Bait an switch scam by Xingyao e-commerce Co., Limited, is not getting resolved.

Netherviking
Contributor
Contributor

Ordered what was supposed to be a lamp resembling a nuclear explosion back in April. (25 usd)

Fell victim to what is now undoubtedly the classic bait and switch scheme where they send you a worthless unrelated item instead.


Complained to the seller directly. (i was still ignorant to this scheme at this point)
Seller wants item back and will refund. Will not pay for shipping. Tracked shipping to China is 75 euro's or so for me so that is not happening. (seller's chinese location by the way wasn't clear untill after purchase, the webstore is a front implying you buy more locally) 
Seller "understood my predicament" offered partial refund instead. (50%)
Told him I want a full refund as this is not my "mistake".
Got offered slightly bigger partial refund. (60%)

So that wasn't going anywhere.


Opened claim with PayPal.

Opened the claim as item not received. Because essentially that's what this is. Went through the whole shebang only to have paypal change the claim type. 
Paypal changed the claim to "item not as described" which I think is greatly underselling what's actually going on here but whatever. I guess that is technically true. 

Seller again offers partial (50%) refund. Which again I declined.
Now again I'm at full refund if I ship the item back. 


My first gripe here is that the resolution center has no other way of handeling this other then inputting shipping data.
So it assumes that shipping the item back is the only possible outcome at this step in the claim, which is ofcourse not true.

 

My second gripe here is that i've now received two different adresses from this seller. Neither of which are complete or actually resolve to any actual location. At least not on Google maps. And what parts of the adress google does find is miles apart from eachother.
Paypal doesn't seem to check this or care so I'm supposed to ship to a non existing address.

 

My third gripe is I guess classic neglegence. Contacted Paypal. Got an answer that I am in fact supposed to ship the item back. But Paypal has a return shipping service that will cover a whopping 30% of the shipping costs in this case! (that's not how they sold it but I read the terms)

 

Obviously I replied I'm not shipping anything back, again explaining why I think i'm beeing duped, and that this isn't my problem to solve to begin with. And why paypal needs to just refund me and ideally reject this seller from their platform. Because this seller is definately doing this full scale. They've got their own topic.


I sent that message about a week ago and haven't had a reply since. Tried contacting them through twitter. Got an initial response but after supplying the case ID they are ghosting me as well. 
Tried calling but the de support desk is closed due to covid (Really guys? Still? I haven't lost a single day of work and I work in the same customer service sector) which is only something I got notified of after going through their horribly constructed phone menu for about 10 minutes.

 

At this point i'm more annoyed at PayPal then the scammer.


Are there any other avenues to be used to move people into doing something at this company?

The dispute itself is due to expire somewhere today I want to make more noise because trying to get this solved in some sort of civil manner is appearantly not happening.

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16 REPLIES 16

Bianca55
Contributor
Contributor

I had this same issue with this seller.  Paypal did absolutely nothing!  Time is running out on case because Paypal's only option to help is to return items to and illegible address in China!  like a catch 22!  Returning items is impossible and that's the only option Paypal gives you.  Paypal is impossible to contact.  No telephone number to actually be able to speak to anyone who understands situation.  If you search web for this seller, you will find SCAM report on them.  I tried forwarding this to Paypal.  Again, a totally unacceptable response.  Basically, it is what it is.  "Even though you did not received item, it goes into the not as described list."  SO FRUSTRATED WITH PAYPAL!  This is a scam and they are an accessory!  I am also more upset with Paypal than anything.

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Netherviking
Contributor
Contributor

Yeah, paypal is definately facilitating this scam at this point.

Chinese sellers are immune to buyer protection due to astronomical shipping costs back to China.
They can litterally ship you some canned beans instead of whatever it is you actually ordered and get away with it at this point.

 

In fact, the whole notion that as a buyer you need to fix the sellers mistake by paying for their return shipping is absurd. Even if it is a legitimate error.
If I treated my customers like that i'd be out work in a week. How this can be policy to begin with is beyond me.

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Annie132
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Contributor

I have just seen this change due to come in on 14/09/20, no help to us but at least others in future should get their refund without being told to return the 'switched' tat they received.   

 

 

Making A Payment – Buyer Protection

In this section, we have re-introduced the PayPal Buyer Protection Policy into the user agreement and reworded its terms for global alignment.

 

Receiving Payments – Impact of PayPal Buyer Protection on Sellers

  • We have amended the wording in the "Impact of PayPal Buyer Protection on Sellers" sub-section: If you are a seller and lose a claim under PayPal Buyer Protection and the buyer’s claim was that the item received was Significantly Not as Described, you may not receive the item back, or you may be required to accept the item back and pay for the return shipping costs.

 

 

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Netherviking
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Contributor

I'm currently straight up beeing ghosted by Paypal on this.

 

I have no chat option.
They haven't responded to my mail and the reminder of my mail inquery in over a week even though their response time should be 24h.

Their (dutch) callcenter is appearantly closed due to covid. (this is BS btw, basicly the entire country has resumed some degree of normal operation)

On the AskPaypal twitter account I initially got asked for a case ID, but they have since also beeing ghosting me for days.

 

It's time to stop using this service. This is obviously a sinking ship.

 

 

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Annie132
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Contributor

I have repeatedly asked PayPal why some people have been refunded and others haven't even though it's exactly the same issue with the same seller, but all I get in response is nonsense without actually answering this or other questions I ask, sick of it now and sick of PayPal,  they seem to be as much use as a chocolate teapot so no longer see the point of them, but good luck to anyone else fighting them.

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Bianca55
Contributor
Contributor

I am surprised anyone has gotten a refund. I am so frustrated by this whole thing.  All Paypal has to do is look at their own Community Program.

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Bianca55
Contributor
Contributor

Exactly what I am going through.  Finally, someone offered to "translate" Chinese address if I wanted to return, which I do not want to throw good money after bad.  But, of course, even that, I never heard from them again.  Pitiful.

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Bianca55
Contributor
Contributor

And this is such a blatant SCAM!  So disappointed in Paypal!  They have many resources and easily could resolve this issue with this seller.  Customer service is useless.  They do not care and just go by rote.  Disgusted.

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poohbear20050
Contributor
Contributor

Hello, ma I ask did you ever get this resolved? This is the same scenario I am in and you jus t explained it to a T, but my only difference is I have a different seller doing the exact same scamming. I purchased a 10ft trampoline and got 4 white mask in the mail. I am having the same issues as described with Paypal, and I am not mailing him the mask back to China for $25. The company also stated based in USA, but is in China! Paypal is not helping the customers at all. They are in fact avoiding helping us!

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