Paid a freelance writer. Paypal virtual goods - What can I do?

I paid a freelance writer to write a dissertation for me to read, not to hand in as my own. I paid using a visa debit card via paypal. Originally we agreed on a set deadline and I said it is extendible by a few days.

I have asked an update of the progress numerous times and a sample/draft as evidence that he has been working on it. I have been given excuses and empty promises. Nothing was sent to me, not even a sample of the work several days after the deadline.

Now the writer is asking for an additional week but in his email he still didn't send me a sample to prove he had been working on the dissertation, and he seems to avoid my questions.

I understand that paypal doesn't cover virtual goods and services. If the writer refuses to voluntary refund me, what can I do? I live in UK and plan to get the visa debit card company to chargeback paypal, but would it work?

I'm willing to go as far as suing this writer for fraud as he took my money by promising to carry out a service but obviously he didn't.

He's given me his word several times that he will send me the sample but each time there is always an excuse. E.g. sending someone else's work by mistake. Pretending to have already sent it.

Although paying for custom written dissertations in UK is legal, how will my visa debit card company respond? Is there any established process for a student like me to follow?

You can easily dispute it, contact paypal and say you have not received your order. That should be it. But first make sure you don't lie and have a solid proof that whatever you claim is true.

Paypal has a limit on the amount of time that you can wait before you dispute a payment. I don't remember it offhand, but I'm thinking maybe 3 or 4 weeks? In any case, dispute sooner rather than later, b/c it if you wait too long, you won't be able to dispute. It's quite possible that the writer is just stalling until your time runs out.

He's decided to voluntary refund me now. I will wait to see if he really does that.

Another problem, even worst. He plans to publish a dissertation using my research question. Can he legally use information from my copyrighted proposal? He has no intent to reword anything and not use my proposal's information.

I told him he'll be infringing my copyright but he's giving me superficial speeches like the dissertation is not mine as I haven't paid for it, since he's refunding me. So what if the dissertation isn't mine?! He's using information from my proposal.

If this keeps up I might really have to sue him.

If you do not pay for it, you do not own it--period.

I don't own the dissertation. I own the proposal. I am trying to get him not to use information from my proposal in that dissertation.

The way you talk is like any dissertation I don't own can steal information from my proposal.

What?

Unless you've discovered the cure for cancer, there's nothing you can do to sop ANYONE from "stealing" ideas, unless you have officially copyrighted the proposal with the US Copyright Office. Even then, you can't "stop" anyone from stealing; you can merely sue for damages.

Even if he said he would voluntarily refund you, there is nothing that stops you from filing for a refund with Paypal. You would just list refund as the resolution option. If you don't refunded fairly quickly, I'd advising doing it anyway.

He still hasn't refunded me yet. I filed a refund on paypal and he's challenged me to sue him. I'm now discussing it with a lawyer I just found and plan to sue him for damages and emotional stress he caused me. If I don't win the case I'll appeal and appeal and make his life a misery. I'm just a student with no reputation. He will be the one who suffers more if this goes to news.

If you get your money back, naturally the dissertation belongs to the writer because it is his work, proposal or no proposal.

So if I pay you to build a house using my land, something goes wrong, service is terminated, you still own the house since I haven't paid for it, but do you own the land too? I'd say get off my ******** land!

That's not at all a comparable scenario, for numerous reasons.

Absolutely no connection whatsoever, as you will soon find out, if you sue him.

If you want to risk to be expelled from school, take your chance. You sue him (or he'll sue you if you do a chargeback) and then the lawyer finds out your real name, your school name and they can easily check if you submitted or tried to submit the paper as your own (both now and in the past).

Very sensible caution.

I haven't submitted anything plagiarised in the past and I didn't intend to submit anything plagiarised. I stated on paypal that the service is treated as a learning tool only. I'm in the clear since I'm innocent here. You might not think it ethical but I haven't plagiarised, not even minor parts. He's even slandered me saying he'll do everything he can to get me expelled from school, lol.


How can he sue if I do a chargeback for a service he failed to provide? Oh yeah he's changes his mind and refuses to refund me. Since it's a virtual good paypal dispute won't work. I'm entitled to a refund for a service not provided. This is not something he can sue me for.

He's clearly nothing but a fraud. The guy keeps asking for more time to write the dissertation then promises to refund but doesn't refund. I believe he has deliberately deceived me on many occasions.

This is something a writer should never never try to do. Does this mean that you have neither received the money nor the dissertation? Still, as Stu4 cautioned, you have to be careful about School coming to know of this transaction. He won't lose a thing.

A merchant would not do that. There is 0.001% chance that he may go into litigation. they would simply try to scare you and if that doesn't work they have no option, but to refund!

You forgot to mention they can post whatever information they have about you online for your employers or professors to find now or in the future.

I haven't received the dissertation in parts or in whole. I haven't received refund either. I paid good money for the service too! There's also the option he gave me to allow him more time to write the dissertation when it's past the deadline. I think he wants several extra months and drag it over a year if I'm a push-over. I don't trust his attitude and he's already broken promises so I'd be an idiot to let him have his way.


He did it. And he doesn't think I can sue him as he's in another country. His attitude at challenging me to sue him is making me mad. He's giving me that I'm superior than you attitude. I'm gonna show him I'm a man of my words, unlike him.

Grrrrhhh
Why do you have to give out personal Information !!!!
Even if you have given some personal information, these fraudulent people can not do anything. Even if they post, so what! the possibility that your school/employer will search for it and then reach the information and then believe it. not east, almost impossible.

What i hear is students being scammed. Has anyone heard any student being expelled due the online propaganda of a fraudulent person?

He doesn't have my full name. If he goes posting info about me I can do the same to him, outlining his incompetence and unreliability. His webpage said he believes custom essay writing is legal and depending on how it's used it can be ethical. Now he decides to slander me of intending to plagiarise. What a hypocrite!

Do it soon. He must be receiving a lot of complaints and Paypal will surely block his account.
now go and file a dispute.

His ebay page received several positive feedbacks, from users who are no longer registered members of ebay. I've already filed a dispute but for a virtual good paypal won't do anything. Unfortunately I found his ad elsewhere so can't leave negative feedback on ebay.

Paypal does cover virtual goods and services now. Which is why writing companies can use the services again. There is a catch for the writer or company though. For new accounts, the writer or company will need to complete 5 trouble free transactions. for each transaction, the money will be on hold for one month in case of chargebacks. For regular users, the hold time for chargeback (automatic ) is 2 weeks.

Students need to realize that an agreement is an agreement. Provided that the writer agreed to upload a certain number of draft pages within an agreed upon schedule, the student can use non. compliance of the fact to cancel the order. Do not wait until the excuses start pouring in. Cancel the order at the frist sign of non- compliance. Watch what happens next. PayPal will always protect the buyer so you will always get your money back. It is only when a student plays hardball with an erring writer that he will get the attention and respect that he deserves.

This customer should simply have disputed the payment as soon as the writer started evading his questions and failed to furnish any evidence that the work was really in progress by the time the original deadline passed.