Illustration by Dustin Elliott.

By Christopher Elliott
Guest Columnist

Deirdre Stewart orders six bras online but receives only two — plus a “hideous” shower curtain. Will PayPal’s protection plan help her?

Christopher Elliott

I ordered six bras online recently and paid with PayPal. I received two bras that were four sizes too big and a hideous shower curtain.

I have been waiting for six weeks for PayPal to refund my money through the PayPal Purchase Protection plan. I’ve supplied every piece of documentation required. I have emailed, messaged and spoken on the phone with PayPal customer service and the resolution center to no avail. They keep telling me the seller wants this or that, or they aren’t responding to requests from PayPal.

I called PayPal, and a representative asked me to call back the next day and that they would have a resolution. But the next day, they had nothing.

Finally, I got a message from someone who said he was a supervisor. He had personal and confidential information about my account and sent me a text from PayPal and asked for the code provided. He promised to look into my case.

He then called me back, but this time there was no caller ID phone number. He was hard to hear, and when I told him that repeatedly, he said, “You are a bitch, and you are not getting a refund.” And then he hung up. This is very, very scary and disconcerting. Can you help me? — Deirdre Stewart, Flower Mound, Texas

This is one of the weirdest cases I’ve ever come across. Of course, the online store should have sent you six bras in the correct size. But PayPal should have also protected you.

PayPal’s Purchase Protection plan specifically addresses a problem like yours. For example, it applies if you “bought a book but received a DVD,” or “purchased three items but only received two.”

PayPal says if an order doesn’t arrive or it doesn’t match the description, “we’ll reimburse the full cost of eligible purchases plus original shipping.”

I have more on PayPal’s Protection plan in this recent story on PayPal scams. But basically, here’s what you need to know: The “protection” is unevenly enforced, at best. And there’s also a fair amount of artificial intelligence involved in the dispute process, which means mistakes will be made.

You had good documentation of the problem, but could have followed up via email instead of on the phone. I know it’s sometimes more comfortable to call someone for a resolution, but with something like this, you need everything to be on paper. Well, digital paper. You know what I mean.

There’s also the issue of that rude supervisor. The first supervisor was certainly from PayPal, but I’m not sure about the second guy. I’m having a hard time believing a PayPal supervisor would use language like that. However, it has happened in the past.

I would have contacted one of PayPal’s executives through my consumer advocacy site. Be brief, be polite and keep everything in writing, as outlined in the Elliott Method.

I contacted PayPal on your behalf.

“Within two hours, I had calls from PayPal. It has now been resolved in my favor,” you said. Indeed, PayPal fully refunded you for the purchase, which is what it should have done in the first place.

Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (https://elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at [email protected] or get help by contacting him at https://elliottadvocacy.org/help/