Below is a time stamped history of my transaction between online electronics seller Sourcinggate and payment gateway Paypal. As of the writing, I have yet to find resolution for this issue and what to share the incompatence of these two companies as a warning to those who may find it. I’m glad they only got me for $10.80.
11/24/2010: Account created at Sourcinggate.com and order placed. Grand total $10.80. Paid with my debit card out side of my Paypal account because I was too lazy to log in.
12/29/2010: Email sent to SG:
“I placed my order more than one month ago and it has not arrived.”
12/30/2010: Response from SG:
“Your Ticket has been received and a member of our staff will review it and reply accordingly. Listed below are details of this Ticket. Please make sure the Ticket ID remains in the subject at all times.”
12/30/2010: Response from SG:
Dear Arthur,
Thanks for your letter! I’m sorry that we can’t find your order number!Could i bother you to offer us in your PayPal account:”My sourcingate”-”View orders”! Any problem, please feel free to tell us! We are looking forward to your reply early
Your Sincerely
Judy
Support Service
(*Please note, that at the end of each email from SG, the following message is placed to let me know that I and my lost order are a priority to the company.)
Ticket Details
Ticket ID: ZWS-681156
Department: After-Sales
Priority: Low
Status: Open
12/30/2010: My Response:
“My paypal user name is XXX and below is my receipt number.
Receipt No: 0983-9477-8924-XXXX
Please keep this receipt number for future reference. You’ll need it if you contact customer service at Sourcinggate Ltd. or PayPal.”
12/30/2010: Reply from SG:
“Dear Arthur,
Thanks for your email, please take it easy, the order number is not like that , this it the five numbers such as the 31108, when you enter our website, you can click “mysourcinggate”and the then you use the email address and password when you registered in our web, then you click “view orders”, then you will find your order number , if you sticll can’t find your order number,please tell us immediatley , we will deal with it for you . wish you will have a nice day. wish you all the best Any problem, please feel free to contact us.
Best regards
libby
support center”
12/30/2010: Reply to SG:
“I was able to log in but unable to find any order history. This is especially concerning because my credit card has already been charged for this purchase. Please find my order number and send it to me when you do find it. If you need more information from me, also let me know.”
12/31/2010: Reply from SG:
Dear Arthur,
Thanks for your letter! Could i bother you to offer us the transaction ID?It should be like this:81L11443UJ947064C including some letters!
Please check it with your local PayPal! At the same time,please tell us the item you ordered and your shipping address! Thanks for your cooperation!
Any problem, please feel free to tell us! We are looking forward to your reply early
Your Sincerely
Judy
Support Service
12/31/2010: My Reply to SG: (With images 1 and 2 )
“I do not have any transaction ID. You never sent me one. All I have is my paypal receipt. As for my order, if you see the first picture with the yellow and black iPhone case, I ordered a few of those in various colors. If you can not find my order, please refund my payment and I will order again.”
1/3/2011: Reply from SG:
Dear Arthur,
Thanks for your letter! My nice buyer,if you paid through Paypal successfully,you should get the unique Paypal transaction ID!
Please just contact with your local PayPal!The phone number is:
+1-888-221-1161 (US & Canada Free)
+1-888-215-5506 (US & Canada Free)
+1-402-935-2050 (International)
+1-402-935-7733 (International)
At the same time,please offer us the items you ordered and your shipping address that we can complete the order! Any problem, please feel free to tell us! We are looking forward to your reply early Happy New Year
Your Sincerely
Judy
Support Service
1/3/2010: My Reply to SG:
I will order again. Please cancel my order. Please refund my $10.80. I’ve already sent you all the information I have. If the information your looking for is not in the last two photos, I do not have it.
Again, please refund the order. I do not see any product numbers and I don’t want to get the wrong products. When you refund the order, I will purchase it again. If the refund is not processed by one week from today, I will contact Paypal for resolution.
1/4/2011: Reply from SG:
Dear Arthur,
Thanks for your letter!
We can refund you but we should get the transaction ID first and then can refund! Could i bother you to contact with your local PayPal?You can resolve the problem with a call! Please have a try! Any problem, please feel free to tell us! We are looking forward to your reply early
Happy New Year
Your Sincerely
Judy
Support Service
1/4/2011: My Reply to SG: (Attached images 3 -6)
1. I DO NOT Have a transaction ID. The order was placed on my card through paypal but I was not logged into my account so I NEVER received a transaction ID. Please do not ask me again.
2. You Can send the products pictured below to my shipping address:
XXXX Street
Newburyport, MA XXXXX
3. If you are unable to send me the products that I have ordered and paid for more than 1 month ago, refund my card. Do not ask for a transaction ID because again, I do not have one. All I have is a receipt number.
