Claim gone wrong, paypal ignored everything I said and ruled in favor of the scammer

hjf2018
Contributor
Contributor

I've been a customer for years. I've paid hundreds of dollars to Paypal througout all these years. In this time, I've never made a claim. A couple of small-dollar transactions went wrong, but I didn't bother opening a claim.

 

Now a $409 transction went VERY wrong. And paypal ruled in favor of the seller.

 

This all started on NOVEMBER 26, 2017. I ordered a vacuum cleaner from Gearbest (do not ever buy from there. Use Aliexpress instead, and as a bonus, you don't need paypal to buy there). The shipment was finally picked up by DHL on DECEMBER 15, 2017. That's correct. 19 days to process the order

Then DHL took only TWO DAYS to ship it to Argentina. It arrived December 17. 

 

Once it arrived, everything started going wrong. Customs flat out rejected the package. The SCAMMERS at Gearbest did the asian crap of "declaring a lower customs value". I don't know if that's a thing that works anywhere anymore. They declared the value at $50. Customs knows that a heavy box with a very pretty vacuum cleaner doesn't cost $50. It was automatically rejected.

 

I got a call from DHL. They told me they won't be able to process this in customs, and that I had two options. I could either go and pick it up myself from customs, or authorize the return.  You see, the problem is, the customs where DHL operates are in Buenos Aires, over 1000km from where I live. Obiously I don't have the time to travel 1000km just to pick up a package at the airport. I called several customs agents. They all told me the same: they don't work with small packages, and even if I went there personally, I'd probably not be able to get it through customs anyway (that's the reason they don't work with small packages themselves). So I called DHL and told them to return the package. This takes several MONTHS to process due to customs in Argentina.

 

In the meantime, I started a claim on Paypal. I explained everything. Over a week later they told me the seller had provided shipping information and that I have to pay for customs. I explained, there is nothing to pay. Since the declaration was wrong, customs rejected the package. They wanted a headletter form, signed by customs, explaining the reason why it was rejected. I explained again that customs is 1000km away, and they don't answer over phone or email. Only in person. After that, they ruled in favor of the seller. 

Paypal keeps thinking I don't want to pay for customs. The package is already scheduled to return to Hong Kong. The seller kept his money even after everything he's done wrong. I lost 409 dollars. And the only thing Paypal has lost is me as a customer.

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hjf2018
Contributor
Contributor

Also, Paypal only allows me to appeal the claim with "Item(s) significantly not as described". And they will only refund "if the seller agrees". 

Disgusting.

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