Review - Awful Experience

Hey,

Just thought I'd post this here as a heads up, but the escrow system is much weaker than it seems, and the admins are extremely unhelpful in the event you actually need to dispute a transaction.

In my particular case, it began after a PayPal vendor started claiming they never received payment, even though it was an invoice they sent to me, meaning no possibility it went to the wrong place. PayPal was telling me the transaction had gone through, and the seller refused to provide any details about what the problem with it was, beyond first saying that it declined (I could see the charge on my credit card), then changing to state that the payment "failed verification", without ever explaining what that meant despite my persistent requests, and the seller instructed me to request a refund through PayPal.

At this point, I became uncomfortable and opened a dispute with LocalBitcoins, expecting the escrow system to protect me in just such a situation. Boy, was I wrong. The admin was the most unresponsive support agent I've ever worked with, completely ignored my concerns about the validity of the seller's claims that there was a problem with the payment without even requiring any evidence from them (although they required evidence of payment from me), and instructed me to open a refund request with PayPal. The time between their replies was >24 hours, and they were always short, unspecific, and dismissive when I pressed them to ask the seller for evidence. No one seemed particularly concerned about the need to prove there was a problem with the payment, and I was bothered by how quickly the admin took the seller's side. It was just the beginning.

I went ahead and opened the PayPal refund request, then provided evidence that I had done so. The admin replied that they had seen it and would check back in 72 hours, and that if I had not received my refund by then, I should post evidence of that. I thought all was well, and was planning to just leave it for 72 hours. I guess this transaction isn't happening, but oh well.

Fast forward 24 hours (1 day, not 3), and I get an admin message saying the coins have been released to the seller because the refund has been received. Excuse me, I'm supposed to be the one telling you when it's received, and you told me you'd check back in 72 hours, not 24. Now my coins have been released from escrow back to the seller, my refund is still under review by PayPal, and the admin apparently saw no need for further confirmation from me after releasing the coins 2 days earlier than they said they would. I have already opened a support ticket, since the transaction has already been closed, and will update this post if I hear more.

I am stunned by the unprofessionalism of the admins at every stage of the dispute process. From the beginning, the admin never expected any proof from the seller, and then immediately gave disputed coins to them out of escrow, two full days earlier than they said they would, without confirming anything. If I didn't know better, I'd say this seller is a scammer and the admins are working with them.