1/5/2011: Reply from SG:
Dear Arthur,
Sorry for the misunderstanding!
If you did pay it successfully through PayPal,you should get the unqiue transaction iD from Paypal,like this:12L42495P80007453!
It should be showed in your Paypal account but not in our website!Could i bother you to contact with your local PayPal?
They can help you!We are willing to refund you if you can get the transaction ID to us!
Sorry for the inconvenience brought to you!
Any problem, please feel free to tell us!
We are looking forward to your reply early
Your Sincerely
Judy
Support Service
1/12/2011: Message 2 to Paypal:
(* After calling 5 times and sending one message to through Paypal’s online web form and not hearing a response for four days, I tried calling and emailing again.)
I tried to open a dispute but am unable to do so because I was never given a transaction ID. I need that before I can. I have sent email after email to the seller. Their customer service department speaks broken English and even with photos refuse to give a refund or fill the order I made and paid for a month ago with out the transaction ID.
Please reply with how to get my transaction ID. My receipt number was listed in the last email I sent you. I think you should call me when you’re available tomorrow Tuesday or Wednesday.
1/13/2011: Responce from Paypal:
Dear Arthur Page,
Thank you for contacting PayPal.
We encourage you to contact the seller to resolve your issue. If you are
unable to resolve the issue directly with the seller, you can file a
dispute.
If you have the original email receipt for the transaction, you can file
a dispute using PayPal’s Online Dispute Resolution process accessed
through the PayPal Resolution Center.
To initiate a dispute, you must have a PayPal account. A “Save My
Information” link appears in the email if you don’t have an account. You
should be able to click the link and sign up for a PayPal account.
To be able to file a dispute, close your original account and contact
customer service to have the email receipt resent to you. Click
“Security Center” on any PayPal webpage and click “IDENTIFY A PROBLEM.”
If you no longer have your email, please contact us. Here’s how to have
the email receipt resent:
1. Go to the PayPal website.
2. Click “Contact Us” at the bottom of the page.
3. Click “Call us.”
4. Click “Continue” under “Unable to log in.”
Sincerely,
Lingjun
PayPal Account Review Department
PayPal, an eBay Company
1/13/2011: My Response to Paypal:
(*attached image 7)
Lingiun,
1. I can not settle the dispute with the seller because they do not speak English well enough to do anything except ask me for my transaction ID.
2. I looked over my email receipt. There is no such link to “Save My Information”.
3. I have already tried filling out a a dispute claim, however your system requires a transaction ID.
4. If this transaction ID is so important, from now on you need to include it in every email sent to customers instead of the absolutely useless receipt ID.
5. Do not consider responding to this email with out sending me the transaction ID that I need. If you are not able to give it to me, put me in touch with some one who can.
6. Attached is a screen shot of the email I was sent. This is the only email that I was sent for the transaction.
7. I will be posting this email, along with the other emails I have sent to you (including the emails I have sent with no response), the phone calls I have made to you, and all of the emails I have sent to Judy of sourcinggate all on the internet this morning. If my issue was resolved in a logical process or a timely manner I wouldn’t feel compelled to do so, but this experience needs to be shared. I will send you the link when I’m done.
Regards,
Arthur
1/13/2011: Message to SourchingGate and Paypal:
Just thought you should know that I have posted our entire conversation to wordpress under the title: “Buyer Beware: SourchingGate + Paypal” as a warning to all those who may want to think twice about using your service considering the experience I have had with you.
Now with out further adue, it is celebration time. Considering the detail and complexity of this problem I think that all parties involved deserve an award to honor their role.
SourchingGate: Classy Engrish Award:
I would like to thank SourcingGate for their broken English and relentless dedication to finding out my transaction ID despite being told multiple times I did not have one. Anyone else would have just given up and searched for a customer by email, address, or receipt ID. Not you though Judy, you stuck to your guns and demanded an obscure and unattainable number which was never sent to me.
Paypal: Canned Care Maze Award:
I would like to thank Paypal for their canned responses and automated dispute resolution system. It is a one thing to care about a customer and a completely better thing to pretend to. With your online web forms and non-answering phone system, receiving a pre-written email so you don’t actually have to provide any customer service feels almost real.
I would like to thank the contestants for playing their roles. It is only through their tireless dedication can I rant on the internet with just cause. We are coming closer to 2 months every day and neither one of these companies is any closer to helping me or caring, but… and here is the best part… they still have my $10.80. They’re more than willing to forget about me and my situation so long as I just stop bothering them.
