Am I wrong thinking that PayPal should not play this seller game? (got scammed and...

[sdagan]

the scammer admitted, but still no refund)

Simple story. I saw an ad on facebook for a playpen for an attractive price. Honestly, I dont know what I was thinking, that days (corona virus) oil prices were negative, so I thought maybe a company is trying to get rid of a product fast. Maybe I trusted PayPal to be there for me if I get scammed I guess? The PayPal receipt even says "Kids Potable Travel Playpen Tent - Simple Version(As video)" see video screenshot:Figure 1

The thing is, that after a few weeks I got the package and it was much smaller than expected, and contained cheap toy. By that time, other customers got the packages and were disappointed as well:

So, luckily I paid with PayPal, I'm covered, right? 

The first step was to contact the seller through the resolution center. The seller was not surprised and admitted his lie immediately: 

"Hi, Thank you for your email. Your picture was received. This is absolutely the product we want to sell to you. We are sorry that the items you purchased are not what you were expecting. I completely understand your disappointment with our product. This product is popular with Chinese. As the product still can work well, could you please try for a period of time? Or you can give it to others as a gift. If you would like to return the unit, we will provide you with the return address. But please kindly understand that you need to pay the return shipping fee. And it always cost more than $20. This is not a good choice for you. Looking forward to hearing from you. Best regards."

I then escalated my request, however, the PayPal reps are adamant that I will ship the cheap toy back to the seller (who provided an address in mandarine, not english). I tried to explain that this is a scam point blank and I'm expecting them to understand that the seller is making it difficult for his victims to get their money back but I get no assistance. I also tried calling but due to covid19 there is no phone service for disputes. 
One of the reps did mention that PayPal may consider paying the shipment after I submit the receipt, but I can't express to you guys how awful I even feel for being forced to do this walk of shame to the post office and ship this cheap item back (also it is currently difficult to do as I'm not at my house in the upcoming days). 

Am I over-reacting? 

There are 13,000 people who interacted with the ad (not only viewed) on facebook the day I made the screen shot (the ad was finally removed, I dont know if my reporting to FB had anything to do with that but I'm happy this guy wont be able to use it to scam more people), some probably paid with PayPal and I'm sure that if someone would look at this account history he would realize the amount of money this seller has stolen from many customers. Is there a way to interact with someone at PayPal beyond the CS-personal who seemed to care only about my single complaint? 

Appreciate your input, 

Best,

Sean, 

Boston

[sharpiemarker]

@sdagan 

If PayPal ruled in your favor on a significantly not as described claim, you are required to return it for a refund. Can't keep both item and the money. That's their way of resolving it. The seller's solution follows what paypal's dispute system is set up to do. Seller has to accept return, loses sale, loses PayPal fees, and refund upon receipt of return. You are not entitled to return costs within the dispute, as PayPal can not refund more that what you originally paid. Nor can PayPal force the seller to provide return shipping costs.

Please read how purchase protection works:

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full#purchase-protection

PayPal does have the return shipping refund program but you have to register your PayPal for it before filing a dispute to be eligible.

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/returns

You can appeal the decision by contacting customer service but could take awhile as responses to messages are taking longer due to limited staff.

If the outcome of dispute is not suitable to your needs in this case, you may dispute with your card or financial institution instead as per the "Dispute with us or your card issuer" section in the purchase protection terms and conditions.

Always do research on a merchant/domain name/product before buying. The info is at our fingertips.

[sdagan]

So by that PayPal enables scams that pays off by cheating mass of people. Some might rightly say, why would I spend more money in attempt to receive some money back. This is even when they see that the seller whole purpose is scamming (they see the discussion in the dispute). Sad

[sdagan]

@sharpiemarker 

I would agree with you if the seller was an honest person. But once the seller scams thousands of people and PayPal treats it as legitimate behavior then I find it difficult to play along. 

If you buy a TV and someone sends you a barbie doll, and he tells you that this was intentional then you would not think it's a behavior that a large corporation like PayPal should tolerate. 

[jamesfryer]

Let's say I order a TV from you. Under UK law, you are contracted to send me a TV. If you then send me a doll, you have not fulfilled the terms of the contract. If you want the doll back, that's another matter, and I need to make it available for collection at your expense, but you still owe me either a TV or the payment. Paypal's policy does not override UK law, and after some discussion with a Paypal representative they gave me a full refund (as "goodwill") because they know they are in a weak position.

[TammiVela]

The same item. I have not communicated with the seller. I never ordered it! I did get a package with two orange parachute men in it from China, but I'm not sure that's the company. I took pictures of the envelope and the parachute men. It's very frustrating and PayPal really should be there to protect us from scammers like this. It's one reason I use PayPal is because I feel like they protect us, but apparently they don't. 

[sdagan]

@TammiVela - I didn't understand it, you never ordered an item but you got this parachute soldiers and was charged for it???