China sent the wrong item.. I have to send it back for more than I paid to receive a refund?

[cscala]

I disputed it and the seller was giving me the runaround for the entire time. It seemed we had reached an agreement and they sent another email which  said they agreed to my solution (partial refund). Then in the next sentence they said they would need me to send the item back, so I escalated it.

Now once again I'm left with either A) keep an item I did not order and accept that I got scammed, or B) choose the spite option, spend an additional $60.00 to send it back with tracking and maybe get a refund someday when and if it's delivered back to the seller.

Is there any way to get this transaction reviewed or am I just stuck with it? It's not a huge amount of money but it really burns my buttons.

Thanks -CS

[Calli2203]

I received a defective item and they only offered me $10 (the seller) to "go to a store and fix it" .  I filed a dispute and since I cannot speak to a real person and have to choose from a list of topics, I was expected to box up this huge dog crate in the original box which I had.  Take it somewhere to ship it even though it wouldn't fit in my car and it was very heavy.  And then pay the return shipping.  They asked me to upload my shipping label and I couldn't because of all the above reasons.  I shouldn't have to pay to ship back a defective item.   Meanwhile, there was no way to update my case or type an email to anyone.  PayPal bots ended up denying my case because I didn't upload the appropriate documents.  Now I am stuck with a $180 dog crate that I have to zip tie shut because it was missing pieces.   Unacceptable.  But I cannot do a thing about it.  My company has people working from home to answer calls and help people.  Not sure why PayPal cannot do the same thing.  It was an EBAY Purchase by the way, not sure that makes any difference.  EBAY also doesn't have any real people to help right now.  Just bots. 

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Calli2203 

@cscala 

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

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...

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.

[cscala]

Thank you @kernowlass

I did fund the transaction through a credit card so that is good to know. If I do the chargeback through the credit card, however, will that impact my paypal account negatively?

[kernowlass]

@cscala 

Shouldn't as it says this in paypals user agreement..........

Pursue your card chargeback rights: You may pursue your chargeback rights with your card company or card issuer (if they apply), but if you do so at the same time as pursuing the resolution of your problem (whether through a claim or dispute) under PayPal Buyer Protection or if you seek a double recovery, PayPal may close your dispute or claim and/or hold you liable for the amount you have been reimbursed under PayPal Buyer Protection, and you will have to rely solely on your chargeback rights.

[crashbld]

What is PayPal buyer protection? They are not offering to do anything about it unless I provide tracking for a return which would bd an outrageous cost to do so.

[Ant1977]

I have been scammed the same way: the seller sent a completely different item, after opening a claim I was asked to send it back which I did after contacting PayPal. This cost me more as a Tracked and Signed service to China isn't cheap. Nearly two months later the seller claimed to have never received it (delivery was attempted several times according to the tracking). I received an email from PayPal so I could update my claim with proof of postage [which I'd given previously anyway] but there was no way to add info or upload scans or anything on the dispute page. I spent about a week trying to get through to an agent to resolve this but due to COVID19 received no response and in the meantime PayPal ruled in favour of the seller.

Buyer protection, right.

[Calli2203]

I agree. No buyer protection and nothing but bots and auto reply. And no way to update your case with requested details. No chat personnel, no way to email etc Not a way to conduct business. I just want to speak with a real person on their site. At this point I’ll cut my losses and not use PayPal further.

[trinnni]

Same thing has happened to me, I paid through a debit card though. I don't want Paypal to pay anything I want the seller in  China who's obviously one of many scamming people to pay the price of postage if they want the dodgy piece of plastic they sent me and then sent me over 25 emails denying it or offering me various amounts of refunds. Wow if I did this in Australia Paypal would dump me as a seller in a heartbeat. Am going to cancel my Paypal account if they don't hold this seller accountable.