My experience over the last 3 weeks is that P@xful is a snakepit of scammers and thieves.
I would not recommend it to anyone who is inexperienced in buying BTC online.
After 4 aborted attempts at small purchases where each of the sellers tried to talk me into buying BTC outside of P@xful I began a buy with a seller, operating with a GMAIL address, using P@ypal. I made the $250+P@xful fee payment and presented screenshots to the seller. He said that the required 7-day waiting period shown on the P@ypal receipt was unacceptable and I should cancel the transaction. I attempted to get a moderator into our chat and waited until the time period was almost expired... and then cancelled the transaction. Little did I know that the seller had already received the P@ypal payment.
Since then I've opened cases with P@xful, P@ypal and my credit card issuer and am at dead end.
P@xful support blew me off; below is their verbatim response:
We appreciate your patience.
Upon investigation, we see that you canceled trade ZA1R3Zxxxxx. Once a trade is canceled, the bitcoin is automatically released back to the vendor. If you suspect there is an issue with the trade, please do not cancel the trade. Instead, start a dispute so that our moderator can intervene and resolve the issue.
Typically, when a seller asks you to cancel the trade, it is usually the sign of scam. You should not cancel the trade and instead, start a dispute while the funds are still in escrow so that a moderator can investigate and take appropriate action.
As a P@xful user, it is important to be aware of the risks and liabilities you have agreed to in our terms and conditions.
The seller's account has been frozen to resolve the trade wit you. There is no estimated time frame on when this will be resolved and there is no guarantee that you will receive a refund. Please be advised that this may only be resolved once the buyer cooperates with resolving the trade.
Let us know if you need anything else.
Thank you,
P@xful Team
[SIZE=10.5pt]P@ypal wasn't any more help. They said they would attempt to contact the seller at their GMAIL address but would not withhold payment despite the evidence I submitted.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]My credit card issuer said that I had authorized the charge to P@ypal and therefore no basis on which to dispute it.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]I naively believed that P@xful had checks and balances to prevent this sort of thing from happening.[/SIZE]
[SIZE=10.5pt]Beware P@xful !
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