Returned Item not Refunded

[Birkebeiner]

Made a $ 2,000 purchase in August on Ebay.   The seller represented the item as authentic and vintage with a 30 day return policy if not completely satisfied. I had strong suspicions that the item was not in fact authentic and notified the seller of my intention to return the item.  He agreed to return my purchase price and the item was returned to the seller.  The refund never arrived even after several weeks of persistent messages to the seller. 

I filed an initial claim "item not as described" with paypal thinking this was a very straightforward example of a seller reneging on repaying the refund as promised.  Paypal rejected the claim without explanation.   It's very difficult to get answers from Paypal and have to explain my story repeatedly.  No one seems qualified to provide guidance.   It seems to burden of proof is with the buyer in a dispute / claim.  I now have no purchased item nor do I have my hard earned funds.   Do this sound fair?  I think not.   I subsequently filed a second claim stating "refund not received".    Paypal closed this claim and opened an new case claiming "item not as described".   I'm guessing now I'll be asked to prove the item is not authentic.  I am absolutely lost in this process and have no confidence in Paypal's ability to support me as a buyer.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers. 

[sharpiemarker]

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@Birkebeiner wrote:

Made a $ 2,000 purchase in August on Ebay.   The seller represented the item as authentic and vintage with a 30 day return policy if not completely satisfied. I had strong suspicions that the item was not in fact authentic and notified the seller of my intention to return the item.  He agreed to return my purchase price and the item was returned to the seller.  The refund never arrived even after several weeks of persistent messages to the seller. 

I filed an initial claim "item not as described" with paypal thinking this was a very straightforward example of a seller reneging on repaying the refund as promised.  Paypal rejected the claim without explanation.   It's very difficult to get answers from Paypal and have to explain my story repeatedly.  No one seems qualified to provide guidance.   It seems to burden of proof is with the buyer in a dispute / claim.  I now have no purchased item nor do I have my hard earned funds.   Do this sound fair?  I think not.   I subsequently filed a second claim stating "refund not received".    Paypal closed this claim and opened an new case claiming "item not as described".   I'm guessing now I'll be asked to prove the item is not authentic.  I am absolutely lost in this process and have no confidence in Paypal's ability to support me as a buyer.  Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Cheers.

At this point, if you paid with a credit card, file a chargeback with your card issuer and give them the tracking number.

When you open the initial dispute for not as described, you immediately escalated to claim, yes? And provided return tracking number? And they still closed the case? Next time, you get item not as described, it is recommended that You can contact the seller and say you would like to return through messages and if seller agree then file a dispute to administer the return process instead doing it direct with seller, especially if it is high value item. 

[Birkebeiner]

Thank you for responding,

Unfortunately the purchase was drawn on my bank account and not a credit card so I can't file a chargeback.   After getting nowhere with the seller, I first approached Ebay with the problem and they recommended that I contact Pay Pal to resolve the issue and opened the initial dispute for "not as described".  However, I did not provide the tracking number as I was never asked for it. 

With new /current dispute I have provided paypal with a tracking number.   I'm really not sure what other info I can provide to paypal to ensure I win this rather clearcut case.  Perhaps they ask for an experts opinion on the item saying it is not authentic?  Pretty tough to do when I no longer have the item.  I'm not it's relevant to my claim anyway.  Simply,  the item was returned and I have no refund. 

thanks again for your helpful response

[sharpiemarker]

@Birkebeiner

You’re welcome. Was it after 30 days from date of payment when you approached eBay? If so, that could be why they referred you to PayPal and you administered the return outside of eBay. So, currently, a PayPal dispute is reopened as item not as described and you provided tracking number. Things seem to be on track, just waiting on PayPal to decide. Good luck! And you have escalated the dispute to a claim right?

[Birkebeiner]

yes, I believe it was 30 days or more after the purchase when I approached ebay.  The dispute has been escalated to a claim with paypal.  I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks again

[JenCam]

Hi there, I'm having a similar problem right now. What was the outcome of your claim? did you ever receive a refund?

[Birkebeiner]

I had a favorable PP ruling and won the claim on my 2nd attempt. However, my refund depended evidence that the seller accepted delivery of the returned item. I mailed it to him with a signature guarantee. Unfortunately he refused to sign and the local post office released it to him anyway. The seller is a renowned scam artist and has burned others. Beware of David Empson of ipswich UK. I'm still smarting over this one even after 2 years. Good luck.