Update: Paypal ruled in my favor and I got all my money back including shipping.
Overview of what happened and how I handled it in case this helps someone else:
I ordered two “work-relax desks” from a Facebook ad back in January 2021. This was a stupid move that I won’t make again but the product was perfect for what I needed. I kept the product description and the confirmation email for the “work-relax desks”. I emailed “customer service” for TS Tech Ltd (the seller) sometime in March to inquire about the “work-relax desks” because the links for shipping showed no progress or updates each time I checked. Customer service told me that it was being shipped from China and therefore there was a long process of getting through customs. They offered me a 3% refund for my inconvenience which I never received and said they would work to try and get the “work-relax desks” to me within two weeks.
I looked in my mailbox around late March and found two knock-off Mreurio watches that I didn’t order. After investigating it, I realized that the tracking information on the knock-off watches matched the tracking information for the “work-relax desks”. I also found this thread (and other threads with the same scam under different seller/company names) and followed some of the advice provided here which helped me get all my money back. Thank you to everyone that provided information on how to deal with this situation!
I reached out to “customer service” again after I received the watches to complain. They asked me to ship the watches back to China (despite the return label showing a California return address) at my own expense for a full-refund so they could ship the “work-relax desks” or they would give me a 40% refund and I’d keep the watches or they told me to give them as gifts to people. They tried to push me towards taking a partial refund as they told me shipping would now be over $20 to send the watches back to China (despite the shipping label saying California…) and it wouldn’t be worth it for me. I rejected these offers and asked for either: 1) return labels paid by TS Tech at their own expense to ship the watches back to China or 2) a full-refund of my money for the desks (without shipping included, I was willing to take the loss on a total of nearly $26 in shipping). It was already clear from this thread that the seller never actually had these desks in stock.
I then went over to PayPal and initiated a dispute under, Item not as described. I provided a PDF of my communication with the seller, pictures of the packaging showing the return address in California and the tracking information, pictures of the watches, a link to the “work-relax tables”, my confirmation email for my order of the work-relax tables, and I finished with a link to this specific thread where TS Tech Ltd is described as conducting this scam on many people. I also pointed out that I paid almost $26 in shipping for two “work-relax desks” and instead received watches that were a significantly less weight than a desk and should therefore cost less in shipping.
I went back and forth with the seller via email where the percentage in refund increased up to 55%. I rejected this because the company knew what they were doing (scamming people). I did note a significant difference in the quality of how things were written in email communications with customer service versus statements provided on PayPal by the seller during the dispute. On the dispute, they pulled out some language about how their policy stated that they cannot pay for return shipping and how I agreed to some policy I’d never seen while purchasing the non-existent lap desks. They claimed the needed to receive the watches and inspect them to insure I hadn’t destroyed or damaged their product (the knock-off watches). I declined the percentage refund and stayed the course with demanding a full refund of my money for what was clearly a scam. I kept pushing for a full-refund of my money.
I escalated the claim and immediately responded whenever a response was needed from me. It took time but it did resolve in my favor eventually. I’m getting all my money back (including shipping) and I don’t have to ship these knock-off watches back to China at my own expense.
