Received goods which are totally different from what I ordered, seller refuses to refund

Joanna52
Contributor
Contributor

I ordered a wig from a company online, Vivwigs, making the mistake of not looking for independent reviews on the company first.

It cost me £153,00 inc postage.

 

I ordered a short, blond wig; what arrived was a long, yellow wig with huge orange stripes and a red fringe.

 

I contacted the company Vivwigs by e mail asking for a return and refund, they asked me to 'do them a favour and try it again'. I pointed out that trying it again was ridiculous as it bore no relation to what I had ordered.

Many e mails to and fro they have said 'shipping it back to them is inconvenient', and offered I can keep the wig and refunds starting from £10, currently standing now at £25.

Having done further research on Vivwigs, it now turns out this is a common scam of theirs. It is irrelevant what wig is ordered from them, the purchaser receives an orange and yellow one.

There is a facebook site dedicated to warning others about this company and also many independent reviews online where only one person out of many has managed to secure a refund via Paypal.

Others; when they finally receive an address to return the wig somewhere in China, the company declare they have not received it and still do not refund.

I am currently undergoing chemotherapy (hence the need for a wig) and this is exhausting me more.

I 'reported a problem' to PayPal regarding this transaction which made me send an e mail to them detailing why I wanted my money back. They simply e mailed me back (privately, not through PayPal) increasing the refund to £25, not £143.00.

 

I am infuriated that this company can legally sell through PayPal and get away with scamming so many people out of so much money.

I can't even take this company to small claims court as there is no telephone number on the website for me to contact or send court documents to!

What should my next step be please....should I open a dispute with this company through PayPal, and if so, how do I go about this?

Many thanks in advance for any help or advice

 

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kernowlass
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@Joanna52

 

Don't forget my advice re if you funded paypal with a credit card, as they may help you without having to send the item back again but try paypal first.


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kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@Joanna52

 

Yes of course you should open a dispute, I would not have been half as patient as you.

 

Go and open a dispute for 'item received but not as described' via the 'resolve a problem' link lower left of your paypal summary page.

Put in EVERYTHING that has happened and in my opinion you should escalate to a claim pretty soon afterwards BUT make sure you have put in all relevant info first before you escalate as you can't add anything at the claim stage unless paypal ask you to.

 

IF the seller states they will give you a full refund if you close the claim DO NOT DO SO, they can refund quite easily whilst the claim is ongoing and that automatically closes it so them asking you to close it is a scam. If you close a dispute then you can't open it again OR start another for the same transaction.

 

Once its at the claim stage 'if' paypal find in your favour then they will probably ask you to return the item back to the seller 'trackable' to prove delivery before you get a refund. If you met buyer protection criteria then if the seller refused a refund paypal would reimburse you.

 

HOWEVER you made a mistake of not checking the location of the website first because you may have to send it back to China or somewhere like that and that may cost you more than the item is worth.

 

Have you activated the 'paypal return on us' link? If you did before you bought then you would be covered for up to £15 per transaction.

https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns

 

If you have NOT and it will be costly to return then if you funded your paypal payment via a credit card then you could try contacting your card issuer first and initiate a chargeback (as then you would not have to return it).

 

But if you go down the paypal route do not return it until paypal tells you to do so.

 

Good luck.

 


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Joanna52
Contributor
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Hi. Thanks for the advice. I think this company know all the loopholes. The return address would be to China. Previous customers who have had the same experience as me state they send it back registered delivery, but the company claim they haven'the received it and still don't refund. Thank you for your kind advice, I have opened a dispute.
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Solved

kernowlass
Esteemed Advisor
Esteemed Advisor

@Joanna52

 

Don't forget my advice re if you funded paypal with a credit card, as they may help you without having to send the item back again but try paypal first.


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

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