Seller sold me fake goods but claims they are real - Won't accept return?
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I've been selling shoes on eBay and through PayPal for over 2 years now. I decided to buy a pair of shoes from someone which they claimed were authentic and said he'll send the receipt as well.
I received the package this morning and the shoes turned out to be fake - How do I know? I compared the same shoes with pictures on the internet that I know are 100% real. He also didn't provide a receipt.
I contacted the seller and he claimed they were real and started being abusive when I asked if I could return (I would've paid for the return postage myself)
I've opened a case on PayPal and escalated it straight away because of the abuse I was getting from him. Now, PayPal are reviewing the case - I'm not sure what the seller has said, this has happened to me before and I was asked to return the item back. But this time PayPal are reviewing the case and said it can take up to 30 days.
my question is what is the likely outcome of a case like this? I would most definitely return the item back if I had to.
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Firstly if you had got written proof from a company or shop that dealt with the genuine article OR trading standards then you probably would not have had to return them at all. As its against the law to sell fakes then Paypal would not be complicit with breaking the law IF you had provided that proof.
Secondly I would have told the seller that unless I got a full refund I would be informing trading standards, that may have worked and you could then have ditched the shoes.
Thirdly in the event of an item received but not as described dispute it is always one persons word against another (unless proof of fake is supplied) so Paypal 'tend' to find in favour of the buyer BUT the buyer has to return the item back to the seller at their own expense BUT wait until Paypal find in your favour (if they do) and tell you to return them TRACKABLE to prove delivery.
Paypal state this .....
Paypal is not obliged to reimburse you for any costs that you incur to comply with any of PayPal’s requests for cooperation for the purpose of resolving the problem (including, without limitation, costs that you incur to return a SNAD item to the Payment Recipient or another party as PayPal requests), although sometimes it may reimburse these costs.
However if you activated the 'return shipping on us' option at some time before you made this transaction then Paypal would reimburse you up to £15 of those costs.
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns
Also in my opinion ALWAYS fund your Paypal payments via a credit card as that gives you a second layer of protection.
Finally don't forget if the seller is a U.K business then if they don't refund your return costs then you have the option of the small claims court.
Hope some of that helps and good luck.
Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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@kernowlasswrote:
Firstly if you had got written proof from a company or shop that dealt with the genuine article OR trading standards then you probably would not have had to return them at all. As its against the law to sell fakes then Paypal would not be complicit with breaking the law IF you had provided that proof.
Secondly I would have told the seller that unless I got a full refund I would be informing trading standards, that may have worked and you could then have ditched the shoes.
Thirdly in the event of an item received but not as described dispute it is always one persons word against another (unless proof of fake is supplied) so Paypal 'tend' to find in favour of the buyer BUT the buyer has to return the item back to the seller at their own expense BUT wait until Paypal find in your favour (if they do) and tell you to return them TRACKABLE to prove delivery.
Paypal state this .....
Paypal is not obliged to reimburse you for any costs that you incur to comply with any of PayPal’s requests for cooperation for the purpose of resolving the problem (including, without limitation, costs that you incur to return a SNAD item to the Payment Recipient or another party as PayPal requests), although sometimes it may reimburse these costs.
However if you activated the 'return shipping on us' option at some time before you made this transaction then Paypal would reimburse you up to £15 of those costs.
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns
Also in my opinion ALWAYS fund your Paypal payments via a credit card as that gives you a second layer of protection.
Finally don't forget if the seller is a U.K business then if they don't refund your return costs then you have the option of the small claims court.
Hope some of that helps and good luck.
@kernowlasswrote:
Firstly if you had got written proof from a company or shop that dealt with the genuine article OR trading standards then you probably would not have had to return them at all. As its against the law to sell fakes then Paypal would not be complicit with breaking the law IF you had provided that proof.
Secondly I would have told the seller that unless I got a full refund I would be informing trading standards, that may have worked and you could then have ditched the shoes.
