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?

[DPCreations]

@Duc

Why do you think the seller is being truth when all of the evidence is to the contrary?

[sharpiemarker]

I say, keep the case open and follow through with the case.  

PayPal put a hold on the money anyway when dispute is opened so they can release it to the winner of the case if PayPal decides or if the seller initiates the refund right in the dispute when return is received which they should have done upon receipt of goods but seller is trying to be difficult.  

I highly doubt anyway that the seller won't have the money in their account at the time the case was opened as they would have a fair amount of money coming into their PayPal account from daily sales traffic if they are not a small time operation.  So absolutely don't believe it when people tell you to close the case first so they can refund.

Before escalating to claim, submit as much information to prove the return was received and add the track number. Then escalate.  If it allows you to submit more information after escalating, submit the documents again.  If PayPal in the end decides for the seller, file a chargeback with your debit card.

Good luck!

[lancelotme]

When did you place the order and send him a Paypal payment?

If he is a small seller,he may have transferred your payment to his bank and may not have much in his Paypal account,worse the money would have been in Chinese currency and spent already !

So when paypal withhelf his payment,what it did was just puting a hole in his Paypal account. 

You can try escalating to get PAYPAL involved like others suggest and provide the Japan Post tracking and see if Paypal would accept that.

The worst case is that you lose,then you file chargeback with your cc or debit issuer.

unlike Ebay and Paypal which want to play fair to both buyer and seller since both are their customers,your cc issuer could not care less about your seller,esp he is in China and does not always ask for tracking,if you go this route,make sure you provide proof you haev shipped the return via Japan post ,show the receipt and tracking and the conversation you have with your seller,your cc issuer would rule in your favor.

Once I bought some gold on a non Ebay site and it turned out to be fake gold,I included in my letter to my cc issuer that I dont want to return thse junks and have them insured as iff they are real gold,wasting my money,I won the dispute without returning the fake trash.

It is up to youm,trust the seller and close the dispute,let Paypal decides but you have a safety net,it is filing chargeback if all fails