Original Message:
Re: Has anyone experienced Fraud and does Redweek have a way to report abusers? (by Susan A.):
PayPal should never be confused with an escrow service as it does not provide buyer protection on a real estate tranasction, and they consider a vacation rental to be a form of real estate transaction. The following is from the PayPal rules and regulations.
"13.3 Ineligible Items. PayPal Purchase Protection only applies to PayPal payments for certain tangible, physical goods. Payments for the following are not eligible for reimbursement under PayPal Purchase Protection: •Intangible items, including Digital Goods •Services •Real estate, including residential property •Businesses •Vehicles, including motor vehicles, motorcycles, caravans, aircraft and boats •Custom-made items •Travel tickets, including airline flight tickets •Items prohibited by the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy •Items which you collect in person or arrange to be collected on your behalf, including items bought through In-Store Checkout at the retail point of sale •Items that violate eBay’s Prohibited or Restricted Items Policy •Industrial machinery used in manufacturing •Items equivalent to cash, including prepaid or gift cards •PayPal Direct Payments •Virtual Terminal Payments •Personal Payments
Even if your payment is not eligible for PayPal Purchase Protection, you can file a Dispute and try to resolve the issue directly with the Seller; however, PayPal will generally not find in your favor if you escalate a Dispute to a Claim for an item which is not eligible for PayPal Purchase Protection..."
PayPal is simply a means to transfer payment electronically from one party to another quickly. Generally when a rental goes wrong, you receive no more protection than you would have with a traditional credit card dispute- and there is normally a specified window of time from the payment when you can file such a dispute (45 days I believe).
Renters are much safer using a true third party escrow service such as the First American Title Insurance product recommended by Redweek.com, or a similar product such as DepositGuard.com- which I found to be less expensive for most rentals.
If the Seller won't agree to escrow, my recommendation is to simply look elsewhere for your reservation!