Refund not received. Paypal resolution in vendors favour!!

[catnamedog]

I am very disappointed in the service I have received from PayPal.

I ordered an item incorrectly. As soon as I placed the order, I realised my mistake and contacted the vendor - Gearbest. The money had already been taken, so I requested an exchange for the correct item. I was told I would receive a refund in full. I was happy with this, and told Gearbest that I would re-order as soon as the refund was made. They assured me it would be within 48 hours. After 48 hours, nothing. So, I contacted them again, which they replied telling me the same thing; 48 hours. Still nothing.

So, I opened a Paypal case. Paypal found in the vendors favour, and closed the case. I made an appeal, but to no avail.

Now, when I contact the vendor they tell me that they can do nothing because I've opened a PayPal case. If I cancel it they tell me I will get my refund.

I have absolutely no reason to believe that I will get my refund, and PayPal rules mean that I cannot re-open a case once closed.

So, I am out of pocket by £26.46, and still no goods.

I thought that PayPal would protect my payments. I am here in the UK, and like so many vendors, Gearbest are in China. The ONLY protection I - and others - have is PayPal.

I am deeply, deeply angry and disappointed.

[kernowlass]

@catnamedog 

Which dispute did you open?

Did you escalate to a claim?

[catnamedog]

Hi Thank you for responding.

I raised the only option given, using the PayPal tick-boxes. These offer only a limited choice, and I do feel that the wrong type of claim was raised. However, in my appeal I told the full story, which very was quickly (too quickly) replied to, with the decision to side with the vendor being upheld.

If I buy something and the vendor does not deliver the goods, but keeps my money, that's called theft. I am shocked that PayPal appears to support this activity. 

[kernowlass]

@catnamedog 

If you open a dispute for non receipt then you would win if the seller could NOT provide trackable proof of delivery.

If you opened a not as described dispute then its always one persons word against another BUT paypal tend to favour the buyer but the buyer has to return the item back to the seller first trackable to prove delivery before getting a refund.

If you opened a dispute for unauthorised then you are telling paypal that your paypal account was hacked and used without your consent, paypal will check ip addresses and devices and if they agree you were hacked you would get a refund.

If you 'only' get the unauthorised option then it meant you sent a 'gift' of money using the friends/family option and so can't open a dispute for the other 2 options.

You are allowed to open x1 dispute per transaction, you can however change a dispute from not received TO not as described but you can't re-open a dispute once closed.

If you opened the wrong dispute then sadly you are out of luck. You still have the option to do a chargeback if you funded that paypal payment via a credit card OR use the small claims court and take private action.

Paypals buyer protection is not an insurance policy or a 100% coverall.

[catnamedog]

Thank you for your reply.

As detailed previously, I was due to receive a refund from a cancelled order. The vendor agreed to the refund.

There was no option available in the tick-boxes for such an event, so I went with the nearest option to it.

I'm getting the impression that this system is completely automated, which is even more concerning for future payments.

I believe that there is a clear case for deception by the vendor, who continues to promise me a refund, but only if I cancel the claim.

In the event that I'm getting no help at all from Paypal, I will cancel the case and hope (against hope) that the vendor is not a thief.

Thanks for your efforts.

[kernowlass]

@catnamedog 

Yes you are correct in that paypal disputes are mostly automated.

However if you cancelled the order BEFORE the item was shipped and have not recieved a refund, then if you opened a dispute for non receipt of item you should get your refund ok.

Personally I don't think you should ever close a dispute because a seller asks you to, if you do they can then ignore you.

They are perfectly able to refund whilst the dispute is ongoing and by doing a refund it would automatically close the dispute.

[catnamedog]

Thank you.

I have sent Gearbest an extract from your email. I doubt that they will give me my refund, particularly since they appear to have a poor reputation in these matters. Still, I don't intend to give up, although quite what I can do now that PayPal has so badly let me down. Is there ANY way I can get Paypal involved again?