Power Source Technology Ltd. - has anyone solved a dispute with this company fraudulent company?

[ganzzza]

Hi guys,

Hope this message finds all of you well.

It's been a tough time since the pandemic started, but it's tougher with situations like this: the company mentioned is scamming people throughout Europe (at least), creating semi fake websites using the countries native language (when it fact has its headquarters and operates fully from China), selling apparent official Apple products when in fact they are cheap, bad quality Apple counterfeits - they are nowhere near an original adaptor, nor they work like one. The product I got was nothing like the description, it does not work, it's not supposed to work. After a quick google search I noticed how this company branches into other small businesses, repeating the same modus operandi to lure people into buying what they think is cheap official chargers and instead scamming them (most of them, from what I understood, don't even get their hands on the products they buy). The vast majority of the reviews were 1* rated, alerting the scams this company perpetuates. After this, I started a dispute with the company in question, and they not only kept the conversation to a minimum, avoiding answering my questions about the nature of the company. I also asked for a contribution in the shipping cost, since shipping the product back to China is super expensive (from my calculations, it should surpass 40 euros) and they just repeated "so sorry we can do nothing, company rules states the buyer pays the shipping fees". Also, the website from which I purchased was taken down after the week where I made my purchase, which leads me to believe this is a common practice from the company in question.

What Paypal did basically was the same request as the company: they want the product back before making a refund. What is this? A normal company would acknowledge its mistake. None was acknowledged. To ship the product back I have to spend almost double of what I spent on the product, making this decision simply unviable. Paypal's protection only ensures that 30e will be guaranteed, making me losing money either way. I was seriously hoping Paypal would detect the scam and fraudulence behind this company but I don't think it's anywhere near this goal. 

In conclusion, it's been a really tough dispute because I suppose the company, on their side, is doing everything possible to keep their image clean, albeit they have loads of negative reviews and people affirming it's clearly a scam from a Chinese company. I just want my money back and it's just absurd that I have to ship a fraudulent piece of plastic back to China to get my 30 euros back. Please let me know if you had any trouble with them and if there's anything I can do to get this dispute solved and to keep this company from stealing people's money. 

If you need any sort of proof for these claims I have screen caps and photos of the product I can upload (they have been shared in the resolution centre and with the company as well). 

Thank you for your time

keep safe 

Tomás

[Yaraja]

Paypal took their time with my case (didn’t receive the item) Which I opened to dispute in 2 july. So I contacted my credit card company and after 5 days got my money back with no problem whatsoever. I suggest everyone do this because I apparently PayPal don’t care about helping us.

[julianhiorns]

I received the wrong Dell ac adapter from Power Source Technology. After raising a dispute, I was asked by PST to return it to an address in China (written in Chinese characters). There is no obligation to do this if (as mine was), the original shipment came from inside  the UK - you only have to return it to the UK address, which is on PST's web site. I called PayPal and within about 5 minutes, waas given a full refund without having to return the item. I did mention to the call handler that I believed PST to be under scrutiny. It looks as though PST is on its way out, so it is worth contacting PayPal to get your money back. Best way is to call them.

Many thanks to all who posted about this. Your feedback really helped and I hope you have similar success to mine.

[Anonymous_User]

Glad someone has had some success getting a refund. Seems that phoning PayPal rather than going online is the way to go.

[mobutils]

I really wish that I came across this board before making this stupid purchase. I also have been rooked by these guys, for me it was a dell laptop battery. My purchase however was made from caadaptersdirect.com, i guess just another domain to access their many shops. Initially I assumed the shipment was just defective and I contacted them to see how to initiate a replacement. They requested I take pictures of the original battery and the one they shipped to me. This was when upon close inspection things started to get fishy. 

The label, while similar to the original was missing certification logos, and some details within the certifications were just replaced with XXXX's. This lead to a rabbit hole of looking up certification logos and their requirements only to find that these details omitted are required to be listed. To me this pretty much confirmed that this product wasn't genuine and upon repeated requests for them to address or provide an explanation as to why this would be went unanswered. The most I received from them to address the legitimacy of the product was this line: "Thanks for your message, i have checked for you that the item is original". Instead of responding to my inquiry they instead just sent me instructions to return the product to China. It's really starting to sound like an echo chamber in here. 

Some other things to note, this seller is shipping these counterfeit batteries with none of the required safety labeling for shipping lithium ion batteries. This is very unsafe! lithium ion batteries are classified as a dangerous good for a reason. 

My question after reading all of these stories is how long does PayPal need to have a company under scrutiny before they take action?  It would seem that appear that they have an ample number of complaints... over a seemingly short period of time from these posts. 

