Not as described claim filed, returned item to seller in china, now package is held in customs...

[bumblebri19]

Long story Version: I got lured in by a facebook ad and made a purchase from a seller in China. Except for 1 item (which still was kind of off) The items i bought were absolutely nothing like what I purchased. I contacted them via their email before contacting paypal, asking for a partial refund because if they were being truthful and practicing good customer service, they would admit that the products i received were not what I ordered. They refused, stating that sometimes the pictures color can be off but this wasn't the case at all. It was totally misrepresented. So I end up disputing and escalating with paypal (again for partial, because I already knew returning the items to China would be a hassle and knew I couldn't get a full refund without sending them back ) Paypal decides to deny the partial claim and says that if i send it back I'd be eligible for the full refund. ugh. Fine. I do what I need to do and supply the claim with the tracking info and patiently wait for it be delivered. However, surprise surprise, the package has now been held up at customs since Dec. 11 and the seller is not responding to me so i can find out why. (I'm assuming there's a custom fee that needs to be paid). But i figured Paypal would see that I sent the package and did my part. However, I got an email earlier today saying that my claim completely denied due to tracking not being provided...What? This is exactly why I never wanted to send the items back and just wanted the partial refund. So now I'm highly upset because not only would that i mean I lose out on my money, but that means I don't even have the items either. Has anyone had this problem before? And paypal's customer service through the website has been horrible and unhelpful.

Short Story Version: A Chinese seller sent me items that were falsely represented, and I filed a not as described claim, was asked to return the items for a full refund even though i would have settled and preferred a partial. I did exactly what I was asked but the package has been held in customs since Dec. 11th and paypal denied and closed my claim under the reasoning that i didn't provide tracking info, which is not true. Does anyone have any experience with this? Am i out of luck?

 left - what i received right - what i thought i ordered.

[kernowlass]

@bumblebri19 

1.

Appeal, citing you have done everything asked of you and not your fault its stuck in customs.

Click on the words "Help / Contact" at the bottom of paypals pages and use the phone option in the blue band at the top OR very bottom of page dependent on what country you are in. Scroll down past the list of help questions and click on 'Call us' bottom of that page. Log in and get the code.
OR
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.

2.

Have you activated this to at least get back your return shipping costs?

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

3.

If you funded your paypal payment via a credit card then talk to your card issuer and see if they will chargeback for you?

[bumblebri19]

@kernowlass thank you! I will see what turns up with their social media customer service.  Calling the number for some reason didn't help me, but i'll admit I may have not been patient enough to go through the all the proper motions. Yes, I did go for the return shipping refund after admitting it wouldn't be as quick an exchange as i was hoping.

[Ksrsailing65]

I just got off the phone with PayPal.... They are not changing their decision.  They are a large corporation taking advantage of the "little people".  There is no help from PayPal.  Oh, and the person I spoke with, was not in the US, somewhere in Asia.  Smell a fish?

[Ksrsailing65]

PayPal still will deny your dispute.  I spent $73.23 to return the merchandise to China, and they said that I did not respond to a notice regarding the return being held in customs in China.  I never received anything. For a purchase of $139.08, paid $73.23 to return it, I am out over $200 because of PayPal.  If I would have used my PayPal Credit Card, I would have gotten my money back.  I am removing all of my recurring monthly billings to another form of payment and will never use PayPal credit AGAIN!  Several years ago I had bought my daughter a hoodie jacket with a design, never received it, and I had the documentation from the USPS that showed it arriving in Tampa, and then being sent to an address (where it was received) in NY.  When I sent it to the seller and PayPal, they said it was received.  Yes, it was, but not by me.  I bought a jacket for some random stranger!   

I have an appointment with my attorney next week regarding an ongoing lawsuit, and I'm going to ask him if there is anything further that I can do to pursue this claim against them.