I ordered two items from a company that were advertised through Instagram at a deep discount. I received a shipping notification fairly quickly that those items had been sent. A few weeks later, I received a package from a company in China containing a small yellow pillowcase. At first I thought it was a mistake, and that I'd been sent something I didn't order. When I googled the company address, I found a message board where a lot of people had experienced the same thing.
I saw the following message which seems to explain what happened: "If you have received something near worthless that fits into a small package or envelope from [redacted return address in China] chances are you have been scammed. This criminal has been advertising on Facebook and Instagram popular products worth a few hundred US Dollars at a deep discount. Once you make a purchase, they will send you something worthless and cheap to mail. After you complain that they have sent you the wrong product, they will offer you a refund of a few dollars, a fraction of what you paid; or claim that they will mail you the correct product once you return the incorrect product to them. If you try to do this return, they will claim never to have received it. If you try to get a refund from PayPal or your credit-card issuer, they will claim that this is a case of delivery error, and all will be sorted out once you successfully return the incorrect product. They are trying to look legitimate to PayPal and credit-card issuers, whilst trying to wear you down in an endless return loop, in which you never get the correct product or a refund."
With this information, I still opened a dispute. I figured if I could have a PayPal rep read documentation that clearly shows this company has a pattern of scamming, they'd simply refund me. As is protocol, I first messaged the company through the PayPal dispute system. I told them I knew of the scam and simply wanted all of my money back. Instead they sent me a boilerplate reply saying, "Dear, We are sorry for the problem of the product. We checked it for you, the worker in our warehouse they made a mistake. They choose the wrong one for you, and we hope you give us a chance. We offer you 2 solutions. 1)You can keep the product, and we will give you a 15% refund as our compensation. 2)If you can’t accept it, please help it return to us, it may cost you nearly 30 dollars. We're doing a small business and can't cover the shipping cost and additional fee again. We really hope to get your kind understanding.Which solution do you choose? Waiting for your reply. Have a good day"
At this point I escalated to PayPal. Last night, PayPal issued the decision that I could have a full refund but first I'd have to mail the item back to the seller, and once the seller confirmed they'd received it, I'd be issued my money. First of all, shipping that worthless pillowcase back to China would cost me $25. Second, I do not believe the China-based company would ever admit to receiving the return. I feel frustrated that the scam has played out exactly as the company had hoped, and that I have no recourse through PayPal--a large company that should protect its buyers.
I've tried calling PayPal but it is literally impossible to speak to a human. Do I have any recourse here?
Given this company's reputation as a scammer, I do not wish to attempt to resolve with them. I just want my money refunded.
