What happens if a case is not escalated? Where does the money go after the auto close?

[daraaa123]

What exactly happens if a "significantly not as described" case is not escalated?

Does money goes to the buyer or seller?

I am not sure if I should escalate as a seller or simply wait and see if the buyer will escalate. Our conversation is not leading anywhere because the buyer simply wants to scam me (get back money for the services he already used).

[kernowlass · Accepted solution]

@daraaa123 

If the dispute times out at 20 days post opening it then it just closes and the buyer is not refunded unless the seller voluntarily issues a refund. Once closed it can't be re-opened and they can't open a second Paypal dispute for the same transaction.

[daraaa123]

Thank you!
So, what is the point for a seller to escalate?
Isn't it better to wait until these 20 days pass, and the issue might not be escalated at all?
What am I missing here?

In my case, I was confident that the fairness was on my side. However, I don't know how much the PayPal team goes into each case, so it still looked risky.

[kernowlass]

@daraaa123 

As a seller I would never escalate, I would wait the 20 days or until the buyer escalated.