Way to go Paypal.

[Bad Water Bill]

Check out their latest smart move

http://boingboing.net/2012/01/04/paypal-if-you-dont-like-the.html

[MakeMineA10mm]

Hmmm. Destroy a pre-WWII $2500 violin and you get your money back and the seller is screwed?? The seller should have gotten the money out of their paypal account quicker, I'd say! Lesson to current users: Get the money out RIGHT AWAY!

Bye-Bye, PayPal. I'll never use them again. Not for "gifts;" not for donations; not for ANYTHING. Done. Already thoroughly disgusted with the anti-gun attitude of their owner (E-Bay) anyway...

[frkelly74]

They are just scarey to contemplate. There is a big unregulated company that decides what is best for you and cannot be argued with. I think they modeled themselves after the federal government. The difference is that you can opt to have nothing at all to do with paypal.

[jcwit]

I'll bet there's a whole bunch more to this story than we've been told, and most of it is from folks very low on the ladder at PayPal.

Plus I'll imagine those responsible are now out looking for a job.

But then this is all just supposition.

[jcwit]

Its still terrible what happened to an irreplaceable violin.

[Jim]

Its still terrible what happened to an irreplaceable violin.

That is, if in fact this story is true.

[Hickory]

Sounds like a profitable law suit to me.

[scb]

Sounds like a profitable law suit to me.

That's what I was thinking. They've set themselves up as judge, jury, and executioner. Besides you can probably walk into almost any pawn shop and by a cheap violin, smash it, take pictures, who'd know the difference?

[Pigslayer]

As much as I don't like paypal I can't imagine them instructing a buyer to destroy the item. I can't imagine that being company policy. But, if this is true then they have a "loose cannon" in their midst.

[jcwit]

Impossible to tell just what happened unless someone has a recording of the phone conversation with the customer and PayPal.

I seriously doubt that thats going to happen.

I think you may be onto something Pigslayer, or maybe somebody on the PayPal end of the line making an off the cuff comment, never thinking someone would actually carry it out.

But hey, who knows.

Still to bad about the violin.

[Pigslayer]

Impossible to tell just what happened unless someone has a recording of the phone conversation with the customer and PayPal.

I seriously doubt that thats going to happen.

I think you may be onto something Pigslayer, or maybe somebody on the PayPal end of the line making an off the cuff comment, never thinking someone would actually carry it out.

But hey, who knows.

Still to bad about the violin.

I do concur.

[Bad Water Bill]

Since the SELLER has a letter of authenticity and the photo shows the mfgrs name and somewhere in the broken pieces the serial # I would think PLAY pal just lost a lot of money.

[DCP]

As TechCrunch points out, Erica could have very well sold a fake. But is it PayPal's duty to step in and have their customers destroy goods without real evidence? I thought PayPal was a payment service. They should facilitated exchanges between their customers, not make judgements on counterfeits.


To be fair, the payment company's terms and conditions state that "PayPal may also require you to destroy the item and to provide evidence of its destruction."

Whatever the reason for their policy, it's just an odd case.

And what about the buyer? If counterfeit is so rare in the violin world, wouldn't the buyer have second thoughts about destroying the item? Unfortunately, we don't know if the seller had a return policy. This might have been the only way for the buyer to get their money back.



From cbsnews

www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57352136-501465/paypal-makes-ebay-customer-destroy-$2500-violin-seller-left-empty-handed/

Just cut and paste. I just cant get to open with a click

[DLCTEX]

Just because they have it in their terms doesn't make it legal or ethical. I think they will lose a court case, if they are dumb enough to let it get that far. That would not be the only way to get the money back, there are legal channels. Is the inference that it was damaged in shipping? Then the shipping Co. would be responsible. To destroy the item removes all chance for the seller to get the item back and find another seller. Even if it was later proven to not be the real item, it still had value and if the seller had to refund , then she was entitled to her property. This is wrong on so many levels.

[Recluse]

That is, if in fact this story is true.

Yep, this story stinks worse than an Obama speech.


Since the SELLER has a letter of authenticity and the photo shows the mfgrs name and somewhere in the broken pieces the serial # I would think PLAY pal just lost a lot of money.

I've got a couple of vintage guitars from just after the WWII era, and they are worth far, far more than $2500. Violins from that era, and earlier, are worth even more than the vintage guitars--by a lot.

Letters of authenticity, unfortunately, mean very little to nothing anymore in this day of computers and laser printing. Thanks to the internet and the scams that abound, it's also all too easy to create whatever kind of history one needs/wants for "vintage" products.

Last point, ANYONE who knows ANYTHING about buying/selling vintage instruments knows, knows, knows, knows, knows, and knows some more that you do an escrow pending confirmation of authenticity. This whole deal stinks.

I'm just finding the story very suspicious and wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see a seller and buyer in cahoots looking for a settlement, possibly even with an "inside" source at Paypal.


:coffee: