I gave the seller time to respond and now paypal has closed my dispute and said I cannot reopen it?

[Xecuter]

So basically as the title says.

I commissioned an item to be made at the end of May from this seller: https://www.dasacoustic.com/en/index/ . The seller makes promises that it will take 4 weeks. After 2 months they said soon, then 3 months sooner again. Then in August they have a family issue. Suddenly no more communication.

I am a patient man and give them time to grieve or whatever. 20 days ago I give up and file a dispute with paypal.

I paid with buyer protection so no worries.. right? I do the dispute, contact the seller and read the note to give the seller time to respond. I read in paypal it says nothing further required from me. I see it says case will close in 20 days from dispute. I assume this means ruling in favour of buyer as dispute it over the fact that no item has been sent whatsoever. 20 days elapse I receive mail case closed, you cannot reopen another dispute. I check to see the ruling. ruled in favor of seller. ??? Item has not been sent. I call paypal this is 1200 euro i am concerned. They said i received mail 3 days ago to tell me to escalate.. I read the email sure enough at the very end of the email it says it must be escalated or dispute is closed.. I did not know this meant forever. Or ruled in the seller favor!

I have spent 10s of thousands with paypal and could not believe how I was told over the phone this is the system. tough. talk to your bank...

So i talked to my bank. But I don't know if should talk to Australian finance ombudsman or something. Because I do not think paypal adequately warned me. I checked my paypal a few times during dispute. It really was not clear to me the importance of escalating. I am also concerned as to why they automatically ruled in the sellers favor when no goods have been shipped. I no longer trust paypal...

Is there anything you guys can advise me to do?... other than escalate immediately in future...

1200 euro is like $2200 australian.. This was a dream project of mine to finish and now I don't think I can afford to do it.. Because I was robbed whilst having paypal buyer protection.

https://www.ebay.com/str/dasacoustic

they are still selling and apparently only take bank transfer now if you email them...

[kernowlass]

@Xecuter 

https://www.paypal.com/au/cshelp/article/how-do-i-open-a-dispute-with-a-seller-HELP160

If you’re unable to settle the dispute, you can escalate it to a claim. To escalate a dispute, we often require that at least 7 days have passed since the payment date.

By escalating a dispute to a claim, you’re asking PayPal to investigate and decide the outcome. A dispute will automatically close after 20 days unless it’s been escalated. Closed disputes cannot be reopened or escalated to a claim.

Pity you didn't seek advice on here rather than presuming it would close in  your favour at 20 days, your only option is IF you funded your paypal payment via a credit card then contact your card issuer and see if they can chargeback for you?

[Xecuter]

It is a pity but I do not think Paypal is behaving in line with Australian consumer law.

I do not believe that paypal is clear enough in the dispute process and this leaves the average consumer at risk. I mean i was scammed out of thousands of dollars and was actively following my case waiting for a response, I would consider myself a more sophisticated user than average and still ended up [Removed] it up and losing thousands.

If goods were not delivered or a business has become acting fraudulently paypal still sides in the sellers favour and locks the buyer out of any further claim.

I'm half tempted to report paypal to the ombudsman honestly. Someone needs to look into this as the system is clearly flawed.

[kernowlass]

@Xecuter 

Paypal buyer protection is totally separate from consumer law.

If you don't get a refund from Paypals dispute process then you have the right to use your consumer laws against the merchant in the small claims court or whatever is available in your country.

As for the dispute process paypal email you telling you how it works when you open a dispute and remind you to escalate if you don't get a resolution.

Most folks manage fine.