Seller asking me to close dispute before refund

[cainhurst]

I pre-ordered (two months before release) a video game from a reputed game seller who I've bought from for 13 years. They took the money a week later so I assumed they had secured the stock. The game has released but they haven't received the shipment and do not seem to be getting it any time soon.

I emailed their customer service asking for an update but got no reply, so I sent another email 24 hours later asking for a refund but got no reply (this seller had a CS team that used to reply within 2 hours). So I opened a PayPal dispute and got a reply within 6 hours. The Seller is asking me to close the dispute before they can "process the refund" but I find that to be sketchy and PayPal itself doesn't recommend it until the refund is received.

So I asked the Seller to proceed with the refund and once I had proof of it I would close the case but they are now telling me to send a screenshot of the closed case before they can help for the refund.

Do I close the case or do I escalate it? The trust has been eroded but I also know once I close it I lose my only real chance of getting the money back.

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@cainhurst 

If you had to close a case to get a refund then it would be pointless opening one.
NEVER close a dispute / claim until you have a refund.
If the seller issued a refund then that would close the dispute automatically.
If he doesn't escalate to a claim.
Do not close it or he can ignore you and you can't open a second dispute OR re-open a closed one.