Wampum

So despite the fact that the generator that we purchased was obviously contraband (serial number removed) and had fraudulent EPA stickers (as attested to by a local engine repair shot), PayPal has denied our claim, without any explanation. If anything, it was not "brand-new, factory sealed" as advertised.

Dear MaryBeth Williams,

We have concluded our investigation into your claim:

Transaction Date: Oct 27, 2006
Transaction Amount: -$935.00 USD
Your Transaction ID: 0JD1026258432362B
Seller's Transaction ID: 3VM2853734252752E
Case Number: PP-220-763-426
Seller's Name: Clear Choice Property Solutions., LLC
Seller's Email: westcoastpowerandtool@yahoo.com

Based on our definition of significantly not-as-described, this claim does not qualify for a refund.

For more information about the claims process, please review the User Agreement.

https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/?cmd=p/gen/ua/ua-outside

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Protection Services Department

PayPal does not tolerate fraud or illegal activities. Your complaint has been noted in the record of the PayPal user you reported. If we find this user has violated our policies, we will investigate and take appropriate action. If this occurs, you may be contacted in the future about the status of this complaint. To make sure future transactions proceed smoothly, we suggest you visit the PayPal site and click the Security Center link located at the bottom of
any page. There you will find tips on how to avoid fraudulent sellers in the "Fraud Prevention Tips for Buyers" section.

Any legal eagles out there with suggestions? I've been in contact with others who have purchased generators from this dealer who also have missing serial numbers and non-functioning generators.

Update: Late last night (Sunday) we received another email from PayPal, this time, purportedly from an office termed "Executive Escalations". I've put it in toto below in the "extended entry" (click "read more"). The gist of it is that, while it's clear the seller is not, under PayPal's Terms of Service, at fault in any way, shape or form, PayPal is generously offering, this one time only (very clear about that) to reimburse us the $935, if we ship our generator to some mail drop at an industrial park in Texas.

If we agreed to this, I assume we would be conceding, per PayPal's decision, that West Coast Power and Tool did not in fact violate California (and probably Oregon) law, when it sold us a generator with the serial numbers removed and counterfeit EPA stickers. But we would get our money back -- maybe.

Fortunately, with advice from the small engine mechanic who documented the generator's "flaws" to PayPal, we have been able to get the generator to work (we had to disconnect the defective ignition switch, and pull the spark plug to turn off the generator.) So we do have power sufficient to run the Koufaxes (as long as the servers now hold up, see above.) We now think the best thing to do is to contact the California attorney general's office, as well as local police in Mendocino County (where we were when we purchased the generator,) as Eric is on good terms with the newly-elected county sheriff.