Vendor problem i can't solve with the vendor or through the Resolution Center

[frelwa]

RE: Transaction #<remove>

I'm involved in an unpleasant and confusing PayPal dispute that I don't understand and don't know how to solve, with <removed> Inc., a vendor who sent me a cheaper substitute for the item I ordered, then refused to give me a refund or exchange that item for the right one. Instead, they ordered me to close my dispute, send their substitute item back at my own expense, and release full payment to them for the merchandise I never got. Otherwise they wouldn't do anything about it.

On August 4th, I ordered a Teac LP-R550USB radio/phono/media player for $463.00 CAD. They sent me a Teac GF550USB that costs only $289.99 CAD on their website. I reported the error to them on August 11th by an email to the contact address they specified on their invoice. When they didn't answer, I opened a PayPal dispute. Then a Boss employee unexpectedly phoned me instead of writing through the Resolution Center as PayPal expects. This rude woman insisted they had sent me the right item and I must be wrong, implying I was too old and senile to remember the facts. But when I told her the model and serial number of the item they sent me, she agreed to check their warehouse.

<Removed> didn't contact me again for several days, so I requested a refund from them through the Resolution Center. They refused and ordered me to return their merchandise at my own expense. I wrote again to explain that my old age and poor health made that impossible. I have limited strength, poor balance, and back trouble. I can't lift heavy objects safely, I have to walk with a cane, and I haven't been able to drive a car for several years. Not only can't I take a big heavy box to a post office, there is no reason I should have to pay to return merchandise I didn't order. However, I offered to repackage <removed> item for them to pick up at my residence if they would refund my payment. They had no trouble delivering the wrong item to me from their local warehouse, so they could surely pick it up again.

The same employee then phoned me again, and she was even more hostile and abusive this time. She insisted that all problems with the order were my fault because of a miss-typed telephone number and similar quibbles that had nothing to do with the problem. Although I wanted a refund, I offered to exchange the cheaper Teac for the one I had ordered, which was the one on their invoice. The woman finally admitted they had sent me the wrong Teac model, but she insisted they would do no refund or exchange until I closed my dispute without anything settled, and she ordered me to have PayPal release the full $463 payment to them for the item they never delivered. When I objected to these demands and asked her to suggest a more reasonable solution, she refused to speak to me any more. She said she would demand the PayPal release my payment to them because I “would not co-operate.” This left me no choice except to escalate the dispute to a claim. I tried to summarize the problem quickly within PayPal's 15-minute time limit, but in my haste I left out important facts about the vendor's unreasonable demands, personal abuse, and refusal to negotiate. I wanted to supply this information later, but I could find no way in the Resolution Center or anywhere else to edit or add anything to my hurried statement.

Despite my incomplete explanation, PayPal decided the claim in my favor, but they also ordered me to ship the big, heavy Teac unit back to the vendor and send PayPal a tracking number to qualify for a refund. I was shocked and disappointed by this harsh decision. I feel that I am being unfairly punished for <removed> improper behavior, and anyway I am physically unable to do what PayPal demands. This needlessly ugly dispute has been so distressing to me that I couldn't bring myself to think or write about it for several days, although PayPal has kept ordering me to ship the merchandise back to this vendor at my own expense and report the tracking number before I can get my refund. I'm at a total loss about what to do. I don't know how to communicate any of this to PayPal so I can ask them to reconsider. I don't know what will happen when they close the dispute, which they have warned me they will do soon. What will happen to my money then? Does this vendor get paid for cheating me and abusing me? Does PayPal keep it? I have no idea and I can find nothing about this on PayPal's website. Also, what will happen to the cheap ugly Teac I'm stuck with? I don't want it, but can I legally sell it, give it away, or otherwise dispose of it?

Whatever happens, I have been put through a distressing ordeal for no apparent reason, I don't have the Teac player I ordered, and <removed> actions threaten my excellent long-time PayPal and eBay records of prompt, reliable payment, fair dealing, and good relationships with the sellers and vendors I deal with. I have no hope of compensation, the amount is too small for legal action, but this problem has taken far too much of my time and energy already, and I want to put it behind me and get on with my life.

I would appreciate any advice anyone can give me on how to get out of this terrible mess.

Fred Warner (baldywrinkly on eBay)

<removed>