Unfortunately, hindsight is always 20/20. I ordered an essay from the website in question. First, here is what I ordered from Essay Academia.

Title: Personal Statement for Law School
Payment Made: Yes
Amount (Before Discount): $37.9
Amount (After Discount): $34.11
Created Date: June 2, 2011, 4:26 PM
Type of Work: Admission Essay
Academic Level: Law School
Deadline: 10 Days
No of pages: 2
Spacing: Double
Number of Source: 0
Number of Quotation: 0
Style: MLA
Order Uploaded: No

Second, before I ordered an essay, I used the "free draft" option. I must admit, I thought the quality of the "draft" was good (not superior or supreme, but good). I liked what the draft had to say, thus I was convinced to order an essay. My first suspicion of this website were the e-mail addresses. This red-flag immediately yelled scam to me. Here are the following e-mail addresses:

infoessayacademia@gmail
support@essayacademia.[DND*]

G-mail account? The second red-flag, which ought to have been obvious to me, was the physical address or lack thereof, to wit:

EssayAcademia
San Diego, CA
USA Zip-92173

Now, how do I resolve this alleged scam or fraud? Well, the good thing, is, fraud is not tolerated in any system of law. An actionable fraud is any deception practiced in order to induce another to part with property (money is considered property) or surrender some legal right; a false representation made with an intention to deceive; may be committed by stating what is known to be false or by professing knowledge of the truth of a statement which is false, but in either case, the essential ingredient is a falsehood uttered with intent to deceive. I would argue that Essay Academia fits one of the aforesaid, and it is clear that the Essay Academia intends to induce another to part with property.

With the research provided aforementioned by WritersBeware, I used that information with my complaint. I when into my PayPal account to file a dispute. By opening a dispute, I will be communicating with the seller (Essay Academia), not PayPal, about this problem transaction. I feel that I ought to reason with the seller first before taking further action. I have not heard from Essay Academia, yet, but if I cannot reason with Essay Academia, then I will escalate it to a PayPal claim. By escalating to a claim, I will be asking PayPal to review the case, and ultimately, PayPal will decide the outcome. If that fails, then I will go to my credit card issuer. I plan on filing a claim anyway for safe measures. If ALL of my remedies fail, then I am out $34.11. Not much to lose, but every penny counts. I will try all of my options.

I will keep everyone posted on the latest...

After work today, I went to my bank to discuss my issue. My bank could not file a "chargeback" claim owing to the fact that I authorized the transaction (duh--I figured they would say that). If the transaction was unauthorized, then my bank would be able to help me. Nevertheless, my bank closed my account and they told me to call (402)-935-7733 (i.e. PayPal) to discuss my issue.

I called PayPal to discuss my issue. I gave them the facts and they were cooperative with me in the process. PayPal had me open a dispute claim with the seller (i.e. Essay Academia). I left a message for the seller. PayPal told me to wait for a response and workout the issue with the seller. If the seller refuses to refund my money, not cooperating, or I do not hear from them, then I have to escalate the issue to PayPal. PayPal will then investigate the issue and ultimately make a decision on the refund.

So far, I have been pleased with the customer service from my bank and PayPal. I hope this helps individuals who have been scammed or who may be scammed by Essay Academia in the future.

I will keep you posted...

**SUCCESS**

EssayAcademia agreed to refund my money without any dispute. Success in one day! Essay Academia said the following:

"EssayAcademia granted [NAME BLOCKED]'s request for a $34.11 USD refund. This dispute will be closed once the refund is complete. 6/3/2011 19:18 PDT

From Seller - EssayAcademia 6/3/2011 19:18 PDT
Your money is refunded. But, please note that we are from USA and our marketing activities are undertaken from many countries including India and UAE (United Arab Emirates). Please note that we do not force anyone to place order and you were given draft absolutely free."

While I was not "forced" to place an order, I was deprived of my property or my right by trick, artifice, or deception, thus I was injured by the withholding of what was due to me. There you go folks. A successful refund from a scam. I hope this helps anyone having trouble with EssayAcademia.

P.S. On my transaction record, I have the following business contact information, to wit:

Customer Service URL: essay academia
Customer Service Email: admin@essayacademia
Customer Service Phone: +91 16197934478

That +91 is the international calling code for India.