shipping returned goods to china

[Thrasherg]

Ladies & gentlemen, I recently purchased 3 different flying drones from China, all 3 have no resemblance to the item described by the seller. All 3 sellers have agreed to provide a full refund if I return the items. The items cost $60, $80 and $150 each, I took them to the post office and they want $70 to ship each parcel with a tracking number to China!! I cant believe the seller was able to ship them to the USA with a tracking number for less than $10, feel I am being ripped off by the post office, obviously there is no sense in shipping the first 2 products back if the shipping will cost more than the refund, even the most expensive item really doesn't make too much sense, it will be nice to get $80 back but I believe all 3 blatantly misled me and see no reason why I should be so out of pocket. I have asked paypal for their help, but they have been very quiet so far. Has anyone found a way to send parts back to china with a tracking number for a reasonable cost?

Thanks for all/any suggestions.

[Dsai]

Hi, I’m running into the same issue. The clothing website indicates I will get a refund if I return items within 15 days. No where on the site says the return location is in China. I would not have made the purchase if they have put that on their site. They tried to avoid me sending stuff back by offering me discounts. I don’t want discounts on stuff I will never wear. All of their tracking number sent to me are USPS, another misleading tactic. PayPal resolution center is an useless middleman. I wasted my time writing a long explanation telling PayPal my predicament, all I got was a standard response asking me to send the stuff back before getting a refund. Anyone that can help me please research out…..

[kernowlass]

@Dsai 

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

Paypal would not be able to check every individual seller / merchant / company in over 200 countries worldwide that adds paypal to their website to accept payments.

So they give you 'some' buyer protection but the onus is on you to risk assess your transactions.

They do stop bad companies from using Paypal when enough claims start rolling in.
However as they are in China (mostly) then its easy for them to just start over with a new name, so stopping them does not really do anything.

The best thing is to not buy from them in the first place, to recognise them -

1. No return address on the returns policy. 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 often 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. Rarely company address information.
4. Great pictures of items at bargain prices that turn out to be tat.
5. Fake reviews.
6. Google and you can often see previous company names as they change them once enough claims roll in and Paypal stop them using their services and start over.
7. Send fake tracking numbers to win item non receipt of item claims.


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/us/smarthelp/article/FAQ3544

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.

[cathyfs60]

Mine was $57. PayPal refunded me the money and then they took it back right away. Then they closed it and said that the merchandise company in China did not receive their item back. I told them that I’ve been working on that since right after within the hour that I ordered it. The end solution was that PayPal said they were in favor of the merchandiser since I did get the merchandise. And I told him it happened exactly like I thought now it’s too late because it’s past the 30 days.  I thought I’d still try sending it back see what it would cost and then they said that they prefer if I didn’t do it by FedEx but only by mail. I did open up a resolution with my credit card company. And then I opened up another one with PayPal because I was not happy. It was a scam it was nothing like it said it was going to be. And I’m sure it’s going to be just as much to send it back. PayPal tells you to get a hold of the company but when there’s so many faults companies and you can’t get down to who actually it is coming from. Even though PayPal could get through to the merchandise or they wouldn’t share that information of who they were or the return address until just recently three months. I had 30 days to return it. It will be closing my PayPal account this is not the first time they’ve done this. I’ve tried to check out to see were PayPal has the where they’ll pay for it to be sent back but I couldn’t find any information on it

[Dsai]

@cathyfs60 

i got NOTHING from PayPal.  They referred me back to the merchant to resolve.  I opened a dispute with my credit card company, Citi, provided all the back and forth communication.  Citi contacted the merchant and merchant replied but I persisted and again provided all information to Citi to let them know the merchant has a bait and switch website.  Citi decided in my favor and I received the full refund.

[Tech_Jyoti]

It is very unfortunate ...that they are showing a product to buy (34.99 USD) and delivering a different product...The product they shipped is less than 5 USD . It is a fraud .

Now as I raised the dispute , you are asking to send the product to china with tracking number . It will be costing me 80 USD to send the product back to china.

We are losing faith ... It is playing with people trust .
I believed and paying the money in full before delivery . And the sent a totally different product . Now you are saying you not responsible for shipping the product back .

I think paypal do something for this type of fraud/scam .They should punish the merchant for this fraud and refund the money .

[THVPK]

I bought a 2TB SSD from an outlet called GoGoBuy. They delivered a 32GB SanDisk Thumb drive instead, which is available on eBay for $8.95 including free shipping. When I refused their rebate and asked for a full refund, Paypal informed me to return the item to China, with Tracking, for a refund. Cost of the item including shipping was $39.95. Cost of shipping back is $60. Many Chinese sellers are using this loophole in Paypal to basically ship garbage instead of what you buy and get away with it. I strongly believe this is a problem that needs to be addressed by Paypal so its services are not used fraudulently. I wonder if the seller can be reported to USPS for mail fraud also. 

[kernowlass]

@THVPK 

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.


HOWEVER you may still have the option to do a charge back if you funded your paypal payment via a credit card.
Also Paypal may contribute towards return costs IF you have activated the below link (if available in your country).
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/returns

[Surina01]

This is all good .... but unfortunately after the fact. How can you possible get charge back from credit card when the first thing they ask is if the merchandise was returned? At least Ebay saw the issue and only makes the buyer return to address it was shipped from. In my case it was shipped from the US, but the return address was for China.

[Tech_Jyoti]

same for me

it was shipped from the US, but the return address was for China.

PayPal closed the case as I was not able to return the product , Return cost with tracking number as high as 80 USD.

PayPal should takes strict action  on those scenarios.

[Ad3l]

It also happened to me that I bought a product for 50$ and what was delivered was a fake piece of junk. I opened a case with PayPal and they also asked me to return it back to China. 

I lost all hope and trust in PayPal as they've become careless dealing with these sort of frauds, specifically when many people are complaining about it and yet they don't care and bother to do anything to prevent these sort of fraudulent activities. By not preventing and punishing such fraudulent merchants, PayPal is actually encouraging them to continue their fraudulent activities as PayPal is providing a safe platform for them.

That would be end of my usage of PayPal.