Open dispute - is the seller trying to trick me?

[WhosHe]

August 2019 i bought an electrical item. Specifically a set of earphones. I found after a matter of weeks they simply didn't hold the advertised charge, in fact they where nowhere near (5 hours advertised but they struggled to hit 1.5 hours).

I tried contacting the seller (this is not an eBay sale btw) via their website contact form but i got no reply. I just got an immediate response of advertisement.

I tried again a month or so later via their contact form and again got no response other than advertisement.

These things aren't cheap but i put it down to experience. I should've bought from my own country. That was until this month i found i could dispute over PayPal which i wasn't aware of.

I filed the dispute with the reason being "item not as described". The seller told me that i only had the first 10 days to return the item, after this it was tough luck basically. They offered a replacement at discount but i rejected this as the import tax and the risk of it having the same issue meant it wasn't worth it to me. They came back saying they would give me a new set for free which i accepted.

The thing is, they're telling me they will send a new set once i close the dispute and mark as resolved.

My concern here is that once i do that, i'll never hear from them again and they will just be wetting themselves laughing at how easy it was.

Having never been in a PayPal dispute before and considering we're 5 months down the line (i understand me not knowing about PayPal disputes wont be an accepted reason) i'm looking for a bit of advice on how to proceed with this.

[sharpiemarker · Accepted solution]

@WhosHe 

Do not close claim without receiving an outcome to your satisfaction because you only get one chance at the trough.

You can escalate dispute for PayPal to step in and help but PayPal can potentially look at your claim and say it is not eligible for SNAD claim because PayPal Buyer Protection is neither a product warranty nor a service warranty. No guarantees are given. You bought ear phones and got ear phones.

8 What is Significantly Not as Described (SNAD)?

1. Your purchase is Significantly Not as Described if it is materially different from the last description of it that you received from the payment recipient before you paid for it (which, for exclusively online purchases, shall be taken to be the payment recipient’s description of the purchase in the relevant online listing) (“Purchase Description”). Here are some non-exhaustive examples:
   1. You received a completely different item. For instance, you purchased a book and received a DVD or an empty box or the software that you received was not the software that was sold to you.
   2. The condition of your purchase was misrepresented. For instance, the listing for an item said “new” and the item was used.
   3. Your purchase was advertised as authentic but is not authentic.
   4. Your purchase is missing major parts or features and the fact that these parts or features are missing was not disclosed in the listing.
   5. You purchased 3 items from a payment recipient but received only 2.
   6. Your purchase was damaged during postage.
2. Your purchase is not Significantly Not as Described (SNAD) if it is not materially different from the Purchase Description. Here are some non-exhaustive examples:
   1. The defect in your purchase was correctly described by the payment recipient.
   2. Your purchase was correctly described but you didn't want it after you received it.
   3. Your purchase was correctly described but did not meet your expectations.
   4. The item that you purchased has minor scratches and was listed as used condition.
   5. An event you purchased tickets to was postponed.

So in case PayPal does not rule in your favor, I am explaining above why you are not covered. If PayPal does not rule in your favor and you paid with credit card, you may dispute via card issuer instead.

Now if PayPal rules in your favor then you will be asked to return the earphones on your own dime with tracking to get a refund. Return costs are not provided for in the dispute but PayPal has a return shipping refund program for future purchases if this return is not eligible:

https://www.paypal.com/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns

[WhosHe]

@sharpiemarkerThanks for the speedy reply.

From reading what you say it seems that PayPal will very likely not rule in my favour because as you say, i bought earphones and got earphones. Whether they are defective or not appears to be irrelevant.

So since they are unlikely to rule in my favour it appears that my only chance of anything from this is that the seller will be true to their word and send me out a new pair for free.

Personally i don't believe it. I think as soon as i close the claim they will be laughing hard at how gullible i've been and how easy i made it for them. Sadly it appears this is my only hope, would you agree?

For the record i can't remember what method i paid by, i think it was VISA debit actually. Besides, the item came to about £80 including import tax so i get no section 75 from my credit card issuer anyway as it's below £100. That's if i even paid via credit card.

Returning at my own cost is also likely not a good option. Who knows how much it'll cost me to return and i will not get any import tax cost back so in the end it may not even be worth it to do that.

[sharpiemarker]

@WhosHe 

You're kinda in between a rock and hard place.

If you close PayPal claim, the seller may not send you another pair of earphones. If you escalate claim, PayPal may not rule in your favor or have you return item on your dime.

I guess you need to see what your options are with your card issuer. Click the PayPal transaction and look at the "Paid by" section to determine how you paid. Then call the card's customer's service to ask about their dispute options only because once you begin a dispute with your card, your PayPal dispute will close and you'll have to resolve the issue through your card exclusively. Can't go back to PayPal to dispute again, so, just ask card issuer if it is possible to dispute as Significantly Not As Described on a transaction in general because not all cards let you dispute/have buyer protection or have deadlines to dispute. Card issuer/bank disputes may not require you to return the item if you file with them.

Here are the full terms of PayPal buyer protection (which also discusses disputing through your financial institution):

https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/ua/buyer-protection