PayPal Loophole Leaves Man Holding Empty Bag Police Threaten Charges Against eBay Seller
POSTED: 4:52 p.m. EST December 30, 2003
HOPKINTON, R.I. -- A Rhode Island man claims a woman in Florida stole his money by taking advantage of a loophole in PayPal, a payment service used by buyers and sellers on eBay.
Bill Felkner, of Ashaway, R.I., ordered some autographed football cards from a seller on eBay. The selling price was $472. For protection, he paid by using PayPal, eBay's payment service.
PayPal allows buyers and sellers to send and receive money and it offers buyers $500 of coverage if the item isn't received.
"This is the envelope I got in the mail," Felkner said, displaying an empty package.
Felkner said when he received the empty envelope, he figured PayPal would cover him. But he said PayPal was no pal when he filed the complaint.
"When I contacted them, they have a form you fill out and the second line on the form says, 'Did you receive anything? Click 'yes' even if it was empty,'" he said. "But this automatically disqualifies you from the protection program as it is now a dispute-of-goods issue and not a non-receipt issue."
PayPal sent him an e-mail explaining, "PayPal's Buyer Complaint Policy only applies to shipment of goods, not to disputes about the attributes or quality of goods received."
"It's an automatic disqualification from protection if you receive anything," Felkner said. "Even if it's an empty envelope, they don't want to talk about it. So, really you're left to deal with the seller."
After trying unsuccessfully to work it out with the seller, Felkner called Officer Thomas Quaratella of the Hopkinton Police Department, who contacted investigators in Pompano Beach, Fla., where the seller was located.
Florida police went to the user's last known address, but they found the person had moved away.
Quaratella was able to reach the seller on her cell phone.
"Went forward and finally tracked her down, and spoke to her on the phone, which was supposedly a great misunderstanding, which in turn, I came to the conclusion that she was lying," Quaratella said. "Based on my information, she's done this to eight to 12 more people based on the accounts I have reviewed."
Hopkinton police sent the seller an e-mail saying if she doesn't reimburse Felkner by Jan. 5, they will file two charges against her, including one felony, and issue a warrant for her arrest.
Over the past week, television station WJAR made numerous attempts to contact eBay, PayPal's parent company, but messages went unreturned.
The station left a message on the seller's cell phone, but she didn't return the call either.
