Scammed

Phoenix111
Contributor
Contributor

I'm not sure if you can help, I bought a Christmas decoration on Facebook, should of known it was a scam but paid with PayPal as I believed I'd be protected. Paid just over $20 for the item and when it arrived instead of a beautiful moving light up Christmas scene I got an a4 sticker. Opened a PayPal dispute for a refund and was offered $5 refund, declined this and now the seller insists i post it back to China by DHL at a cost of £30, the original item came by royal mail. They've refused to cover return postage and it leaves a bad taste in my mouth that they've really stitched me up and PayPal are allowing them too 

Login to Me Too
3 REPLIES 3

kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@Phoenix111 

 

Chinese Web Sites or on Social Media ads easy to spot (once you know the below signs) so buyer beware.

1. No return address on the returns policy............thats because the site will look as if its in your country (where they despatch goods from) BUT they will ask for returns to go back to China (returns depot) at a shipping cost nearly always more than the item is worth.
2. No contact telephone number............if you click on contact the most you will get is webmail or an email address.
3. No company address information.
4. Great looking items at bargain prices that turn out to be tat.

Paypal are only doing exactly what they say they will do if you read the small section on what buyer protection they do provide.

In the event of a dispute you need to bear in mind possible return trackable costs before you buy from that seller / item / country because....

Paypal state this >>
PayPal is not obliged to reimburse you for any costs that you incur to comply with any of PayPal’s requests for cooperation for the purpose of resolving the problem (including, without limitation, costs that you incur to return a SNAD item to the Payment Recipient or another party as PayPal requests), although sometimes it may reimburse these costs.

Although they will compensate you for some of the cost if you have activated this at some point before you made that transaction.
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns


If you buy from a business in the UK then you can normally recover those return costs via the small claims court although most UK businesses would reimburse you anyway. (BUT if you choose to buy from a private or international seller you may not have that option).

You also have the option to do a chargeback via your card issuer instead of a Paypal dispute if you funded your Paypal payment via a credit card.




Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
Login to Me Too

Phoenix111
Contributor
Contributor

Thanks, I'm usually pretty cautious with buying from these platforms,  I guess lockdown gets to us all , dissappointed PayPal have allowed such a loophole for them. I guess I expected the same protection as Ebay. Well and truly warned now just glad it wasn't a lot of money.

Thanks for the reply and allowing me to vent my frustration 

 

Login to Me Too

kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@Phoenix111 

 

No problem, I give up my time to post on here to try and save folks from being scammed, sadly too late for you.


Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
Login to Me Too

Haven't Found your Answer?

It happens. Hit the "Login to Ask the community" button to create a question for the PayPal community.