Why does paypal protect fraudulent Chinese sellers?

[petercdobbs]

Paypal lost my trust today.

I purchased an expensive item from a legitimate looking website. I paid using PayPal because it provided purchase protection in the event that a seller is a scam.

Well, I got scammed. My order finally arrived months late and the item in the box was not anywhere near the marketing promise. In fact, I subsequently learned that the marketing video and specifications were from another website and the seller had simply copied their content.

Reaching out to PayPal for the protection was great until I was told I had to ship the item back to the seller, in China. That cost $140. I didn't create this issue, I didn't post a description and video of a product that is clearly not what was delivered to me. Why should I carry the financial burden of returning the goods? Why is PayPal protecting scam sellers from China?

I am concerned that PayPal is not the trustworthy organization I believed them to be.

[kernowlass]

@petercdobbs

Paypal buyer protection can never be a 100% coverall, so in the event of a dispute you need to bear in mind possible return trackable costs before you buy from that seller / item / country.


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/us/selfhelp/article/what-is-return-shipping-on-us-and-how-do-i-activate-it-fa...

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.

[petercdobbs]

That’s fine, except that PayPal continue to provide its payment service as a method for that vendor to continue to extract money from unsuspecting victims. So long as PayPal is complicit they are equally accountable.

[kernowlass]

@petercdobbs 

Personally i just don't buy from social media sites OR sites that contain no return item 'address' or 'contact info' apart from an online email contact option.

Easy to spot these Chinese websites pretending to be based in another country.

However we only get the complaints on these sites so if there are 500 complaints on a company on this site and the company has processed 50.000 sales successfully then i guess paypal would continue to use them. If the complaints start to get bigger then that scam company just 'changes names' to another one and sets up another website and starts offering paypal again !!! So buyer beware.

Also I ALWAYS fund my paypal payments with a credit card so that you have that second layer of protection.

[Wronged]

yea just don't trust paypal to help if it involves china.  go to your bank right away, or better yet... look into the company before buying.  Even better yet, after that, consider buying straight from your bank.  protection from paypal does not help trade war fallout, given they are international also, and I'm now wondering if less of a US company than others.  Easiest way for someone to make money?  Don't do the deed yourself if you wanna scam go work for paypal & get kick backs I would assume from what I am hearing at this point. 

[kernowlass]

@Wronged 

Or do some due diligence and check out who you are purchasing from and read reviews BEFORE you buy.

Chinese Web Sites or on Facebook easy to spot 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.
5. Check Trustpilot or even Google companies first before you buy.

[Wronged]

@kernowlass   

Yes that is what I meant by "or better yet... look into the company before buying. " 😉 but thanks for the additional specifics.  I am sure others appreciate.  Trust me I know everything there is to know now and won't likely forget the experience.  I had the CS rep tell me yesterday their records showed they sent what I ordered (which I saved in email but they delete, as well as your entire account after sale).   While a lot of people have the experience of getting a cheap knock off mine was 2 fold.  Not only cheap, but a different product that they couldn't tell from the photo they stole from an actual distributor I order from.  I am guessing because they couldn't read the description in English & didn't bother to translate, or it just doesn't translate well... but they just thought it looked like a tee shirt, while in reality it was really a bodysuit... tucked into the woman's jeans (for anyone not familiar that means it snaps down below).  And of course it was a good quality thick material & ribbed as well, but they just looked at the photo and sent a no tag no brand completely sheer tee shirt, as in so sheer when held to the light you could see through both front & back layers held up together.   And they still say they are the same.  Even though the description translated to English on their page shows bodysuit as well.   

Regardless, it's not worth it no matter how much you want the item to go looking elsewhere.  I wasn't looking for cheaper, my normal distributor just didn't have the size I needed any longer.  But their strategy unlike others was NOT to be any cheaper...  so if that is your incentive trust me it doesn't mean "you get what you pay for".   Also watch for anyone that still charges shipping no matter how much you pay.  It's less than trying to send it back obviously, but that is generally still worth more than the product itself & they want to cover the cost.  

[Vixxycrowe]

Only problem I would have buying straight with my bank is that then they also have my debit card number.  Yuck no thanks

[Mustikkainen1]

Hi! I have been had soo well and proper that I almost admire the skills of this company. Chinese fraudster pBuy has " sent" me a tracking number by fedex and the item is to a totally different person here in finland where I live, I knew this the day I realized I had been scammed and >I was waiting to get a wrong tracking number..the amount of 77 dollars does not bother me so much, as It was totally my own stupidity not to check the liability, but this is a matter of protecting other citizens not to fall for these frauds, as the firms name changes every week and I dont even find it anymore it is very difficult, they even have made their own trustpilot site to praise their business...this is genious, paypal supports this way of scmming and I strongly need another more secure way to transfer money from now on?? Any suggestions!

[kernowlass]

@Mustikkainen1 

Credit card direct 'may' be safer but I don't like giving my card details so I just don't buy from China as its mostly tat anyway.

Have you done this?

APPEAL

To submit an appeal on the dispute that was closed, PayPal asks that you obtain a detailed report from the shipper/courier (on their letterhead or some other form of official stationary) that includes the address the seller gave them for the shipment. Or one that includes a statement mentioning your address and saying the item was delivered to a different address.
Check tracking in below link to see where it went.
https://www.17track.net/en

When you have that, contact PayPal via phone (log on to your account and click Contact at the bottom of the page, however that may not be an option at the moment due to covid), or via Facebook (send a Private Message to PayPal) or via Twitter (send a Direct Message to @AskPayPal) and say you want to appeal the denial of the dispute based on the shipper saying the item was delivered to a different address. Once it's submitted (you will be provided with directions on how to do that), the dispute will be reviewed further and a determination will be made.

You also have the option to contact your card issuer if you funded your paypal payment that way and see if they will do a chargeback for you.