Got scammed for IG shoutout $800 PayPal

[EnhancedHuman]

Don't do chargeback. Paypal does not like charegeback. Your account may face limitation. Open a dispute instead. I'm sure Paypal will take your side and win the case here. The only problem is that whether buying/selling such service violates ToS of paypal? If the trade is as per their ToS, you should win the case easily. I sincerely hope the seller has not send you invoice and wrote his own ToS there. if that so, that could make it difficult for you.

The seller didn't send me any invoices. It was all email communication and he led me to believe the traffic of the shoutout was going to be completely different. It was garbage. 100k+ likes per post.

 

[SocialManager]

I wouldn't worry about explaining yourself to anyone here. You bought it, you feel ripped off, you want to know how to get your money back. Whether you are right or wrong, it doesn't matter, because you still want your money back. First, consider is your account 100% legit with real bank account and your real name? Don't want to make Paypal angry and then get limited. Hopefully it's not the first time the seller has had a complaint, that would of course make your case easier.

I don't think paypal will understand the "not as described" personally. You even have members here trying to argue with you (maybe one of them sold it to you!) So I would try to catch the guy in an email before you open a dispute. Then you can attach the email as evidence. Say something like "hey man, I don't want to open a dispute or do a chargeback, but I will if I have to. You know you lied about the stats so lets reach an agreement about how much you will refund me."

Of course, if he is a member here and sees this, this wont work so easily. But really, if it's not clear from his emails that he promised you something and didn't deliver, I think the not as described will not work well.

 

[BillyGene]

$800 for shout , thats a huge amount unless you are advertising to a very big page like in millions.
And you should definitely open a dispute and provide proof.

 

[EnhancedHuman]

I wouldn't worry about explaining yourself to anyone here. You bought it, you feel ripped off, you want to know how to get your money back. Whether you are right or wrong, it doesn't matter, because you still want your money back. First, consider is your account 100% legit with real bank account and your real name? Don't want to make Paypal angry and then get limited. Hopefully it's not the first time the seller has had a complaint, that would of course make your case easier.

I don't think paypal will understand the "not as described" personally. You even have members here trying to argue with you (maybe one of them sold it to you!) So I would try to catch the guy in an email before you open a dispute. Then you can attach the email as evidence. Say something like "hey man, I don't want to open a dispute or do a chargeback, but I will if I have to. You know you lied about the stats so lets reach an agreement about how much you will refund me."

Of course, if he is a member here and sees this, this wont work so easily. But really, if it's not clear from his emails that he promised you something and didn't deliver, I think the not as described will not work well.

He started ignoring me immediately when I noticed something was wrong. When I asked about the metrics screenshot he lied about his traffic stats instead of showing a screenshot. This may fall under this:

1. Your purchase is missing major parts or features and the fact that these parts or features are missing was not disclosed in the listing.

He did technically give me a shoutout. It is no different than buying a shoutout from someone expecting results and later finding out the engagement was completely exchanged/fake. There is no proof to provide really other than a few emails sentences.

Good standing business account of 10+ years old and very few disputes.

 

[MisterF]

Of course, if he is a member here and sees this, this wont work so easily. But really, if it's not clear from his emails that he promised you something and didn't deliver, I think the not as described will not work well.

If the seller was a member on here, the way forward to begin would have been a Shitlist.

 

[SocialManager]

He started ignoring me immediately when I noticed something was wrong. When I asked about the metrics screenshot he lied about his traffic stats instead of showing a screenshot. This may fall under this:

1. Your purchase is missing major parts or features and the fact that these parts or features are missing was not disclosed in the listing.

He did technically give me a shoutout. It is no different than buying a shoutout from someone expecting results and later finding out the engagement was completely exchanged/fake. There is no proof to provide really other than a few emails sentences.

Good standing business account of 10+ years old and very few disputes.

It wont be considered under that missing features. That is designed for physical items like a bicycle is missing its tires. First, open a dispute, wait a few days, if no response from seller, escalate to claim. Not as described. Then I would just explain to Paypal that when people buy shoutouts, they are basing their pricing on engagement (number of likes and comments), and if the engagement if "fake," the shoutout is either worthless or worth much less. Explain to paypal that fake engagement includes anything other than natural engagement.

Then you will want to link them to outside neutral sources so search Google for articles that support your opinion that the engagement was faked.

Just a random URL I pulled for example:
https://www.inthefrow.com/2018/10/fake-instagram-engagement.html

So, you find some websites that describe exactly why you think this is fake engagement, copy the exact sentences you want Paypal dispute to review, make screenshots of the pages and then show the stats you have that support your opinion.

If you don't supply Paypal with enough information for them to EASILY understand how it's fake engagement within 5 minutes of review, I think you will lose.

So, yeah, search Google for independent websites that support your opinion that it's fake engagement.

 

[SocialManager]

If the seller was a member on here, the way forward to begin would have been a Shitlist.

Just because someone is a member here, doesn't mean we know their username. If someone is doing some shady internet marketing, chances are they have stumbled across this website at some point. But, that doesn't mean they connect their services to their blackhatworld account in any way.

 

[ttommyjohnson]

Report it within 60 days and PayPal will investigate. You will be covered by our $0 Liability for Eligible Unauthorized Transactions program. All you have to do is log in to your account and open a dispute to get the refund process started.