Paypal prompting me to break the law in order to resolve my claim over buying counterfeit goods :0s

[dean_dodds]

I bought 4 Disney DVD's from www.century21shop.co.uk and when they arrived, I was horrified to see they were posted from Thialand, and surprise surprise the DVD's were blatently fake.

They don't have the Disney Hologram, the print is all smudged/ghost like, the back of the DVD cover says "for sale in the USA/Canada only", and Region 1, even thought they should be region 2.

I rang the police to report the website, and have had a visit from a police officer, who has given me a crime reference number, however Paypal have said that won't do, and I have to get a statement from a retailer to confirm they are fake, or they have agreed to refund me if I post the fake items back to Thialand.

Two really strange things

1. It would be against the law to post counterfeit goods through the post, so returning the item would mean I was doing something illegal.

2. I was informed by the police officer who came to my house that if I was stopped when walking around shops with fake DVD's that more than Likely I would be arrested, on suspission of dealing in counterfeit goods.

I have however rang around retailers to try and see if they would agree to give me this letter. So far I have spoken to the Disney Shop / Morrisons/ HMV / Tesco & Asda, who have all said that its not something they could supply, yet when I rang Paypal to explain I was told that unless I supplied that, or posted it back, they would challenge my Direct Debit indemnity claim with the bank.

When I explained that the 2 options which they want me to explore would both mean I would be breaking the law, I had the reply (from a Supervisor at Paypal), that lots of people every day sell Fake items, so the chances of me getting caught with them would be slim to none. HELLO, how can a company like Paypal think its acceptable that because all the other criminals out there deal in fakes, that its acceptable for me to risk it.

What a joke, I am going to speak to the retailer disputes team at the bank to explain that the only options paypal are giving me are illegal ones, and will also be reporting Paypal to the FSA to let them know as well, and see if they aren't happy with Paypal's ludacris requests in order to protect a buyer of fake items.

I have offered photo's of the items missing the holograms etc, but they don't accept those either.

What can I do?, I don't want to get ripped off, and also don't really want to break the law in order to prove my case in getting the money back.

The crime reference from the police isn't good enough, even though I have reported the DVD's, and the website that they were bought from.

Another Paypal con in my eyes, to protect the people who sell fake items, as that is where Paypal is making their money.

[NickInSurrey]

I used the Contact Us link in the Resolution Centre. This allowed me to e-mail using a web form which prompted an automated response that I could then reply to. I included links to the company's website and an explanation that I wish to return the fake disk to VW. I also offered to send photos of what was delivered but these were not asked for. Hope this helps.

[Dementis_Mulier]

Thank you. They have now refunded me 

[NickInSurrey]

Great result 🙂

[sstlucky]

Hi,

I bought some collectable coins from a seller outside UK. When i received the coins they were counterfeit.

I got it checked with an expert and sent the letter to paypal along with police reference for fraud. I also submitted few other evidences alongwith that which were 3rd party evidences as well. Yesterday paypal staff said to me since they are not brand and only old counterfeit coins i have to send the items back to the seller with recorded delivery in order to get the refund.

I contacted trading standards and also police and they mentioned me that it is illegal to send counterfeit coins and also dangerous for the society as the seller will try to sell it to another person who could be based in UK.

I have explained them to paypal in a written email that i will send it but i will put in custom form that "replica coins sent on instruction of paypal" and if there is any problem with custom,police or trading standard they will be responsible since they have instructed me to do this in order to get my hard earned money back.

After email whcih they dont pick up i spoke to one of the staff and she mentioned me that she will escalate this to her manager.

I dont understand does paypal not know that coins can't have brand they are issued by mints and sending counterfeit coins is a crime. Such frustrating .

Still waiting.

On the other hand seller has used some abusive and threating language for me in his reponse and paypal doesnot bother to look into this.

Seems like paypal is not following UK laws and also not compying guidelines of FCA as well

[sstlucky]

Paypal staff seems to have no knowledge of UK laws and they just follow written procedure that appear on their screen. They donot know that colletable coins can't be issued by a brand and they were issued by mints and copying something minted by official mint is itself a big crime. They seems to be not trained and every other staff i spoke to says a different thing. Some of them says that counterfeit goods should not be sent since it is illegal whereas the other says it is not a brand. What a joke!!

They should be shamed of themselves on advising the buyers that if you want your refund you need to break UK law and send the countefeit coins back.

Extremley unprofessional and un trained staff. Its the time to take them to FCA since they are financial instituuion and regulated by FCA.

FCA should probably publishes the number of complaints against paypal on newspapers and on thjeir website as they publish for banks