[Paul-JB]

Welcome to the club - one that you would never have wished to join I'm sure!  Sorry to hear about your experience but you are right, it is sadly familiar.  Removing Paypal trading rights is a step in the right direction and yes, Paypal should have enough evidence to do this.  They have assured a couple of us by phone that they are "looking into it" and will take appropriate action.  There may well be dozens or even hundreds of retail 'fronts' to the same company but presumably Paypal has the technology and capacity to sort this out.  I'm not sure we will ever know.  The last Paypal agent I spoke to said the information about their action would be posted on their website.  when I asked 'where' on the website she went to speak to a manager and never came back!  Here's hoping

[royrokit]

Yeah she prolly had to go to China to get the answer.

[royrokit]

Well. Good luck. Unfortunately, this is as much as you will receive in return for your money. I'm beginning to think that the one who sponsored the payment, must be in business with the seller. We've all been ripped and this Company you're posting through doesn't care the least.

[Paul-JB]

Good challenge.  The gauntlet is at Paypal's feet.  Will they pick it up?

[royrokit]

I went straight to my Bank. I had Purchased with a Debit card, and in five minutes, I was returned my money.

[mobutils]

I am almost at the point of our dispute resolution. I think I did an adequate job of making my case, but ill guess we will see... I have also contacted VISA so hopefully one of these providers will side with me. 

However for those who would like to stick it to Power Source Technology please send the following email or something in your own words to

<removed>

-----

Bluehost Legal & Abuse Department,

Domain: Caadaptersdirect.com

I am writing to inform you of a client of BlueHost whom I believe is in violation of your usage agreement. Specifically this company is using your services to engage in illegal activity though the distribution of counterfeit merchandise. Concerningly they are shipping counterfeit items with “dangerous materials” classification, lithium ion batteries, internationally without regard to IATA regulations which is potentially a major safety concern.

Power Source Technology Co., Ltd., (PST) runs a variety of domains through your hosting service which advertise original manufacturer replacement parts such as power adapters and batteries. These sites use deceptive marketing tactics to target various geographic regions. All of these sites advertise original manufacturer replacement parts, at prices somewhat below market value, with Free and relatively fast shipping. Here are some of the domains I have been able to track down where these guys are operating both active and historical:

Caadaptersdirect.com - Canada
Uspartsonsale.com - US
Laptopadaptersdepot.co.uk - UK
adapters-shop.co.uk - UK
Akkusdirekt.com - Germany
Netzteilenotebook.de - Now Taken Down
Batteriesdepot.com.au - Now Taken Down
Adaptadoresloja.com - Now Taken Down

Given how these sites are presented you would not expect this item would be shipped from China. However all products shipped from this company originate from China, using shipping methods literally impossible to meet the advertised shipping time frame. Products are sent improperly through the mail service without the inclusion of the proper labeling of dangerous goods such as lithium ion batteries.

Upon receipt of these counterfeit, and often non functional products customers' complaints will be responded to with the requirement for customers to ship these products back to China at their own cost. Assumably to satisfy payment processor dispute resolution requirements and dissuade many who will not take the hit as shipping to China can be quite expensive especially in relation to price of their average products on these sites. However, as these items are counterfeit, defective dangerous materials, and were sent without regard to IATA regulations this is impossible for those willing to complete their return shipment as shipping providers consider it non-mailable matter.

I ran into this situation myself and began doing some research only to find that many people around the world have been affected by these websites all with similar issues and claims. Please reference the below supporting material:
** Please note that all these companies controlled and managed through PST

https://www.scampulse.com/uspartsonsale-reviews
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Disputes-and-Limitations/Power-Source-Technology-Ltd-has-anyone-...
https://ca.trustpilot.com/review/caadaptersdirect.com
https://ca.trustpilot.com/review/laptopadaptersdepot.co.uk
https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/laptops-adapter.co.uk
https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/adapters-shop.co.uk
https://www.sitejabber.com/reviews/laptop-ac-adapters.co.uk
https://www.productreview.com.au/listings/batteriesdepot-com-au
https://ca.trustpilot.com/review/www.netzteilenotebook.de
https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Kaufen/Fake-Store-netzteile-notebook-com/td-p/1412159?profile.la...
https://ca.trustpilot.com/review/akkusdirekt.com?languages=all

If it would be helpful I can provide all details of my specific incident however I thought it more impactful to show the numerous reports of others. My hope is that Blue Host stops allowing this client to use their service as a platform to engage in this activity.

Thanks you or taking the time to look into this issue,