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

[CarlineB]

I had this issue with PCPURSE I done the online dispute and the emails from company offering me minimal refund due to cost shipping wrong goods back to them. I rang PayPal on the customer contact number and was given a full refund and to keep the wrong goods that were sent to me. The lady was very polite, apologetic and helpful

[Rocky02]

Yep I used to trust it now I’m telling ppl do t use PayPal if enough of us leave they will change their policy

[Rocky02]

They must be because they are not helping the consumer

[Alligatorium]

I suggest speaking to a lawyer and establishing a class action lawsuit. 

PayPal operates out of the United States and has to follow the Laws of the United States, which they are not doing.

If a merchant sends you the wrong item, or an item you did not order, an item whose order was canceled prior to shipping, et al. they are legally obligated to send you the correct item and it is a violation of the law to even ask for payment.

The most they can do is offer to give you a return label at their expense but they cannot obligate you to return the item.

PayPal is obviously skirting federal interstate law. It doesn't matter if the merchant is in China: they are doing business within the United States and PayPal is incorporated and provides financial services within in the United States. 

PayPal must adhere to federal and state law, they cannot create their own.

[CraigP20]

PayPal have been as awkward as they possibly can with me over the item I got it was nothing like what I ordered and they just kept sending me absolute crap back to my questions and complaint. I have given up reluctantly.

[Ki77yD]

Just had same situation. This is the 2nd time. 1st time it was a $20 item. I went back and forth with Paypal on principal. Had to give up. Now 2nd time i bought a Cat Wheel exercise thing.  Paid $54.98. Got item and it was a $5 cat toy with same SKU# as advertised cat wheel. Contacted seller same day. Their reply was absolutely absurd. They offered to give me only $6 back!! I did not accept, then they upped to $16, i did not accept, then they offered $21, I did not accept. Then finally they said for full refund i have to send item back. All this time i had told i would send item back and to give me an address.  They never sent address. Not even on last email where they said to send item back, they were discouraging me from sending item back.  their last email quoting "if you need full money , you need to send back the item to our China address , And there are many uncertain factors on the way of returning the goods. If the returned goods are lost, we cannot claim for you, and the time limit for returning the goods is very long. In addition, you need to pay the return fee. Therefore, we recommend that you keep the product"   I'm done dealing with such a company. I contacted my cc company. I didnt even bother with pay-pal. I will no longer be using pay-pal after reading all issues happening and pay-pal not protecting its users. 

[windowwatcher]

I've also been through it. Ordered a desk chair, got a neck pillow. PayPal said my order was fulfilled because I got a delivery. I do not feel I got the worth of what I paid out.

[kernowlass]

@windowwatcher 

Did you file for non receipt of item? If so then the seller would win if tracking showed delivery of an item.

OR did you file for item received but not as described?

[Poorme2020]

Here are the steps I went through.  I raised a dispute claiming item received was different from my order, do not claim item not received as the shystem will show item was received.  Keep hounding PP every other day to resolve this.  Make their life hell.

Take screenshot of the item you ordered and photos of what you received.  For me I ordered something fairly big and when I got a small package I knew something was amiss. I took a video and photos of the unwrapping to prove my case.  PP will ask you to resolve with the seller, take screenshots of the communication and the absurd counteroffers that you rejected.  Keep to the datelines PP set for rebuttal, claims and escalation.

After exhausting my discussion with the seller, I escalated to PP.  Keep hounding PP for an answer, flood them with your proofs.  PP will ask you to return the item by mail.  If you click the seller profile, they will have a return address.  Take a screenshot in case the seller close their account.  Use that address to send back but don't forget to claim from PP the return postage refund. This is a separate claim.

Take picture of the return package, purchase tracked return services, keep sending PP updates on the multiple attempts to deliver which will usually fail as the seller will have set a false address.  I was able to show PP the tracking of the return which kept coming back as unable to find the recipient.  

Finally after 6 months of persistent arguments with PP, they issued a refund for the item as well as for the return postage.

Hope you get your money back.  We need to be persistent so that these fraudster learn their lesson.

Everytime I see a Facebook advert with seller from China, I will list it as scam/fraudulent so that FB suspend their account if enough people do so.  I will also put in the comments that this is a scam.

[windowwatcher]

It's been so long that I honestly don't remember. But I will remember what to respond with if it happens again.