Buyer: Opened Dispute

[Duc]

I am a buyer whom opened a dispute for an item received as defective. I've contacted the seller and told them about the item received. They told me that I'll need to send it back to them on my expensive (international freight charge), before they will issue a refund.

I was furious why I have to pay for the freight charge. After several emails, it is apparent they are not going to pay for the return freight. So, I ended up paying for the freight and requested a full refund rather than an exchange. They are of no help and their customer service is not their top priority. I have to call them repeatedly and ask for the status of the return item. I have enough with this cat and mouse game and decided to open a dispute.

A day later, I am contacted with the seller and was told again that they will issue a refund and ask to close the dispute since Paypal has freeze the dispute transaction. They have not responded to the dispute via Paypal. The only communications is directly to me saying they will issue the refund when I close the dispute. What should I do?

[kernowlass]

@Duc

DO NOT CLOSE THE DISPUTE, they are perfectly able to refund you whilst its in progress and a refund will automatically close it anyway.

Escalate it to a claim when you have that option and make sure you provide paypal with a tracking number to prove you returned the item back to the seller. 

[DPCreations]

DO NOT CLOSE the dispute.  If you do, it tells PayPal you are quite happy with the result and that's the end.  It also tells the seller you are happy, so that's the end there, too.

The only hope you have is to let PayPal mediate the dispute.  Once you file the dispute you are giving all to PayPal, so let PayPal take care of it.

[DPCreations]

Edited to remove duplicate.

[lancelotme]

Do you have online viewable tracking to show it has been delivered?

If it is $750 or more,signature confirmation?

If you dont have it,then you will not win the dispute if you get Paypal involved.

 it is better to keep the case open ,if they do not respond,Paypal will close it in your favor.

[kernowlass]

@lancelotme

If they don't escalate the dispute to a claim within 20 days then the dispute will time out and the buyer will lose anyway.

[lancelotme]

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@kernowlass wrote:

@lancelotme

If they don't escalate the dispute to a claim within 20 days then the dispute will time out and the buyer will lose anyway.

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you are right,if she does not escalate then the dispute timed out and she loses.

But if she escalates and seller does not respond,then dispute closed and she wins.

But if she escalates and seller responds and Paypal ask her to return and upload return tracking which she said it is incomplete,she loses.

BUT IF SHE PAYS WITH CC ISSUER,FILE CHARGEBACK AND SHE MAY END UP KEEPING THE ITEM AND WINNING THE DISPUTE.

CC issuer often does not ask the buyer to return the item . 

[Duc]

Update:
It has been 5 days since I've opened the dispute. The seller has yet to respond. They did reply to me directly regarding the dispute and why I have opened it. It's obvious. They repeatly told me that they will issue a refund, but I'll need to close the dispute since they can't proceed since it is freeze.

Should I proceed and escalate to a claim at this point? It appears they are waiting on me to do something.

@kernowlass
The seller is capable of processing with the refund regardless if the dispute is opened? Why are they telling me they can't and ask me to close before they can proceed.

@DPCreations
What will happen when I escalate to a claim and they have never responded to my dispute?

@lancelotme
The product is not $750 and I do have a copy receipt with tracking number. However, the online tracking is incomplete and it only shows that it arrived in their respective country. The only evidence in my defensive that they have received it is via skype communication saying they did received it and photos they have taken of the product blaming me of a blemish that was already there.

[kernowlass]

@Duc

The whole point of a dispute is that it closes automatically once a refund has been made.

If they are telling you they can't refund until they close it then they may be trying to scam you.

If you close a dispute then you can't re-open it and the seller is then not obliged to refund you.

If you escalate then paypal may tell you to send the item back trackable before you get a refund. As you have already sent it then you would have to give paypal the tracking number to prove that.

[DPCreations]

@Duc

All one can say is what SHOULD happen if they seller fails to respond.  You should win.  We don't know all the details.

As to why the seller wants you to close the dispute:  So the seller doesn't have to pay.  Once the displute si closed the seller has no further obligation nor expectation to do anying. If you close the dspute, the seller wins; that's the reason the seller wants you to close it.