A woman was left "distraught" when she returned a faulty £360 handbag - only for the seller to keep the bag and refuse a refund.
To make matters worse, when the shopper turned to PayPal for help, the firm sided with the seller until The Mirror intervened.
Gemma Clarke, 26, who works in PR, bought a second-hand Mulberry handbag from Facebook Marketplace via PayPal in early February for £360.
But when the bag arrived it had a broken strap not mentioned in the advert that would have been very costly to fix.
Gemma contacted the seller as soon as she realised the problem - just two hours after getting the handbag .
The original owner denied the strap was broken when they sold it, but agreed to take the bag back.
The seller had been friendly and agreeable throughout, but this took a turn for the worse as soon as they got the bag back.
The Kent-based vendor refused a refund and said she would hold on to the bag while getting advice from PayPal.
The seller initially claimed the item "wasn't advertised as a brand new bag".
She then said Gemma was "trying it on" and that she had sold her a "perfect" bag.
The original listing for the bag had several photos, but none which showed the part of the strap which had broken.
The seller claimed to have photos proving the strap was intact when sold, but conveniently could not provide these when challenged by Gemma.
When Gemma objected further, the seller blocked her - leaving her with no bag, no £360 refund and no way of contacting the seller.
With no other options, Gemma raised a complaint with PayPal.
"I made the seller go through PayPal as I thought it would offer me protection, she said. "Seeing as the item was a) broken on receipt and b) returned to the seller after noticing it was broken, I thought this was an open and shut case."
But the case turned out to be the opposite.
PayPal sided with the seller, saying Gemma must have damaged the bag in the two hours before raising the alarm with the seller.
Gemma said: "I have absolutely no interest in breaking a bag I have just spent £360 on.
"I use PayPal frequently and have a really good selling and buying record. I feel so let down.
"At this point I wouldn't even mind if I got the bag back so I could have it repaired, but the seller blocked me. I have no money and no bag. I feel like I have been scammed and left to pay for someone's bag they broken."
Gemma contacted The Mirror, who asked PayPal if it would reconsider and issue a refund after all.
Later that week the payment platform issued a refund in full.
PayPal has been approached for comment.
