I paid a seller in the UK to make a custom pendant for me. After making the payment, the seller told me I had to make the full payment upfront and my order would be canceled if I did not. We agreed on 60% down and the remaining 40% after the pendant was completed and before shipment. I told the seller I would not be putting 100% down upfront as that is not what we agreed on and requested a refund. Instead of granting my refund request, the seller provides a FedEx tracking number and ships me something that I know is not what I ordered. The seller's custom order process takes 4-6 weeks yet he provided a tracking number less than 24 hours after me making a payment and hours after me requesting a refund do to him canceling the order if 100% was not received up front. I immediately opened a case as "item not received - The order was canceled by the seller". I have all email proof between me and the seller going over exactly how the custom pendant was to be made and the time frame it would take to make it. All this information is shown on their website as well. Clearly the seller is trying to scam me and send something not related to what I ordered. Whatever the seller sent me is currently being held at a FedEx location for my pickup. No delivery attempt was ever made to me and I will not be picking up whatever it is as I know it is not what I ordered. My question is simply who will PayPal favor in this case? I know how they can be with custom orders so even if I could pick up the item I would not as then that changes the case from "item not received" to "item not as described" which from other post seems like much more of a headache to deal with. PayPal case specialist even advised that I don't pick up the item and have FedEx return it to the seller. Currently the item is listed as being ready for pick up at a local authorized FedEx location. I have solid proof that goes over what was supposed to be custom made for me and the timeframe it would take to make. I asked PayPal to request video and photo proof of my custom pendant as that should be the only thing shipped to me by the seller and I know for a fact that they could not have made something that takes 4-6 weeks to make in 24 hours. Before production was even supposed to begin they were to send me mock-ups and 3D models of the pendant and get my approval. They never sent me anything and never got my approval on anything. The seller is clearly trying to scam me and sent something just so it could show as delivered. Luckily I was able to call FedEx and get the package held before any delivery attempt was made. These sellers need to be stopped! They try to use the loop-hole PayPal has when it comes to buyer protection with custom orders to scam buyers.
