Acelote Dish Drain Rack Scam

N0usernam3
Contributor
Contributor
I ordered from acelote.com and paid using PayPal. The order shipped from China. The item I received was not what I ordered. I ordered a metal dish drain rack, I received a flimsy plastic organizer tray shelf. I spent $30 on this dollar store trash. I asked for a refund and they want their item back before issuing a full refund. Otherwise they'll only give me $15 back. I escalated to PayPal disputes and PayPal has said that I need to send the item back to CHINA. That will cost more than the item is worth. I refuse to spend another dollar on this item. I am absolutely livid that PayPal will not protect their users from scam sellers like this one. If I were PayPal I'd force the company to pay for shipping. Someone needs to hold acelote accountable for their false advertising. Can anyone help me???
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19 REPLIES 19

kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@N0usernam3 

 

In the event of a dispute you need to bear in mind possible return trackable costs before you buy from that seller / item / country.

Paypal state this >>
PayPal is not obliged to reimburse you for any costs that you incur to comply with any of PayPal’s requests for cooperation for the purpose of resolving the problem (including, without limitation, costs that you incur to return a SNAD item to the Payment Recipient or another party as PayPal requests), although sometimes it may reimburse these costs.

Although they will compensate you for some of the cost if you have activated this at some point before you made that transaction .....
https://www.paypal.com/us/selfhelp/article/what-is-return-shipping-on-us-and-how-do-i-activate-it-fa...

If you buy from a business in the UK then you can normally recover those return costs via the small claims court although most UK businesses would reimburse you anyway. (BUT if you choose to buy from a private or international seller you may not have that option).
You also have the option to do a chargeback via your card issuer instead of a Paypal dispute if you funded your Paypal payment via a credit card.

Paypal gives you some buyer protection but its not blanket cover, you read up on it and then risk assess your transactions.

China scam websites are easy to spot so buyer beware.



Finally if you had provided written proof on company headed paper from a shop / company that sold / made that item OR trading standards and stated you had that proof when you opened the dispute then you would not have had to return the item. As its against the law to sell fakes Paypal don't expect you to return fake goods BUT the onus is on your to prove its fake first. (Otherwise every buyer would claim something was fake to save having to return it).


Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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Sbryblnde
Contributor
Contributor

The exact same this happened to me with this company.  Now they want me to pay to return the cheap plastic bins to them!

I also have a dispute opened with PayPal. I have asked to have either the correct merchandise sent to me or a full refund.

Additionally, if they want the plastic bins back they need to send me a prepaid shipping label and then I'll be happy to return them.

We've been scammed!

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Ooby61
New Community Member
I've just made the same mistake, I would love to know how much money they have made on this scam 😠😠😠
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Ave44
Member
Member
It happen to me too, but thru paypal acelote ask me to return the plastic rack at my cost with the address understandable!!! And paypal did not give me the chance to explain anything and close the dispute because I don’t enter the tracking number!!! I could not explain that they want the item back to China at my cost!!!
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Sareed34
Member
Member

Paypal did the same thing to me. I called and had the claim re-opened and escalated. But to be honest, I am very disappointed with Paypals handling of this issue. Once this is settled, I will forgo the convenience of using Paypal and deal directly with my credit card company. I have used Paypal for many, many years. In the past I have encountered problems with sellers, and resolving the issue use to be easy. This time I even had trouble find out how to open a dispute and communicating with them during this has been difficult to say the least. Not to mention the language barrier with the many "Customer Service" agents I had to work with. Most agents clearly did not understand what I was trying to explain to them.

 

So, sadly I will be parting ways with Paypal after this has been resolved.

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Al4won7
Contributor
Contributor

Happened to me too.  Paypal is useless in protecting its customers.  Which is why I'm deleting my account and will not be using PP ever again.  I'll be contacting my bank for my money back, if possible. 

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margiea1955
Contributor
Contributor
Same for me and they are insisting I got what I ordered but they sent me a photo with receipt. LIVID. There are hundreds of us that this has happened to.
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MarcusYoungBull
Contributor
Contributor
I had the same issue. There are also several Facebook groups of maybe thousands of people debating about filing a class action law suit against PayPal for allowing this fraud to happen
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LadyRocker
Contributor
Contributor
Paypal declined my dispute.. apparently i did not select the right "topic". I have emails from this shady company from 4 different gmail addresses and i have screenshots of the item i ordered in their initial confirmation email. I also have the package with the tracking number that was provided to PayPal.. i haven't discarded the item nor the package it came in with which has the tracking information.. hundreds times $30 is a quick way to may tons of cash! Come on PayPal.. work on this!! Give me the option to reopen my case so i can provide photos!!
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