Last updated 13:07, Tuesday, 29 July 2008

WHEN reader Kim Bell won a Nintendo DS for £73 on online auction site Ebay, she was over the moon.

PAYPAL PALAVER: Kim Bell with son Calum

But unfortunately for Mrs Bell and her four-year-old son Calum MacPherson, she never received the games console.

And, to make matters worse, she was told she had left it too late to ask for her money back from online payment facility PayPal.

Mrs Bell, 35, explained: “I won the item and the seller told me I’d receive it within 10 days, but after a few weeks I still hadn’t got it so I sent them emails asking where it was.”

Mrs Bell sent a number of emails to the seller saying she had still not received the games console.

When the seller told Mrs Bell it had been sent, she felt she had no choice but to continue waiting.

Mrs Bell added: “I was holding out because they kept telling me it might be a problem with customs and that it had been dispatched.

“But, when I became fed up and asked PayPal if I could have my money back, they said an unreceived item dispute needed to be reported within 45 days of winning the auction.”

Mrs Bell got in touch with Action Desk, who contacted PayPal’s Louise Bromley.

The spokeswoman for the online merchant site, which allows individuals and businesses to send and receive money safely, explained how PayPal deals with problems like Mrs Bell’s.

She said: “PayPal Buyer Protection provides purchase protection for buyers on Ebay and helps buyers recover funds from Ebay sellers who do not deliver the promised goods, or who deliver goods that are significantly not as described in the listing.”

The buyer must inform PayPal of the problem within 45 days of winning the item in the auction.

But, fortunately for Mrs Bell, PayPal agreed to reopen the dispute process.

In an email, PayPal official Aoife Byrne told her: “Because we value your business and want your experience with us to be positive (you were also only a few days past the 45 day timeframe), I have decided to reopen this buyer dispute and have the transaction investigated.”

Mrs Bell told Action Desk of her relief. She said: “Fingers crossed I’ll get the money back now, so I’m really relieved about that – thanks for all your help.”