So the nightmare has culminated. After all the documents I sent PayPal to prove that the buyer had indeed received the almost-6,000-pesos worth of GCash he had paid for via PayPal, PayPal still decided to refund the money to him. (The document was an e-mail from Globe itself indicating that the amounts had been received by the party in question.)
That was in December 31, 2010—almost two weeks ago.
And despite the buyer's assurance that he would simply refund via bank deposit, his previously accessible phone has gone permanently unavailable. And three e-mails from a week ago have gone unanswered. What's a girl to think?
My mistake was this: I should have required a scanned ID and not just relied on the PayPal verification process. (To all you online sellers, let this be a lesson to you too.) The scanned ID would have proven to PayPal that the PayPal transactions were indeed done by the PayPal owner and not some hacker.
But lesson learned. I am truly thankful to God that, at this point, six thousand pesos is no longer very painful to me. There was a time it would have killed me. Now, the only difference it makes is that the kids will have to wait longer for that bike and sidecar that we could have used to enjoy the sunny afternoons around the village.
UPDATE: To date (March 4, 2011), the buyer has not communicated with us. But thank you, God. The children have their bikes, and we are able to enjoy the sunny afternoons around the village!
Jan 11, 2011
The PayPal Saga: Payment Refunded to Buyer!
