partial refund for a defective item (phone)

[marshacous]

i purchased a cell phone the seller advertised as new.  when i received it, i took it to verizon to be activated only to  be told that the phone was not new but refurbished and the battery was water damaged.  i paid 119.99 for the phone and 5.99 for shipping.  yes, i paid shipping.  the seller refunded 96.00, not even what i paid for the phone! i even paid to ship it back to the seller.  so now, i am out 29.98.  how can i get the rest of money back?  Not to mention that the phone was a christmas gift for my granddaughter.  any help will be appreciated.

[skier]

Unfortunally you may have reacted too fast but, this is really not your fault as you were just doing what you thought was OK.   Since the Phone was Not As Described, your first step should have to open a claim against the seller, then let PayPal take the lead.   Per your post, it would appear to PayPal that you received a bad item or not as described and the issue was settled between you and the seller without filing a claim.   Not defending PayPal in any way, from this perspective, the issue has been resolved.  There's not much else you can do except take the loss.

Regards,

skier