Post 180 days claim- Exceptional Circumstance

jeesus
Contributor
Contributor

Hi Paypal and community,
I have been automatically rejected by your dispute system as my claim is more than 180days old. However it is in my belief (currently in the middle of a law degree in NSW) this is an exceptional circumstance breaching Australian Consumer Law that requires paypal's attention. There are numerous other people in the same boat as me that will either be filing a claim here (through paypal) soon or through their credit card company. Below is the situation and I thank everyone and anyone for their time in reading it.

Dispute

Originally purchased in Jan 2018 (as seen in transaction) with estimated delivery date of October 2018 for Australia. Product is commonly know as Seedo (https://www.seedolab.com/) (https://www.facebook.com/Seedolab/). However there has been multiple delays and myself (and many others) have lost faith in their ability to deliver the product in Australia in the reasonable near future- the current delay is for Jan 2020, more than 15months after the original promised estimated delivery date and more than 23months after the purchase date.

Their purchase terms & conditions clearly states all the relevant information here (and the availability to refund and cancel at any time) in clauses 5, 6, and 7 (https://www.seedolab.com/purchase-terms/). Furthermore in regards to clause 6, they are in direct breach of Competition and Consumer Act 2010- Schedule 2- The Australian Consumer Law- section 62 -Guarantee as to reasonable time for supply. I have attached a screenshot. Therefore I am entitled both by Seedo's own guarantees and The Australian Consumer Law (and Paypal I hope) to a full refund on my purchase.

I have tried to contact Seedo via both email and Facebook numerous times in the last weeks, however they have reached a point where they will ignore all refund requests even though both their emails and Facebook are active (you can see they attended a convention and constantly posts updates advertisements through email). I would be happy to forward the emails if required. I have heard many other customers has had luck finally getting a refund only after going through PayPal.

I have also attached screenshots of the most recent delays if it is required, but i do believe Paypal has had experience Seedo's refunds issues before. There is a Facebook group with a bunch of their customers in there where we share information with each other seeing information is so hard to come by from the company itself.


Endnote:
I undestand the purpose of the 180 day rule for Paypal- but in this circumstance the company is still operating and using PayPal to take payments for the same product, in which their promised time-frame to deliver often falls outside of those (longer than) 180days guaranteed by PayPal, hence leaving consumers and customers with little option but at the mercy of the company. As a customer it is incredibly difficult to act  given its almost impossible to reach the company. I hope this warrants Paypal to have a look at the situation.

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13 REPLIES 13

kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@jeesus 

 

You may find your credit card issuer gives you even less time than the 180 days.

https://www.consumer.vic.gov.au/products-and-services/refunds-repairs-and-returns/chargeback

 

If you didn't get an item then you should file BEFORE 180 days, then if the item turns up you can easily pay the seller again.

But you can't force someone to refund you AFTER 180 days.

 

However that does not stop you taking private legal action against the seller / company if you wish to do so but thats your responsibility and not paypals.


Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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jeesus
Contributor
Contributor

Hi there, product was in development and testing stages at time of order. If you actually read my dispute, you'll see their estimated delivery date at time of purchase was already longer than the 180 days given. However it has been delayed and delayed that it is arguably unreasonable time for delivery, hence infringes upon Australian consumer law.

Your advice does not apply to this situation, but I appreciate it anyway.

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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@jeesus 

 

Then if delivery was going to be over 180 days and you knew that beforehand and chose to take the 'risk' then thats your choice so why would anyone else be responsible if that decision decided to be a bad one?

 

My advice is correct and paypals user agreement was approved in Australia by Australia's financial services org.

So as i said paypal can't do anything for you but you can take your own private legal action against the company if you want to.


Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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jeesus
Contributor
Contributor

I never disagreed with your advice or said your advice is wrong. I just said it does not apply to this situation. The fact is this company is still trading through Paypal, and potentially putting new customers through the same scenarios. As it is my belief they are in current breach of ACL, then PayPal has a duty to act to protect consumers now and in the near future.


So once again, I appreciate and understand your advice, but it does not apply to this situation.

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Mr-DsKi
New Community Member

I agree with @jeesus THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT IS HAPPENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  loads of new customers from Aust jumping on board. then delivery dates changed, to months and months and months ahead, at this stage we can say YEARS Ahead (im not kidding you! I ordered way before Jeesus.) all the mean time paypal and seedo make moneys off new Australian customers! then what just reply with, too bad, 180 days expired to us all? 😡

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jeesus
Contributor
Contributor

Just on a side note,

If I am correct that the company is acting unlawfully in breach of the ACL and I have now just made Paypal aware of this, then Paypal could be liable or acting unconscionably for allowing the company to continue selling its product through its platform. I could be wrong here, but this is my understanding. So yes, paypal should look into this.

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jeesus
Contributor
Contributor

the rejected dispute claim: Case ID: PP-D-41435716

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Joeyineire
Contributor
Contributor
Same boat here except in Ireland, made the same point that PayPal continued to process payments for this company despite them basically scamming hundreds of customers. I only paid through PayPal for the security it afforded, won’t be doing that again.
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jeesus
Contributor
Contributor

completely agree with you Joey, seems like paypal doesn't really care as long as they are getting continued business and take their %service fee. I'd be furious if I bought a seedo in the last few months and found out that paypal knew about this and did nothing to prevent the loss. 

I've personally already drastically decreased paying through paypal and direct through mastercard whenever i'm given the option now. Seems like this will be the only way they learn. 

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