Fraudulent seller

TayShyan
Contributor
Contributor

Bear with me guys...I bought a couple of pairs of climbing sandals (from China) online and paid for it via PayPal. I thought I would be protected from fraud as I am a PayPal user for the past 13~14 years.

Weeks gone by and seller was incommunicado, ignoring my messages. I pushed the seller for delivery, notifying them that I will escalate a case by Day 30 after the payment. Suddenly I get a shipping notice the very next day. Tracking does not work but again I waited. Weeks gone by and I finally received a package one day. Opened up and to my surprise it was a $2 throwaway flipflops.

So I escalated a dispute with PayPal and seller ragged for as long as they could, and finally agreed to refund subjected to me SHIPPING THE ITEMS BACK and then they have to agree to it before I can get my refund.

1. The return shipping will cost $40 out of the $65 in dispute here
2. Seller may dispute and still do not agree to refund.
3. I will be out of the $65, 2 cheap throwaway flipflops, $40 shipping and get laughed at
4. Now the only thing PayPal allowed me to do is to upload a tracking number. No mention of the return shipping cost and no other way I can speak to a human to make other enquiries.
5. WHAT SHOULD I DO NOW? Amount is not large but we cannot allow fraudsters to win. My guess is the fraudster knew the PayPal system well and are gaming the system

Advice me guys...

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4 REPLIES 4

kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@TayShyan 


Chinese Web Sites or on Social Media ads easy to spot (once you know the below signs) so buyer beware.

1. No return address on the returns policy............thats because the site will look as if its in your country (where they despatch goods from) BUT they will ask for returns to go back to China (returns depot) at a shipping cost nearly always more than the item is worth.
2. No contact telephone number............if you click on contact the most you will get is webmail or an email address.
3. No company address information.
4. Great looking items at bargain prices that turn out to be tat.

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/smarthelp/article/FAQ3544   (thats the .com link as not sure you have the same option in your country).

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.




Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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perplexed_user
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor

Your story is almost identical to many (hundreds, no exaggeraton) posted here. My case is similar in MO, I ordered RC helicopter for $51, got 2 cheap masks, seller first offered small partial refund, I didn't bite, then slightly larger partial refund, I didn't bite based on principle, then seller offered full refund, provided I send the masks to an address in Hong Kong, at my expense. It costs over $35 to send an envelop to HK, and even without considering the econonmics, why should I spend my time & effort, to play along with scammers. PP obviously makes tons of money from scammer transactions, they go along with thie ridiculous scenario. I got on chat and argued my case, stressing to the reps the obvious scam tell tale signs and how unfair it is for the buyer to suffer for seller mistake. Long story short, after chatting with 4-5 reps one did help me get full refund without having to send "worthless items" back those were the rep's words, so I guess there is an appeal category where if PP adjudicate you got worthless items you don't have to send them back regardless of what PP policy nominally states. The return address given turned out to be bogus anyway, so even if I'd send it, it would never get delivered and the case will drag on and on.

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TayShyan
Contributor
Contributor
Thank you for your help. Yes I somewhat understand this...guys have learnt how to game the PayPal system and get away free. Problem is there are were no humans working in PayPal (its noon Pacific time) and I have been led around in circle talking to a machine. It's no longer about the money anymore but based on principles and not letting the fraudsters win
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perplexed_user
Frequent Contributor
Frequent Contributor

To get past the chat bot you kind of have to be a little creative and respond in such a way that trips the algorithm, then it would transfer you to next available agent. Even then expect a long wait.

 

I remember going in circles myself if I answered truthfully for every bot question, so don't just answer, think what will make algorithm not able to proceed, then it will get outof the loop and get you to a human.

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