Right now, my paypal account is -$600.

Months ago, I sold a laptop online for $600. It was purchased and
shipped. The item was recieved by the customer. Weeks later, I've been
made aware by PayPal that the customer is disputing the purchase
because he says the item is not as described. Some more weeks later, I
found out he wins! His credit card company got paypal to return the
money, thus my account is a negative amount.

So this man has escaped with money, and my laptop. Now paypal is
holding me accountable for the money and is threatening legal action.

I want to get a lawyer, but I am young and in college and don't think
I will be able to afford it. I have several e-mails and the UPS
tracking number.

My questions:
Any good lawyers out there?
Has anyone been in this situation before and had a positive outcome?

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Request for Question Clarification by sublime1-ga on 02 Jan 2006 22:58 PST

silic0nsilence...

I don't understand how your account is -$600.
Had it been 0 before the sale, it would have
been +$600 after the sale, and 0 after the 
refund - unless you already spent the money.

If the customer never paid you for the laptop,
(and you sent it anyway?), your account would
be at 0, and it would be inconceivable for 
PayPal to demand the $600 from you that the
customer never paid.

?

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Clarification of Question by silic0nsilence-ga on 03 Jan 2006 07:35 PST

The customer paid for the laptop, leaving my account +$600. I then
sent the laptop. I then transferred the funds to my bank account,
leaving the paypal account at 0. Weeks later, the buyer disputed the
purchase and the $600 was taken from my account.

It seems fairly straightforward to me that if you sell a laptop online
and receive the payment of $600 for it, then you ship off the laptop
to the purchaser and then you spend the money -- right? If, several
weeks later, the customer disputes the purchase, and PPal debits your
account, then that is how you'll be $600 in the red -- right? Is that
what's happened here?

If you are a student then it's highly likely you will have access to
some kind of legal service on campus. I don't know what
country/state/county/territory you're in but it's worth asking at your
campus admin office if there are any legal support services for
students in your institution. If not, then contact a consumer
affairs/citizens' advice bureau for assistance.

I am really surprised that PPal has not arranged for your laptop to be
returned to you. Sounds like something's definitely amiss and this is
something you should immediately follow up on with them. It can't be
correct that the purchaser gets the refund *and* the computer. Good
luck. (It would probably help a lot if you clarify your question for a
real researcher by telling them the country and state you're in.)

Thank you for the comment sublime1, let me clarify:

The customer paid for the laptop, leaving my account +$600. I then
sent the laptop. I then transferred the funds to my bank account,
leaving the paypal account at 0. Weeks later, the buyer disputed the
purchase and the $600 was taken from my account.

stressedmum, thank you for your comment.

Thank you for the advice. Currently I am out of school until February,
so I may have to find and pay an attorney. I also thought it was
unbelievable that paypal did not arrange to have the laptop returned.
From what they are telling me, it was out of their hands. The credit
company gave the customer their money back, so paypal wanted their
money back.

What a mess..

Where's Judge Judy when you need her! 

Even though you're out of school until Feb, I would still try to get
assistance through the school's support services. Student problems
don't go on holidays. No need to tell them why they *shouldn't* help
you -- give them all the reasons why they *should* help you! Be polite
and reasonable, but firm and insistent (and if they won't offer direct
help, then keep asking them where they recommend you go for free legal
advice and help).

Failing that, contact a government consumer/fair trading office. Here
in Victoria, Australia, we have a state govt. site and they are very,
very helpful and have sorted out a couple of nasty situations for me
over the years: www.consumer.vic.gov.au

Plus there is this site: www.consumeraffairs.com
which seems to be from the US. I've only read through their site
quickly and I don't know who they are but they sound very
knowledgeable. Their site has a lot of ads which makes me think that
it's highly unlikely they're a state govt. department, but they seem
to have plenty of good information. Plus they provide a complaint form
for you to complete on line and they seem to have an arrangement for
an attorney (solicitor?) to contact you for no charge who will give
you some options. Read through and decide for yourself if you think
they are worth a try -- maybe other commenters could offer insights
into the value of the information and solutions offered by
www.consumeraffairs.com -- I bet any not-for-profit advice service
would be really interested to hear about this behaviour from PPal.

That's all I can come up with for now. Go for it, mate!