Scammed fake Maui Jim’s Facebook

[nellie12341]

I fell for a scam. Sunglasses advertised as genuine Maui Jim’s were cheap fakes. I opened dispute. I have to return them to China and cost is more than I paid. Return label when sent to me is City of Industry, CA. What can I do to get my money back? I only have until 1/28 to send back and show tracking. Total rip off.

[kernowlass]

@Acook61 

Chinese Web Sites or on Social Media ads easy to spot (once you know the below signs) so buyer beware.

Paypal would not be able to check every individual seller / merchant / company in over 200 countries worldwide that adds paypal to their website to accept payments.

So they give some buyer and some seller protection. However that protection can never be a 100% coverall so you need to read it so you can risk assess your transactions.

They do stop bad companies from using Paypal when enough claims start rolling in.
However as they are in China (mostly) then its easy for them to just start over with a new name, so stopping them does not really do anything.

The best thing is to not buy from them in the first place, to recognise them -

1. No return address on the returns policy. The site will look as if its in your country (where they despatch goods from) but they will ask for returns to go back to China (returns depot) at a shipping cost often more than the item is worth.
2. No contact telephone number. if you click on contact the most you will get is webmail or an email address.
3. Rarely company address information.
4. Great pictures of items at bargain prices that turn out to be tat.
5. Fake reviews.
6. Google and you can often see previous company names as they change them once enough claims roll in and Paypal stop them using their services and start over.
7. Send fake tracking numbers to win item non receipt of item claims.


In the event of a dispute you choose your seller and not Paypal so you need to bear in mind possible return trackable costs before you go ahead and buy from that seller / country.

Paypal state this >>
IMPORTANT: You may be required to return the item to the seller or other party we specify as part of the settlement of your claim. PayPal Buyer Protection does not entitle you to reimbursement for the return shipping costs that you may incur.

Although they will compensate you for some of the cost if you have activated this at some point before you made that transaction.
https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/FAQ3544

You also have the option to do a chargeback via your card issuer instead of a Paypal dispute if you funded your Paypal payment via a credit card.

[Jenx33]

I'm not sure why the stance is different or what  I may have done differently, but I ran into the same issue.  Purchased on July 13 2020.  Filed a claim, fired several updates and emails to Paypal and, while it took longer than I wanted, I was fully refunded on September 7, 2020, a total of $74.80 for 2 pair. 

My suggestion is to keep at Paypal and hammer the fact that by denying a claim, they are in fact endorsing counterfeit merchandisers.  Note: the website of the merchant did not state the glasses were coming from China, that the website was branded to make you believe you were ordering from Maui Jim and that you know zero legitimate Maui Jim sunglasses are produced in China.  Don't take no for an answer and keep hammering that this is an illegal counterfeit situation, not just a bad retailer.  If they can't get their money back, that's their problem, but PayPal's buyer protection should protect you.
Send photos of the glasses, describe their cheapness.  One of mine even had some kind of odd logo on the side of the frame that had nothing to do with Maui Jim.
Good Luck!

And yes, we all know this now, but a reminder that a premium brand like Maui Jim will NEVER sell glasses that cheaply.  Sadly, we sometimes want to believe differently and fall for this crap.

 

[Judy5201]

There are many of us who were scammed with these sunglasses. Paypal must be knee deep in these disputes....so why am I spending all my time and effort trying to jump through hoops to get my money refunded? I paid over $28 to return items as directed but was advised by postmaster that they may not even be received by seller, all part of the scam.

[MalcolmDJ]

Hi, had the same experience. They tried to keep the dispute outside PayPal & sent me close to 40 emails, trying to get me to accept 10% Discount, then 10% refund, but I kept referring them back to the dispute I had raised in PayPal. Excused like it will cost me a lot to send back, they were moving & had no return address, They finally admitted sending me the wrong order (different fake Maui Jim’s -2 pairs!), I diligently copied all emails and added to dispute. Through PayPal they finally offered 20% refund - I rejected! Within a few days, PayPal made a decision & gave me a full refund, for which I take my hat off to them!

[LiveMeraki]

I also fell for this scam last year. However, instead of a Facebook ad, these people have my phone number and keep texting me the same scam over and over. It’s been going on for a couple of months and there is nothing I can do about it because it’s from a different number every time they message me so blocking doesn’t help.

[MalcolmDJ]

Same. Even though I got my money back from PayPal, I get numerous txt messages from them, block the numbers, but they must have hundreds of mobiles set up!