Items delivered are counterfeit, now paypal want us to prove it!

snuggle69

My partner brought some designer jeans from a site which claimed to be a uk outlet store. The website looked genuine and as we had the option to pay via paypal thought we would be pretty safe..........

After ordering we heard nothing at all from the company did not receive an order confirmation or anything. We expected delivery within 3 days, when after a week nothing had arrived and our emails were being ignored we raised a dispute with paypal. Eventually they received a tracking number which turned out was from Shanghi! Immediately alarm bells rang as this was meant to be a uk website. The items arrived and are clearly fake, the badges on the back are spelt wrong the stitching is all wonky and the button holes have been stitched but not cut out.

We then changed the paypal dispute to goods received not as description, explaining that they were clearly fake. 2 weeks have passed and yesterday we received an email from paypal to say we have to take these jeans to someone unbiased but qualified to determine if these jeans are genuine or not, and get a report on headed paper. This is where the problem lies, I spoke to trading standards who are not prepared to do a letter for us, I am struggling to get a response from the company who make the jeans and I would presume that as they are the official manufacturer they would not be classed as unbiased.

We only have 10 calender days from yesterday to do this, and I have spoken to 2 designer clothes shops today and neither are prepared to do a written verification.

So any suggestions where to go on this one from here please?

Elle7

It is Paypal policy that if you claim that items are fake, you have to prove it. The general advice is to raise a not as described case without mentioning them being fake, as Paypal will usually then ask you to return them and refund you. With them being fake, you have to prove it and then destroy them.

What brand are they supposed to be? I know of several brands who have been very helpful in these cases, but there are some who have made it clear that they will not get involved.

You'll need a letter from the brand itself, or a retail shop of that brand. Usually, the brand will then include the reasons that they know it is fake - the serial number not existing, certain materials being used, color differences etc, and Paypal will refund you.

You'll find most "random" shops won't be willing to provide the letter, as there is no benefit for them, and they generally don't like to be involved. Most stores have head office policies on this now, as it's been an issue for some time.

So, what brand are they?

meer53

Did you check the website before ordering, some sites do say that they don't sell genuine goods to cover themselves. Check the t & c's.

bris

meer53 wrote: »

Did you check the website before ordering, some sites do say that they don't sell genuine goods to cover themselves. Check the t & c's.

You can't cover yourself by doing that. Selling fakes is illegal and not something you can cover youself from.

ljonski

By the way it is a crime to knowingly export fake goods-that makes it a little tricky to send them back!

snuggle69

They are meant to be True Religion. And no it says on the website they are genuine! I have tried emailing True religion i managed to get an email address in the uk and it was for an individual person not a customer service or info. Sadly though they havent replied.

meer53

bris wrote: »

You can't cover yourself by doing that. Selling fakes is illegal and not something you can cover youself from.

Dont think they're bothered about that in China.

Loads of websites selling fake stuff, they word their t & c's cleverly to let people know that what they're buying isn't genuine. They never claim to sell the genuine article.

Shame is, people never read them before buying.

meer53

snuggle69 wrote: »

They are meant to be True Religion. And no it says on the website they are genuine! I have tried emailing True religion i managed to get an email address in the uk and it was for an individual person not a customer service or info. Sadly though they havent replied.

Which website did you use ?

snuggle69

http://www.truereligionoutletukltd.com/

This is the website we purchased from

snuggle69

meer53 wrote: »

Dont think they're bothered about that in China.

Loads of websites selling fake stuff, they word their t & c's cleverly to let people know that what they're buying isn't genuine. They never claim to sell the genuine article.

Shame is, people never read them before buying.

Well I checked on there prior to purchasing and could not find anything like that on there!

somethingcorporate

Surely the crap website, awful spelling and grammer and hundreds of errors littering their text was a bit of a warning?

"We strongly recommend that you use traceable shipping. If your goods lose on the road, you can trace the shipping company. For overseas orders this process sometimes can take up to 30 days.We will not be responsible for the lose if the returned package get lost during the shipment, original post office receipt must be kept to claim the compensation."