Does paypal dispute length/duration interfere with legal return policy

[ruben2poor]

Hey everyone,

Recently, after having bought buying my friend a present (one of the most expenisve things I have bought so far in my life), I ran into some issues with the timing/shipping of the product (the package arrived way too late (despite having agreed upon a certain date)), meaning that I had no use for it anymore and wished to return it

(I believe the EU has some law (idk if its really a law but: Guarantees, cancelling and returning your purchases - Your Europe (europa.eu)) which states that no matter what, if it is within 14 days you are allowed to return it and ask for a refund)

Now, my issue

I have attempted to contact the seller multiple times, and I have gone through their automated system to receive a shipping label, but this all was futile as the labels appear to either not open properly or be corrupt (I have tried different devices to open it)

Because of this I did some research and figured that paypal may assist in this, a shipping label may be provided through paypal, and upon confirmation of delivery a refund is processed.

I opened a dispute describing the situation but it says the seller's response may take up to 30 days (meaning that the legal eu thing I referenced before would have run out)

Is this an issue I have to worry about?

Best regards

[sharpiemarker · Accepted solution]

@ruben2poor 

If you want to go by the EU law, file a case in court. If you want to deal with it through PayPal, file a PayPal dispute and accept their dispute process terms and conditions. But the problem is that PayPal buyer protection wouldn’t apply in your case anyway because it’s seen as buyer’s remorse (ie, don’t fit, don’t like, don’t want, saw it cheaper at another retailer, as described but did not meet expectations, bought by mistake or accident, changed mind) as per:

Significantly Not As Described claims

An item may be considered Significantly Not as Described if:

• The item is materially different from the seller's description of it.
• You received a completely different item.
• The condition of the item was misrepresented. For example, the item was described as "new" but the item was used.
• The item was advertised as authentic but is not authentic (i.e. it is counterfeit).
• The item is missing major parts or features and those facts were not disclosed in the description of the item when you bought it.
• You purchased a certain number of items but didn't receive them all.
• The item was materially damaged during shipment.
• The item is unusable in its received state and was not disclosed as such.

An item may not be considered Significantly Not as Described if:

• The item is materially similar to the seller's description of it.
• The defect in the item was correctly described by the seller in its description of the item.
• The item was properly described but you didn't want it after you received it.
• The item was properly described but did not meet your expectations.
• The item has minor scratches and was described as "used."

If you paid with credit card, that may be an option as credit charge chargebacks’ terms may be broader than PayPal’s.

For future reference, PayPal doesn’t provide return labels nor return shipping refunds anymore. You’ll have to pay for the return shipping.

[ruben2poor]

Ah thank you @sharpiemarker for the answer and pointing it out pointing that out,

sounds to me like my best option is to "bother" the seller with a return label until it works and if it doesn't escalate it to court, thought, I hope that wont be needed