Forum

Paypal Claim & The Almost Empty Box
 

Hi all, firstly thanks again for the forums - love them!

If any one has any suggestions...

A couple of weeks back a buyer lodged a complaint as item not described. I immediately offered a refund via Paypal and asked him to return the items (10 shirts) back to me.

Today the parcel arrived and I was instantly suspicious. It was the same carton that I sent the shirts in. However originally it had been packed tight, and now it looked kind of squashed. I know this set is 3.5 kgs when sent out, and I noticed that the return parcel was only 1.5kgs. As a result I fully photographed the box from all angles before opening it, then had a friend take photos of me opening the box. Sure enough, inside is a pile of filthy old shirts that have been pulled from the bin somewhere.

I called Paypal and registered an appeal, which was done. I was told I would receive an email about the appeal. But instead I received an email telling me that as the items has been returned the case had been made in favour of the buyer. I called them back and they said this email was an error and the case is open. My resolution centre in PP shows the case as open.

I dont have any mechanism to send in the photos or the con notes when sent and when returned. I want to do whatever I can in a proactive way as this claim is for about $250 which is a fair amount.

I cant do much legally as I am in Australia and the buyer was in France.
Does anyone have any ideas about this?

You can't send them the photos? You have got to find a way-if you can't email them, fax them, do whatever it takes. Those photos are your case. Keep us posted!

If I had a nickel for everytime this has happened.

My advice to you: Speaking from experience, You aren't going to win this battle. You're better off refunding the money now and hoping to not get bad feedback, and ad the bidder to block bidder list, as well as address and postal code for future reference. You are being scammed, yes, but there is nothing you can do about it. Even if there is a way you somehow win (ive never won a dispute like that even when I had 1000+ all positive feedback) the buyer could still get his money back by filing a chargeback through his bank if he really wants to.

Thanks
 

Thanks for the advice, it is appreciated. As it stands I am not too worried about the negative feedback as eBay have permanently suspended this account anyhow. I would have appreciated an explanation as to why, but unfortunately my enquiries regarding the suspension have only generated very non specific replies that explain that I have violated a policy. No one is able to tell me which policy or which item violated it, but anyhow!
Paypal have escalated the claim to an appeal now, still I dont hold much hope that I will win. It's the end of this eBay account and Paypal account anyhow so I have spent the money remaining in Paypal and have closed the bank account connected to it. If I should win I will spend the remaining money on some new stock and if not nothing really lost.
Thanks very much for the feedback.

Basically what it comes down to is it comes down to your word against theres. if Paypal didn't give the buyer his money back, he could go to his bank and file a chargeback (and win) So paypal is pretty much just covering there own asses. They may put the explanation in other terms, or you might not get one at all, but thats the reason