Trying to get a refund for items completely unlike the ones I ordered

[sjm1013]

I ordered two windchimes - the photo was a of handcrafted items made from real cutlery - what I received was a shoddy copy mass manufactured from sheet metal. The company has offered to refund me - but only if I return them at my expense (to China). It's obviously a con - I now realise that they have stolen the original photo from an artisan website - but my claim seems to be stuck with needing me to ship the items back. I feel that, as the items are not what I ordered, I shouldn't have to bear the cost of returning them. Has anyone had this experience and managed to successfully resolved. I thought I would be protected with Paypal, but it seems not.

[kernowlass]

@sjm1013 

Well its best to read what protection paypal gives you first?

In the event of a dispute you choose your seller and not Paypal so you need to bear in mind possible return trackable costs before you go ahead and buy from that seller / country.

Paypal state this >>
IMPORTANT: You may be required to return the item to the seller or other party we specify as part of the settlement of your claim. PayPal Buyer Protection does not entitle you to reimbursement for the return shipping costs that you may incur.

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

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.