Paypal Strikes Again — This Time With An Antique Violin

A report in Consumerist details the highly disputed seller-buyer power struggle over the authenticity of a World War II era violin, a possible relic that may have been saved were it not for PayPal’s ‘I don’t give a shit’ mentality.

It’s never enjoyable to see the artifacts of history destroyed. The recent war in Iraq has had its fair share of destruction of ancient relics . Italians — the modern descendants of the powerful Roman empire, are not exactly known for taking care of their cultural legacy.

But here is a case that on an individual level could have been prevented. Erica — the seller of the antique violin, who claims to have had the instrument authenticated prior to selling (although there is no documented proof of this happening) was forced to return $2500 to the buyer of her violin. While the buyer thought the instrument a fake, he did not authenticate it himself prior to consulting Paypal on the matter.

To be fair, it is unlikely that the buyer instantly regretted his purchase and just wanted his money back, and legitimately thought the violin was fake.

The only person who is truly at fault here is the representative from Paypal, who is apparently a seasoned expert on antique violins, and ordered the destruction of the ‘counterfeit’ item so that the buyer would be able to reclaim his money.

While no one can be exactly sure of the events, or whether the violin was a true antique, it is sad to see Paypal’s ‘I don’t give a shit’ mentality cause the destruction of a possible antique item. Paypal had no right to be the arbitrator of authenticity in this case, and should have brought in a separate party to handle the authentication.

Given that The Faster Times pays through Paypal, I could just try to digitally smash this article in the hopes of getting further compensation. But somehow, I don’t see that flying, at least not in the way that destroying a potentially antique violin would.

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