RAW deal from Paypal

[bigchat1]

Guys this is blowing my mind. Please read the email that paypal sent me regarding my dispute. They are asking me to take the player to someone qualified in the area of hacked memory basically and that I must do it at my expense.

Does anybody have any recommedations? This is aweful, to go through this for something, i'm sure they are well aware of. I have posted the ebay link below and also the comments from the e-mail I received from paypal.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...5228&rd=1&rd=1

They are even asking me to have this to them within 10 days from receipt of this e-mail. I need your help, on what I should do. I do not have a clue who could look at this living in a small town like Talladega, Al abama

Email from paypal below...

Dear Storming Records,

We are in the process of investigating the following claim:

Transaction Date: Dec 10, 2006
Transaction Amount: -$69.95 USD
Your Transaction ID: 5GN19263LG593582U
Seller's Transaction ID: 2XU65969JA599964S
Case Number: PP-232-637-452
Seller's Name: CherryMasters.com
Seller's Email: auctions@hitekgear.com


In order to continue with the investigation of your complaint, we must
request documentation to support your claim that the item is damaged or
significantly not as described. Please obtain a document (such as an
estimate or invoice) from an unbiased third-party, such as a dealer, repair
shop, appraiser, or another individual or organization that is qualified in
the area of the item in question (other than yourself). This document
should detail the extent of the damage or clearly explain how the item
received significantly differs from the item advertised. Please do not
proceed with any repairs or alterations to the item, as doing so will limit
PayPals ability to successfully resolve your claim, and may result in the
cancellation of your dispute. If possible, the document should include a
serial number and description of the item, and the dollar amount required
to complete the repairs necessary to correct the damage. This document must
be on letterhead that includes the name, address, and phone number of the
individual, business, or organization so that PayPal may contact them if
necessary.

The documents should be faxed to PayPal at (402) 537-5760 (please note this
is a United States phone number, if you are faxing from outside the United
States, you will generally need to dial 00 1 before the number). Please
include a cover sheet with your fax that includes the email address
registered on your PayPal account and the ID number of your claim
(PP-232-637-452) so we may attach the document to your claim as quickly as
possible.

We must receive your fax within 10 days from the date of this message in
order to proceed with the investigation of your claim. If we do not receive
your fax within 10 days, your claim will be cancelled. We are unable to
grant extensions to this time period. PayPal is unable to reimburse you for
any costs or fees that may be incurred in obtaining the requested
documents. Any documents you provide may also be supplied to the seller in
your dispute.

Thank you for your cooperation and patience. We regret any inconvenience
this request may cause.

Sincerely,
Shirley
Protection Services Department
PayPal, an eBay Company

[lattesurf]

bigchat1 , at this stage, i think you either need to get it verified, or else paypal would end the dispute in the seller's favour.

Are there any electronics or computer stores in your local area? They should be able to help you out on the verification letter.

[bigchat1]

Radio Shack, but I doubt they no anything about hacked players. I suppose I could take the instructions you have posted here to them and see if they will be willing to draft a letter for me.

[lattesurf]

bigchat1 , basically what paypal wants in the verification letter is to state the actual item's status.

So if you are disputing the memory capacity (eg 1GB hacked to show 4GB), you need Radioshack to verify that the actual memory chip inside is only 1GB, and not as claimed to be 4GB.

You might also need the datasheet for either Samsung or Hynix (whichever is used in your player).
Samsung http://www.samsung.com/Products/Semi...Nand_Flash.pdf
Hynix http://www.hynix.com/eng/02_products...ND%20Flash.pdf

[ikeg]

Just thinking out loud here,

Why not ask Paypal if they will accept a photo of the player as evidence. There should be a setup menu that displays the actual memory installed...

I wonder if you got a red player, but ordered a blue you would have to take it to a third party to verify? I bet the photo would be accepted in that case.

[lattesurf]

ikeg , this i think would be a debateable issue. If a dispute was raised due to incorrect/wrong electronics component, paypal would require the buyer to have it verified by a qualifed person. In this world, everything talks about qualification, so if you're not a qualified electronic trades person, your statement may not be valid.

On the other hand, like you have mentioned about the colour of the player. Anyone can differentiate between red and blue. So i guess a simple photo would suffice.

[ikeg]

I suppose that the MP4 player could not be trusted to report it's memory with accuracy?

It may at least be worth questioning Paypal to see if they would accept this, why go through any more expense unless it is absolutely required. All they can say is NO.

[lattesurf]

ikeg , when the memory is hacked, both Windows OS and as well the Memory Info selection within the player's System menu would still display the hacked memory size, until removed.

But i guess you are talking about the Memory Info now displaying 1GB rather than the promised 4GB.

That's a good suggestion, perhaps bigchat1 you could try asking paypal first, if it's acceptable, it'll save you the evaluation fee at the stores.

[mpj-mlj]

I had the same problem with Paypal. I had to pay to get confirmation that the unit was hacked.
Basically, you have to decide how much you are willing to lose.

Your choices:
1. Obtain inspection from qualified third party source and if Paypal finds in your favor, you will also have to ship the unit, at your expense, to Paypal before you get a refund.

2. If the seller offers a partial refund, it may be worth taking due to the cost and aggravation if going the first route.

3. Just chalk it up to a poor Ebay and Paypal experience.

I tried the first route and came to the conclusion that I should have taken the 5 bucks the seller offered.

I don't plan on using Paypal again:
http://www.mympxplayer.org/im-done-w...al-vt3580.html

BTW, Paypal will NOT accept any documentation such as this site, or any other site proving the fraud. They will NOT accept 9 pages of negative feedback on the seller (all complaining of the same fraud). The won"t accept screen captures of the player before and after formatting it to remove hack. Bottom line - Paypal will insist that it be checked by a qualified third party.

Good Luck!

[bigchat1]

Thanks for taking time to read my post, and offering the suggestions. I am going to take the MP4 player to Radio Shack with all the information I have on Hacked players to see if they will help. At this point it's not about the money, it's the principal. I think about all the people who may have took their last few dollars to purchase one of the players off of ebay, to later find that they had been robbed. Not only that, but to also find that both Ebay & Paypal, have turned their backs on them.

Guys, do you think that maybe Oprah, Rush or Bill O'Reilly would be willing to listen to our story?

I tell you If I had the money, I would lease a billboard in Atlanta, and a couple other large city's detailing the facts about ebay and paypal.

Until we can get to Oprah, or one of the other's, I guess we will just stick together and continue to hit them where it hurts. One penny at a time.

Bigchat1