Thirdly in the event of an item received but not as described dispute it is always one persons word against another (unless proof of fake is supplied) so Paypal 'tend' to find in favour of the buyer BUT the buyer has to return the item back to the seller at their own expense BUT wait until Paypal find in your favour (if they do) and tell you to return them TRACKABLE to prove delivery.
Paypal state this .....
Paypal is not obliged to reimburse you for any costs that you incur to comply with any of PayPal’s requests for cooperation for the purpose of resolving the problem (including, without limitation, costs that you incur to return a SNAD item to the Payment Recipient or another party as PayPal requests), although sometimes it may reimburse these costs.
However if you activated the 'return shipping on us' option at some time before you made this transaction then Paypal would reimburse you up to £15 of those costs.
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns
Also in my opinion ALWAYS fund your Paypal payments via a credit card as that gives you a second layer of protection.
Finally don't forget if the seller is a U.K business then if they don't refund your return costs then you have the option of the small claims court.
Hope some of that helps and good luck.
@kernowlasswrote:
Firstly if you had got written proof from a company or shop that dealt with the genuine article OR trading standards then you probably would not have had to return them at all. As its against the law to sell fakes then Paypal would not be complicit with breaking the law IF you had provided that proof.
Secondly I would have told the seller that unless I got a full refund I would be informing trading standards, that may have worked and you could then have ditched the shoes.
Thirdly in the event of an item received but not as described dispute it is always one persons word against another (unless proof of fake is supplied) so Paypal 'tend' to find in favour of the buyer BUT the buyer has to return the item back to the seller at their own expense BUT wait until Paypal find in your favour (if they do) and tell you to return them TRACKABLE to prove delivery.
Paypal state this .....
Paypal is not obliged to reimburse you for any costs that you incur to comply with any of PayPal’s requests for cooperation for the purpose of resolving the problem (including, without limitation, costs that you incur to return a SNAD item to the Payment Recipient or another party as PayPal requests), although sometimes it may reimburse these costs.
However if you activated the 'return shipping on us' option at some time before you made this transaction then Paypal would reimburse you up to £15 of those costs.
https://www.paypal.com/uk/webapps/mpp/refunded-returns
Also in my opinion ALWAYS fund your Paypal payments via a credit card as that gives you a second layer of protection.
Finally don't forget if the seller is a U.K business then if they don't refund your return costs then you have the option of the small claims court.
Hope some of that helps and good luck.
I don't have written proof from a company or shop that deals with authentic goods. These are new shoes that were released last week therefore it would be impossible to get written proof.
I would happily return the item back to them if PayPal ask me to do so and will cover the postage costs (my punishment for not being careful)
I also purchased the item using my debit card, would I be able to successfully chargeback if PayPal do not do anything about it?
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An update: PayPal decided I should return the item back - which I have. I've used a recorded, signed, tracked delivery service.
What would happen if the seller receives the item but doesn't issue a refund?
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If paypal found in your favour and told you to return the item back to the seller.
Then once tracking shows delivery IF the seller refuses to refund then paypal will do so under their buyer protection policy.
They would then put the sellers account into negative until he paid them back again.
Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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Give customer services a call and see if they will apply your refund now tracking is showing as delivered.
Click on the words "Help / Contact" at the bottom of paypals pages and use the phone option in the blue band at the top OR very bottom of page dependent on what country you are in. Log in and get the code.
When you get through don't select any options just hang on till you get transfered to an agent OR just say the word 'Agent'".
In the UK its free from any landline phone.
Advice is voluntary.
Kudos / Solution appreciated.
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I gave him 1 day to issue the refund but of course, he hasn't and he's not responding to my messages.
Will ring PayPal and get this resolved. Thanks for your help.
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BIG UPDATE:
Rang PayPal and they saw by the tracking given that the package was successfully delivered to the seller. Issued the refund straight away.
NOW, the seller has appealed to the decision claiming I swapped the shoes!?!?! What the hell. I returned the same exact item I was given!!
What will PayPal do? Surely, they can't go in favour of the seller..!

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