China “sending wrong item” scam

[Starsky72]

So....

1) item advertised on Facebook

2) You buy two of them, pay via PayPal $29.90

3) Item arrives, nothing like as described and is damaged

4) Seller offers small percentage as refund, I refuse.

5) Escalate the complaint in Paypal

5) PayPal state I need to send back, tracked, and the seller has to confirm delivery before a refund will be issued, before 4 January

6) Tracked postage costs more than I’d get in a refund

7) Seller wins..

I end up out of pocket with a broken item that is different in every way (size, materials, quality) from what I ordere, plus I ordered two and didn’t receive them

Paypal are allowing this scam to happen.  I should have lied and simply said I never eeceived it

[Rocky02]

Exactly I have sent PayPal lots of messages about scam companies coming from facebook and through my disputes which PayPal used to help get my money back but now they do not.  Not sure who side they are on or who is paying them, but they have refused to help me twice recently even after they asked me to jump through hoops and I did everything they asked and still found in the seller favor.  I will no longer use PayPal I will give my business to Amazon Pay and Apple Pay.  

[DoctorMeat]

Same thing here. Got ripped twice from FB ads portraying the real thing. 100% money back guarantee my **bleep** lmao. Paypal closed my first case because I hadnt received it in nearly a month. Then it showed up and was laughable doll sized if that. Same scam every time and Paypal and FB would rather support these pieces of **bleep** instead of blocking them.

[kernowlass]

@DoctorMeat 

If you lost a dispute for non receipt because it arrived but was tat then contact customer services and they can open a dispute for 'not as described' for you, also make sure you have activated the below link in case they ask you to return it....its the .com one so if you are in another country you would need to find your own.

https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/returns

[DoctorMeat]

They denied it when I opened it. I called customer support to close my account and they cant even get that right. When i try to close the account myself it says I need to contact customer support lmfao. They cant even do that right. Ive been a paypal customer for 15+ years. It’s never been this bad ever.

[msaltzman]

I was able to get a refund by filing a IC3 complaint and hounding paypal for weeks. Most people wont bother over such a small amount.

Ive seen DOZENS of these scam websites now popping up, using identical templates, stolen pictures (of real products) etc...

Here's the thing I really don't get-- Paypal WILL eventually take action on this. Whether using an algorithm to flag suspicious sellers, or changing their policies, or automatic refunds. I know they WILL because this scam is becoming more rampant because its working-- thus, it will reach a threshold where the amount of people being scammed causes paypal to fear lost revenue from a loss of faith/confidence in the platform. The only question is how many people will need to be scammed before Paypal acts. 

Given that, I cant understand why they don't act sooner-- would it really cost them a great deal to address this now? 

[johnnyhaf]

Yes just be persistant. I fell for 3, refund on two so far. thought it was legit since on Facebook and with the Paypal sponsor but boy was I wrong. Will stick with Amazon, least they always make it right and not so hard to make it right.

[Rocky02]

I did the ic3 too but PayPal said I had to return the item first that bogus out more time and money

[Camcuncon]

I got exactly the same situation and I am still very mad about it. Maybe PayPal is supporting Scam sellers by doing it this way.

[gaudere]

Yeah, me too; they send junk from China that costs 10 cents and then say they'll refund the $40 you paid IF you pay $60 to ship it back.  It's an obvious scam and paypal should not support it.  I wish I had used my credit card; they'd let me do a charge back.  No wonder all the scammers like paypal.

[johnnyhaf]

1st escalate the dispute through paypal, wait for the company to respond with a partial refund, say no, then they will say you can get a full refund IF you pay for the return and they must receive it with no damage. You then have to call paypal a[Removed. Phone #s not permitted]o[Removed. Phone #s not permitted] Jump through the hoops requesting a live agent. Wait on hold or let them call you back cause it could be a 2-3 hour thing. Explain the problem and all the complaints of the same thing and they will refund in full while your actually on the phone and then if they don't get from the china company then they will be flagged for non future use. YOU HAVE TO CALL THOUGH or you will not get a full refund. I got taken on the Nutcrackers, the Wreaths, and a purse. Have gotten full refund on the nutcrackers and purse. have to wait 5 more days of no movement of wreaths or when I receive them to call in again.  Don't let these companies get away with this. I am Copying and pasting on every ones complaint that I have time for. Please help by also copying and pasting to others.