Got a refund from PayPal, now received a debt collection letter demanding money

[dj280]

Hi everybody,

I recently purchased a wooden shed from an online company. I started building the shed 2 days after it was delivered and half way through construction realised the shed had been poorly designed and manufactured. I was halfway through the build on a Sunday when I realised there was some problems with it but continued to build it and contacted the manufacturer/seller on the next working day. The shed was made from substandard wood, nails were missing the framework and windows too big to fit the openings as well as some trims missing. After contacting them they sent some replacement windows frames and missing trims. It then started raining and water leaked in through various parts of the shed due to poorly designed and manufactured panels. After requesting several times for them to sort the issue out I stopped receiving communication from them so opened a case with PayPal. I requested a partial refund so I could pay a joiner to correct the problems.

paypal found in may favour and refunded me £500, the shed was £689.50 (on sale, should have been £800+). The following day I received an email from a debt collection company demanding full cost of the shed (£689.50) plus interest.

Surely their issue is with is with PayPal as I purchased the shed using them on credit and are paying it off over a period of time.

Should I respond to the debt collection agency or to the seller?

They have given me 30 days to pay otherwise will take the matter further threatening legal fees and court costs.

whats the best course of action?

Thansk.

[DE DOGS]

I have had problems with PayPal in the past, Personally, I will never pay using them again.

[Pezza54]

IMO you should contact Paypal
You have followed the procedure stated in their buyers protection scheme correctly. Paypal have investigated and decided you should be part (not fully) refunded.
Paypal have debited the seller's account. They may have reversed the transaction, as the seller is trying to claim the full cost of the shed from you (not £500)
Let Paypal know what has happened and see what advice they give you. Hopefully they will deal with the seller

[PallasAthena]

I agree you should ask PayPal for their comment but as far as I know nothing in their agreements with sellers prevents the seller exercising rights they have through the courts if PayPal decide to make a chargeback. Specifically ask PayPal if under the terms of their Buyer Protection the seller is entitled to recover from you through the courts for the amount PayPal credited to you.

PayPal are onlt a payment services provider. They are not a party to the sales contract for the shed. That is a contract between you and the shed seller. So you have all the usual consumer rights when buying something online.

What was credited to your PayPal account? £500 or £689.50?

Debt collectors are powerless so ignore them for the time being. Once you have a response from PayPal come back for more advice. As and when you dispute owing the seller the money write directly to the seller. You can cc it to the debt collector with the comment that the debt is in dispute. The debt collector should then back off (but may not!)

[dj280]

Thank you all for responding.

The letter I received (via email) was from Silverback Law. According to their website, they are commercial solicitors so a bit more than just a debt collector.

I’ve rechecked correspondence received from both PayPal and the debt collector/solicitor. I received a refund at 12:13pm on the 16/9/24 for £500. At 16:33 16/9/24 I received an email from Silverback Law demanding £689.50.

I used PayPal credit to purchase the shed and still owe the balance.

‘As you received a partial refund of £500.00, the remaining purchase balance of £189.50 is still subject to the original interest free period, which will end on the 18/11/2024.’

They surely can’t demand full payment when £189.50 is still retained by them which I am paying via PayPal credit?

I've yet to report this issue to PayPal. I have tried but their agents are currently off line and I need to try again at 00.00 PDT. I’ll try tomorrow.