Paypal Dispute, PP orders buyer to destroy $2,500 Violin

[Peliman]

I've seen many Paypal disputes but not quite like this one.

Quite the donnybrook is brewing on the Internet over PayPal's decision to order a customer to destroy a purportedly rare violin.

A Regretsy.com reader named Erica related yesterday how she sold an old French violin "that made it through WWII" to a buyer in Canada for $2,500. However, the buyer disputed the authenticity of the label and demanded his money back. When the buyer contacted PayPal with his concerns, the payment processor instructed him to destroy it and refunded the purchase price.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57352627-93/paypal-dispute-ends-in-destruction-of-violin/?tag=rtcol

 

[not_my_kids]

WHy don't they require proof of authenticity, instead of proof of destruction? Stop selling things that may be counterfeit, by requiring sellers to prove authenticity. That would definitely be within the law. I hope the seller is able to prove that the violin was appraised and verified as she says, and then I hope she sues the crap out of Paypal and the buyer.

 

[miimaa]

Why didn't the seller just get the violin back and refund the buyer's money?

OH - I visited Regretsy and saw that PayPal told the buyer to do that in order to refund his money rather than return the violin to the seller. I quit both eBay and PayPal.

 

[Snick1946]

IMO, some doofus at Paypal didn't either actually read the details of the dispute or didn't care to. They are usually pretty good to deal with but some of their people make you wonder. They treated this item like it was a bogus $10 designer purse.

I used to sell regularly on Ebay but for the past couple years it's just every so often. Sellers are totally discriminated against, you cannot leave anything other than positive feedback about a buyer. How realistic is that?