I have purchased a Bang & Olufsen Beoplay EX earbuds advertised as genuine from a highly rated ebay seller from Japan with limited but only positive reviews regarding the product being sold for close to $300 back in Nov 25, 2023. I have a number of earphones and headphones and I use them only on limited occasions. This particular product was connecting find through bluetooth but not connecting to the B&O app. The packacing was plastic wrapped and looked 100% real and I thought it was just an issue with the B&O app itself. The sound quality wasn't what I expected from B&O, but this was my first B&O product, its bluetooth, and I'm no sound engineer so I had little doubt. Back then the product was still only a year or so old and I had reassured myself after finding no reports of fake Beoplay EX being sold.
Well today I had some time off from work for the first time in months and decided to troubleshoot the earbuds connectivity issue with B&O app. After going through all the troubleshooting steps I realized that it simply wouldn't connect. I google searched again, and by now there were multiple reports on google search of counterfeit Beoplay EX from China being sold. Alarmed, I contacted B&O as I kept the product box, and ran the serial number with them only to find that it was indeed counterfeit.
It is 181 days since purchase (it took 2 weeks to ship to my address). I tried contacting the seller today and no response so far. Ebay would list the item purchase history but it doesn't even come up as an item I can report an issue with and the product is no longer listed. The seller seems to still be selling 1 similar product at least at a similar price.
I thought Paypal would have a little bit more flexibility in a case like this. I'm 1 day outside their 180 day purchase protection. However, after wasting the entire day describing the issue and trying to submit a dispute online and getting error messages at the very end of the process despite multiple attempts, I found out through chat with a Paypal rep that the error was because of the purchase being >180 days out. 1 Day outside!! I blame my luck, my busy work schedule, the seller, but right now I am more angry at Paypal's lack of flexibility/disregard for case-by-case review.
Thankfully I paid about 70% through Amex, who would be willing to charge back. So my question is, why should I even use Paypal in the first place after this experience? I see no reason not to purchase with my credit card directly in the future instead.
