Seller says they "can't" give refund as long as dispute is open

[PhilsterBee]

Got the following from a vendor from whom I requested a refund:

"Regarding your Viddyoze refund request, we are here to inform you that upon proceeding with the refund to your Viddyoze Commercial transaction, our platform reported you opened a dispute with Paypal on your end.

We apologize you’ve had a problem with our product and we are 100% happy to refund you. However, as we use an affiliate platform called JVZoo, it’s important for us to issue refunds through that system, as opposed to a PayPal dispute.

Disputes actually block JVZoo from issuing our refunds, because of the way our system is setup. So we kindly ask you to first close the dispute on your end and get back to us so we can issue your full refund right away via Jvzoo.

Please note PayPal will recommend not closing your dispute, but we assure you the fastest way to get your refund is by closing it so we can move forward without issue or further complications. By keeping the dispute open, it actually delays the process on our end."

Of course, once I close the dispute there is no way of reopening it. Has anyone ever seen anything like this before?

[DPCreations]

This is why it is so important to resolve issues with merchants directly and no through PayPal. 

In this case there is no way of predicting the outcome.

Some merchants have automated refund processes in place that won't work through a dispute.  On the other hand, if you close the dispute and the merchant does not refund you are out of luck.

You chose to use PayPal rather than allow the merchant to do the refund, so why not just stick to PayPal and and escalate to a claim.  On the other hand we have no idea about your dispute and your chances of prevailing with PayPal.  If you prevail with PayPal, then PayPal WILL get the money from the merchant and you will get your refund.

If forced to give the refund the merchant will likely ban you from the site.

[rzphotoman]

I got the same message from the same vendor, but just let PayPal follow through with the dispute.  I got my refund from Paypal

[temp20171012a]

You're lucky.  Paypal failed me.  They decided in favor of the seller even though I showed email proof that the seller agreed to refund me but never did.  I don't know which Paypal nitwit reviewed my case, but I'd suggest never using Paypal again to purchase any product that has a money-back guarantee.  You're better off making purchases with your regular credit card.

[DPCreations]

PayPal will follow and enforce published PayPal polices relating to buyer and seller protection.

PayPal does not enforce buyer or seller agreements or guarantees.  A seller money back guarantee is only as good as the reputation of the seller.

So, if you want PayPal buyer protection make sure you make your purchases according to PayPal policies only.  Ignore seller promises