Is it true that a seller cannot refund money while a dispute is open?

[Sparqee]

I have a dispute open with a sleazy seller who is claiming they will refund my money but only *after* I close the dispute. They claim they cannot refund my money until after I close the dispute because the transaction is "frozen". Is there any truth to this claim? I think they're just trying to con me into closing the dispute so they can **bleep** me.

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@Sparqee 

If you had to close a case to get a refund then it would be pointless opening one.
NEVER close a dispute / claim until you have a refund.
If the seller issued a refund then that would close the dispute automatically.
If he doesn't escalate to a claim.
Do not close it or he can ignore you and you can't open a second dispute OR re-open a closed one.

[Sparqee]

Thank you for your response.  You said what suspected to be true.  This Chinese seller is nothing short of a con artist.  They misrepresented the product I ordered and sent me garbage.  They've been trying to wear me down by asking me to spend $50 to return a $30 item.  Then they offered me a 5% discount, then a 7% discount then they started emailing me from an address designed to look like it was coming directly from PayPal trying to get me to close the dispute.  I wish there was a way to get PayPal to completely ban this seller but I know they would just rebrand themselves and open another account.  It's despicable.  I will never again buy something from a company who's domain name is registered in China.

[kernowlass]

@Sparqee 

Escalate to a claim.

When and if paypal tells you to return it, make sure you return it to the address paypal tell you to and trackable, you can claim some of those costs back via this link if you have activated it.

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

BUT first phone customer services and explain its one of these China scam sites and so you should not have to return the item especially as they are trying to force you to close the dispute to get a refund when they will then ignore you.

Contact options for each countries Paypal customer services are accessed by clicking help/contact bottom left of Paypal pages.

1. Paypal phones when available (you can use the guest option if you can't log in).
2. Live chat is also randomly available.
3. You can send them a message, during business hours you may also be able to message whilst logged out.
Or
4. Have you considered contacting Customer Service via Facebook or Twitter?
You can send them a personal message from their Facebook or Twitter pages.
It's: https://www.facebook.com/PayPal and @AskPayPal for Twitter.