On 3rd May, I made a purchase via PayPal for a lifetime membership at http://www.animedownloadsonline.com. The correct amount was deducted from my PayPal account yet I never received the promised membership access. My emails to the seller were unanswered. Naively believing that PayPal would mediate in such a case, I raise a dispute with PayPal in hope that I could get the seller to respond and perhaps perform a refund.
Days passed and finally I received a email from PayPal saying, “According to PayPal legal agreement, we are unable to investigate claims involving Virtual or Intangible items. PayPal’s Buyer Complaint policy only applies to tangible, physical goods that can be shipped. Payments for intangible items, services, licenses, or other digital content are not eligible for dispute resolution. In addition, items prohibited in the PayPal Acceptable Use policy are ineligible.
Because of this, PayPal cannot take any action on either account at this time. We do keep track of buyer complaints, though, and have noted your dissatisfaction in the seller’s account. Sellers who consistently are subject to buyer complaints are investigated. We recommend you stay in contact with the seller for further resolution.” I find this excuse pathetic and patronizing. If I could get the seller to reply my emails, I wouldn’t have to seek a recourse via PayPal, would I?
To add salt to injury, why on earth does PayPal accept transactions for “intangible goods” even though they do not take actions on the seller? What kind of a consumer protection is that?! Why couldn’t a purchase of “intangible good” be traced? Every transaction done online can be traced as logs will be kept in case of disputes or audits. Since it can be traced, why does PayPal not take any action? Why don’t PayPal make it easier on its customers by accepting only transactions for “tangible goods”? Has making-profit-by-any-means become a hallmark of this once reputable company?
I am greatly sadden by this. All I can do now is to take it as a lesson learned and advise people against using PayPal for online transactions.
Submitted By Kenny Lee
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Intangible goods with Paypal is a tricky business. To be honest, it’s most likely the buyer who tries to scam the seller. I totally agree with Paypal. They don’t cover intangibles at all.
A buyer may purchase an intangible good. They may use the eBook etc by reading it and getting all the info, then they may purposely open a dispute and say item not received or item not as described etc.
If Paypal were to always favour the buyer with intangibles, then this is bad business as half of Paypal is used for intangibles. No seller would be selling intangibles halving Paypals business.
Bottom line… as of July 2011, it clearly states in Paypals policy agreement that buyer protection does not cover intangibles. So, sellers will always win disputes involving intangibles and rightfully so, because it’s easy for the sellers to be scammed by buyers asking purposely for refunds even though they have access online.
That’s cold! I was just ripped off for a service and, like the OP, found out the hard way that Paypal offers no protection. I also agree with the OP that Paypal should simply not accept payment for such transactions if they cannot offer protection.
Banks do offer protection. If payment is made with a credit or debit card, you can easily dispute the transaction, not necessarily win though. The bank does an investigation and comes to a conclusion. Why can’t paypal do the same? You have simplified the matter to buying an eBook. I’m sure there are ways to verify whether it was likely that it was received. Anyway, it makes no sense to me to pay with Paypal as opposed to a debit/credit card. Again, I learned that lesson the hard way.