I just got word that a bank in Greece decided in favor of my Greek customer, GEORGIOS ANAGNOSTOU. They decided that he can have his powercat plans for free. It turns out that anyone can use this method to get things for free. And I am not allowed to know the name of the bank nor of any contact person there. I did submit proof that he he got his plans, and Paypal agreed with me. It turns out however that any local bank anywhere can have the final word. I was curious what their threshold was as I provided proof that he got the plans. What else would it have taken to have gone my way? No way to know as the bank is secret. You would think if you get robbed, they can at least let me know who the accomplice is.
Paypal leaves designers and other merchants completely unprotected. Many of you have given me suggestions about what hard-case methods other designers use. I hoped it would not come to that. Paypal told me the only possible recourse I have is Small Claims Court. I assume he would laugh at the judgement against him. Again I urge people not to use Paypal on the website for now.
Very nice article, compliments
It isn’t just paypal, it is also the bank transfers. It is now at a point where I don’t really know what is safe. Are money orders safe? Seems like a lot of stuff can be called back.
We use PayPal for smaller sales, but don’t do business outside the US. For major sales we insist on wire transfer and keep an account soley for transfers, then the moment the money hits that account we move it to another bank account.
There are overseas escrow services. The most famous and afordable located in Luxembourg. Years ago it would cost $100 for a simple one such as Coast Guard approval=money release. A lot of people used them for bribes such as when a permit was release you got your bribe. European Union screwed that up with disclosure requirements (additional costs) that drove prices up. You can probably have something set up with a follow up from study plans. Again I did not check on those services for years or if they are still legal. In the US most transactions of this nature are a high risk for liability and are not offered.
PayPal probably pays their lawyers more than any major bank. They promise a service but if you read the fine print it is at their discretion if they follow up or not.
I wonder if PayPal was part of the MtGox stealth program to smash BitCoin? Or did the FED just do it on their own? The thing about the BitCoin payment system is that transactions are cheap, rapid, and non-refundable. Can’t have that—-.
paypal = toilet. You need to come up with another payment method so you get the money in the bank before the plans ship. Esp for foreign transactions. A-holes like GA rely on you eventually reaching a point where the time spent chasing this sort of thing up outweighs the return.
Surely though as he hasn’t paid for the plans he has no right to build from them and they remain your intellectual property. Probably too difficult to do from another country, but you could wait until he builds and then sue him or have him prosecuted for breach of copy-write.
I’ve heard similar from other merchants and my own dealings with Paypal were frustrating resulting in my cancellation of their account. I also had my card hacked after using Paypal – the money was eventually reimbursed. I wouldn’t touch Paypal with the proverbial barge pole.