DAVID TRUMPS GOLIATH IN PAYPAL BATTLE

10-09-2006

How safe and secure is Paypal's "safe and secure" payment method. Not very, according to Stirrer writer Edward Cameron recently, but now he reports on an unlikely victory that has implications for every online shopper

Regular readers of this site may remember that just under a month ago I found myself out of pocket by £126.50 because PayPal had refused to pursue a claim against an eBay user who had not sent me an iPod I had paid for.

The ‘safe and secure' service had informed me it “guarantees fund recovery up to £500” but then did a u-turn and told me £105 was my lot.

My bank, HSBC, was unable to get the money back because PayPal was a third party to the transaction and had lots of airtight disclaimers limiting any action.

I had almost given up hope. But then I discovered the best government service there is.

www.moneyclaim.gov.uk is a quick and simple way of accessing the small claims court.

All I had to do was provide my details, give an account of my problem and pay £30.

The claim was then registered with Northampton County Court and everything else was dealt with on my behalf. I was able to follow the progress online through the website and I received written notice every time documents were exchanged.

To me it was worth the risk simply for the principle. How could PayPal lure me in with a guarantee of protection and then shirk its duty by referring to small print which completely contradicted its own promise? It would have been safer to give the fraudulent seller my credit card because at least that would have given HSBC the right to take the money back.

Today I received a call from PayPal offering me an out of court settlement.

That's as far as I can go with the details because I'm legally obliged not to disclose the information to a third party, although what I've said so far was already in the public domain thanks to this site. [link to previous article]

The bottom line here is that even if you are fighting a David and Goliath battle against the might of a massive, faceless company like eBay or PayPal, you shouldn't give up.

Moneyclaim is a non-profit system of chasing small amounts owed to you and while you may not win, you'll never know if you don't try. So many companies get away with daylight robbery because the little guy never thinks he stands a chance.

Well he does. And I'm proof of that.