Power Source Technology Ltd. - has anyone solved a dispute with this company fraudulent company?

[ganzzza]

Hi guys,

Hope this message finds all of you well.

It's been a tough time since the pandemic started, but it's tougher with situations like this: the company mentioned is scamming people throughout Europe (at least), creating semi fake websites using the countries native language (when it fact has its headquarters and operates fully from China), selling apparent official Apple products when in fact they are cheap, bad quality Apple counterfeits - they are nowhere near an original adaptor, nor they work like one. The product I got was nothing like the description, it does not work, it's not supposed to work. After a quick google search I noticed how this company branches into other small businesses, repeating the same modus operandi to lure people into buying what they think is cheap official chargers and instead scamming them (most of them, from what I understood, don't even get their hands on the products they buy). The vast majority of the reviews were 1* rated, alerting the scams this company perpetuates. After this, I started a dispute with the company in question, and they not only kept the conversation to a minimum, avoiding answering my questions about the nature of the company. I also asked for a contribution in the shipping cost, since shipping the product back to China is super expensive (from my calculations, it should surpass 40 euros) and they just repeated "so sorry we can do nothing, company rules states the buyer pays the shipping fees". Also, the website from which I purchased was taken down after the week where I made my purchase, which leads me to believe this is a common practice from the company in question.

What Paypal did basically was the same request as the company: they want the product back before making a refund. What is this? A normal company would acknowledge its mistake. None was acknowledged. To ship the product back I have to spend almost double of what I spent on the product, making this decision simply unviable. Paypal's protection only ensures that 30e will be guaranteed, making me losing money either way. I was seriously hoping Paypal would detect the scam and fraudulence behind this company but I don't think it's anywhere near this goal. 

In conclusion, it's been a really tough dispute because I suppose the company, on their side, is doing everything possible to keep their image clean, albeit they have loads of negative reviews and people affirming it's clearly a scam from a Chinese company. I just want my money back and it's just absurd that I have to ship a fraudulent piece of plastic back to China to get my 30 euros back. Please let me know if you had any trouble with them and if there's anything I can do to get this dispute solved and to keep this company from stealing people's money. 

If you need any sort of proof for these claims I have screen caps and photos of the product I can upload (they have been shared in the resolution centre and with the company as well). 

Thank you for your time

keep safe 

Tomás

[libove]

Same basic problem. Bought a power supply from this company "in Spain". Of course, actually in China/ shipped from China.

In my case, the order was delivered in good time (about three weeks) BUT they sent the wrong product.

The product that they sent is electrically compatible (it IS a 135W power supply for a Lenovo ThinkPad P51) BUT it is NOT the shape, size, weight, and photo as appears on the product page from which I ordered it.

I emailed the company with the full details, and they sent back an email asking for .. the pictures that I'd already sent.

I opened a dispute with PayPal, which forwarded it to the vendor .. which sent back the same email.

I escalated the dispute with PayPal .. which told me to pay to ship the product back .. to China .. for more than the product is worth, and for more than PayPal's return-shipping-refund-policy limit .. in contravention of the vendor's own published policy which says it will pay for return shipping when the error is the vendor's fault, and clearly in contravention of the PayPal merchant agreement that the vendor has with PayPal.

PayPal won't budge. The vendor has stopped answering.

I've opened a complaint with the Spanish/European consumer protection authorities, which will of course take months, and with PayPal in the middle may not be able to do much. Next I'll call my credit card company - but I'm cautious about charging back *against PayPal* because PayPal is likely to close a consumer's account for doing that, no matter that the vendor and PayPal are clearly in the wrong.

I'll also try - again, again - to reach a human at PayPal's headquarters office phone number. (The two times I've tried so far there were multi-hours waits, and by the time US-California calls Spain back, I'm asleep...)

This. Sucks.

[libove]

Aaaaaand, third time's the charm. I finally got through by phone to a human (in, guessing from the accent, an Asian outsourced call centre, but, associated with PayPal US), who re-opened the dispute and re-closed it in my favor. I already have an email confirming the refund.

It pays to be persistent, but this just proves that PayPal by default acts in favor of keeping transactions at the expense of fairness and the law, and only does the right thing when the customer pushes long enough and hard enough. It's very sad.

[1_under_par]

Well done!

Can you share the number you reached them on?  I'd like to give this a try but have yet to find out how to contact anyone at PayPal?

Thanks

[libove]

@1_under_par Sure thing, it's PayPal's main (as far as I know) US-based customer service phone number: 

[Removed. Phone #s not permitted]nbsp;

When it answers, tell it that you don't have a one-use 6-digit web code.

Then, identify yourself with a PayPal account (10-digit US phone number, and last four digits of the associated bank account or credit card number on that US-based PayPal account) - I have a US-based PayPal account as well as a Spanish one. It didn't matter - after a bit of work on the PayPal Agent's part - that my dispute was actually associated with my PayPal account in Spain. n.b. If you don't have a US-based PayPal account, this might not work. I don't know.

Indicate that your issue is with a product not received, or received not-as-advertised.

State the approximate purchase price - even if it wasn't purchased in the specific PayPal account.

If/when it fails to find the order, say the words "PayPal Agent". Keep repeating that.

It will ask whether it's an eBay transaction (for which you'd presumably have to talk to eBay, not PayPal). Say PayPal Agent one last time.

Then, wait for a human to answer, and politely, clearly, succinctly explain the problem.

[Paul-JB]

Good luck.  I fully sympathise.  That almost exactly mirrors my experience.  In the end, I opted to return the item using Paypal's partial refund service, so I was out of pocket.  The item reached China but Power Source refused to accept it.  I could see in the tracking system, that the courier attempted delivery several times over a few weeks and each time the parcel was returned to the dispatch centre.  Paypal refused to confirm how many attempted deliveries were needed before they classified it as 'retailer refusing return' and would close the case in my favour.  Eventually, after many phone calls and email they did, and I was refunded for the item, less my share of the return costs.  Wrong but best I could do at the time.  Paypal also told me they would take action against Power Source, because of the volume of complaints, and this would be posted on their website.  I don't believe this has happened.  I do believe Paypal's interests are conflicted and they are not acting against fraudulent retailers, or carrying out proper investigations.  I used to use Paypal as my default payment option.  Now I use it only when I have to.  Vote with our finders and choose a different payment option - until Paypal notices and acts.

[greenday2]

Same here.