypal, logged in my details and I then received a call from an unknown number stating that he is Daniel James and will be the one to manage our transactions(merchant and I). While on the phone with him i asked him to send me his phone number as he said i should send the R750 for activation of my acc as a cash send and not an EFT.Therefore i did so & he said he received it.Next they wanted R550 from me because they claim i took too long to pay the activation fee.Eventually I paid the R550 the same way i had paid the R750 as a cash send..They claim they did not receive it and there was a mistake in their system and they want another R550 however i do not feel that its my mistake that their system had a fault and now my money is nowhere to be found.I called my bank and they claimed that both the R750 and the R550 were redeemed at Family Kempton Square.Therefore i do feel that its unnecessary for me to pay again.So now all i would like is my money which is a total of R3000 and sent to my card please.

Please do take note of this and kind regards.

November 22, 2024

Extremely Time-Urgent

Mr. Alex Chriss, President & CEO

PayPal

2211 N First St

San Jose, CA 95131

For Immediate Resolution

Dear Mr.

Chriss & PayPal Executive Management:

Please urgently refer to my emails sent to executiveoffice@***.com, as I have attached further extensive evidence for these claims as well as complaints Ive filed against PayPal with the California Attorney General Rob Bonta & the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau / CFPB.

I look forward to this matters immediate resolution and approval of these claims as Ive now engaged the Attorney General and CFPB to ensure enforcement in this profoundly distressing matter.

Thank you kindly in advance for your immediate response and commitment to resolving this matter urgently.

Please also see herein the new information from the site which I found sellers listing Furnished Finder regarding the deactivation of my unit and several other properties due to infarctions and uninhabitable conditions of this seller & please contact me urgently today with approval and resolution.

Please note that I have also filed a complaint on November 21, 2024, with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) attached herein against PayPal regarding the arbitrary denial of my claims meriting immediate resolution and approval of my claims today November 21, 2024.

Please attach this urgently to my case and phone me with the approval I am speaking presently with the California Attorney General himself on this denial as well, Mr. Rob Bonta Attorney General against PayPal complaint is also attached herein.

Regrettably, while PayPal claims to be there for its consumers, they refuse to honor Buyer Protection terms and instead allow slumlords to utilize their platform for payments, while providing grossly uninhabitable conditions & pest infestations at their rentals as PayPal allows these individuals to use their platform for payments and then refuses to help their customers recover monies owed, under Buyer Protection terms.

Thank you for your urgent response.

On 11/20/2024, I paid for an invoice from Cawood Honda through PayPal for $131.83. I didn't receive my package, so I contacted Cawood Honda for the tracking number.

Upon tracking the item, I learned the package was delivered to an address I haven't lived at in 4 years (sold home). When I logged into my PayPal account, I noticed someone from PayPal had set this old address as my default address, so I deleted this old address and reset my new address back as my primary address. When I contacted Cawood Honda, I was told they only shipped the items to the address provided by PayPal. Also, please note I had other items paid through PayPal and shipped to my new address during this same time period without me adjusting my default address as this PayPal supervisor suggested.

I reached out to PayPal about their error, and after speaking with a supervisor named Anna (#157****), I was told there was nothing they could do to refund my money. I was also told that I had to initiate the address change, which was an insult to my intelligence. She had no answer as to why my other packages came to my new address during this same period. I asked her to look at my last 100 transactions and she would see that the old address they used hasn't been used in over 4 years.

Still, she refused to either refund my money or pay Cawood Honda to reship my items. She instead continued to insult my intelligence by suggesting I call my bank or get in contact with people I don't know, who are 4 hours away, and see if they will send me my package. Even though I wasn't the one who provided this address to Cawood Honda in addition to the fact that no shipping address was listed on the invoice provided from PayPal. If the old shipping address had been listed on the invoice, I would have caught it and corrected it.

This supervisor was hell-bent on not admitting any fault in spite of all the evidence that they were at fault.

In short, this supervisor said I was out of luck for $131.83 and they were not going to refund my money. I will also be reaching out to PayPal's CSuite in hopes of getting my money back and they fire such an incompetent supervisor that is representing their company.

They limit the accounts of regular customers without even asking or warning. They accuse you of being risky and they hold your funds for 180 days.

Now, I want to solve the problem, but in the future, I will use other services. This is a total lack of respect for customers. You must give valid reasons when you ban or limit someone. Their agents are not available; they do not answer the phone, but I will take the case to court if necessary.

They accused me of my business being NO ACTIVE, which is not truth at all.

I sent them. number of registration, official docs but I believe they did not even check it.

I also sent bank statement so they can see company exists. Total lack of respect!

I reached via customer service to provide a transaction number I received from the lawyers offices handling the government issued Brigit refunds from the Federal Trade Commission. I had received several emails from PayPal regarding this refund.

However, the representative told me it was a scam and all my information was breached without giving any solution or recourse. Then I called the lawyers office back and it was reiterated to me that this was not correct and they provided me with another PayPal customer service number. The same PayPal representative answered again and before pulling up my account to verify my information said the transaction number was not real. Then she asked me for my email to my PayPal account and while I was giving it she interrupted me and asked for it again?

So, I let her know she had just interrupted me while I was doing exactly that (giving my email to the PayPal account) I then asked for escalation to a supervisor. I was put on hold for several minutes. The representative came back on the line stating her supervisor was busy. I asked if there was a complaint or escalation department and was told no.

I asked again and was told yes to the escalation department and when I asked to be transferred was told it was her supervisor? I reiterated to her that she just confirmed there was an escalation department, which indicates it is a department not one sole person. She put me back on hold for several more minutes and then came back on the line and dropped the call. I have already moved out of looking for a solution through PayPal for the Brigit refund and am working directly with the lawyers office handling said refunds, but want to make sure PayPal is aware that this specific customer service representative was not only unprofessional, but she was rude, uninformed, handled the call poorly in every way and came off as completely incompetent.

Worse still, she never escalated the call to a supervisor, another agent, or department and then hung up on me, the PayPal customer. I sincerely hope that PayPal is able to locate this representative as it reflects more than just poorly on her, but leaves PayPal customers wanting to severe any relationship with PayPal as I am planning to never utilize PayPal services as a result.

PayPal should be vetting candidates appropriately and furthermore most certainly should give their customers recourse for such when situations like these arise and Im sure, continue to arise. Goodluck.