Do I have a chance of winning this "haven't received" case against me?

[AAkaansh]

Hi all, hope you're doing well. it might be a long shot, but I'm wonder if there's anything I can do about the situation I'm in.

Basically, on the 4th January, someone sent me a message on instagram saying that they wanted to buy an item off my page, and sure enough I accepted. He said that his PayPal was limited at the time (which sounded suspicious but whatever.) and he would have to get his friend to pay for the item, and gave me his address.

I got paid soon after, and shipped the item with tracking to the address he sent me (not the one on the PayPal transaction as that was his friends.. doesn't that mean i'm not legible for seller protection?).

All went well until late into yesterday around 10 hours after the tracking updated to say it was delivered at his address. His friend opened a dispute against me saying that "the buyer has blocked me and that they  haven't send me the item". I replied once to him, saying that your friend has the item and if you're supposed to get it and he hasn't given it to you then there's nothing I can do, I can't refund you talk to him about it. Then he replied again saying that he paid for the item I sent (exact name of item) and one other item (that I never mentioned to anyone beforehand which was weird) so he would like a refund.

I honestly wouldn't be surprised at all if the person who messaged me and the person who paid have been working together to scam people. just a hunch however. 

He hasn't responded since and doesn't seem like he will, so I was wondering if I should wait 20 days or so and hope he doesn't respond and let the case close, or should I reply again stating my situation and what happened (once more) and escalate it to PayPal?

I'm afraid of escalating it as I'm unsure if PayPal will automatically side with the payee.

Thanks in advance

[Anonymous_User]

Hello AAkaansh,
I understand that you are wondering if you should wait it out or give the buyer information now.
I would recommend you to give your side when its in the seller/buyer conversation status, and give your tracking there too. This will show PayPal that your willing to work with the buyer. The more information you give in the case the better. You should also upload previous chat messages if possible.

As long as you have uploaded valid tracking to the transaction you should be good to go.
Thank you for being part of the PayPal community.
Sincerely,
Johand

[kernowlass]

@AAkaansh

You can give any information via 'send message to the buyer' BUT do not escalate, with luck the dispute may time out.

If escalated I think you may well lose as for seller protection you have to send the item trackable to the registered paypal address of the buyer ie the account holder that paid.