• $2,500 violin destroyed, at PayPal’s behest source

• » Bad policy, lazy practice? An eBay seller named Erica recently complained, in a letter to Regretsy, that her attempted sale of an antique violin ended with the violin smashed to pieces, apparently at the direct instruction of PayPal. The buyer had disputed the violin’s label, which Erica claims is common and matters little in the world of violins, and that it was “examined and authenticated” before being sold. That aside, PayPal declared the violin “counterfeit” and instructed the buyer to destroy it to receive his money back, which the buyer did. Meaning Erica came away with nothing: “…my main goal in writing to you is to prevent PayPal from ordering the destruction of violins and other antiquities that they know nothing about. It is beyond me why PayPal simply didn’t have the violin returned to me.”

Posted by Chris Tognotti • Permalink