I don't remember who I had this discussion with at a recent PLUG MUG, but it had to do with a problem I had with a laptop battery replacement I bought on eBay. The battery was bad, but I didn't discover this before the 60 day eBay guarantee period. The seller wasn't willing to do anything for me other than give me a $5 refund on a $38 purchase (and let me keep the defective battery). When I contacted eBay, they indicated that they couldn't do anything for me because it was past the 60 day period, but they asked if I had purchased the item with Paypal, which I had. They suggested I go to Paypal because their guarantee is 180 days, which I did. I registered a complaint online and had to wait two weeks for the seller to respond. The seller never did, and yesterday I received notice that my full purchase price was being refunded. The person I dealt with when I phoned Paypal explained that they can do this because they have ongoing accounts with sellers. Their agreement must cover the complaint process (I never looked because I don't sell on eBay). At any rate, if the decision goes against the seller, Paypal simply deducts the money from their account. So it doesn't cost Paypal anything either way.
I am glad you posted this Paypal benefit, Mike. It is very good to know about the 180 day refund coverage and I might start using Paypal again, when i purchase something on ebay.
Bear in mind, Bill, that the seller didn't contest. I don't know how frequently a seller won't contest, but I suspect it's often with the big sellers, as they just can't be bothered. I suspect that when the seller contests, Paypal will try to arrange a compromise. In this case, all I asked for was that the seller either ship me another battery or give me $25 of the $38 back (to save me the cost of shipping them back the bad battery). So I got better than I asked for; a full refund!
Glad it worked out for you. I imagine that credit card companies can refund too although I have no idea how many days it goes up to. 180 days is really good.