To be fair it sounds like PayPal and eBay acted appropriately. You hadn't supplied goods or refunded payments it seems.
Now the reason appears to be that UPS screwed you over. But, I don't see how that is a problem with PayPal and/or eBay. Are they supposed to screw their customers over to avoid upsetting you because you gave them what [from their point of view] amounts to a sob story about a third party.
I really feel for you, our company is so small that a legal issue could sink us if our legal liabilities insurance didn't cover things.
Is there something missing here, you describe an open and shut case but you couldn't pay a lawyer to take it?
Where would the money have come from? It was all in Paypal because we used it for equipment purchases as well.
That's where the "playing ball with us" part comes in. We could've refunded the money had Paypal unfrozen our account. We couldn't refund because Paypal wouldn't unfreeze our account. They never distributed refunds to the complainants. They kept all of it.
The Kafka-esque absurdity of it was overwhelming.
All our problems were rooted in Paypal's unwillingness to unfreeze our account and make the refunds. Had that happened, Paypal and eBay would've had no outstanding complaints, and we could've used the rest to get a lawyer without trying to appeal on a percentage basis.
Which didn't work, which was also bizarre to us since it was, as you said, an open and shut insurance claims case.
It's been years since all that happened, and I've since paid off all my outstanding debts. I prefer not to dwell on it, as I've gone on to put my software career together nicely.
Now the reason appears to be that UPS screwed you over. But, I don't see how that is a problem with PayPal and/or eBay. Are they supposed to screw their customers over to avoid upsetting you because you gave them what [from their point of view] amounts to a sob story about a third party.
I really feel for you, our company is so small that a legal issue could sink us if our legal liabilities insurance didn't cover things.
Is there something missing here, you describe an open and shut case but you couldn't pay a lawyer to take it?