Paypal policy

Estelle77

Hello,
I have this issue here.
I once bought an item on a website and paid with Paypal. Nothing suggested the item was not new and the price would correspond to the genuine new item, which is not produced anymore but some seller still have some on the stock. We have already had this model but it broke after years of use so I thought I bought a good replacement.
The item came from Hong-Kong and it was a joke. No original packaging and the item did not behave like a genuine one - not registering with unique ID when attached to the computer. Also the workmanship did not look as precise as the original old one.
To cut the long story short: I received a refund for the item, but Paypal asked me to post the item I flagged on a number of occasions as fake to the seller - to Canada. It costed me over £8 which I never got refunded. It did fulfill the 'significantly not as described' category, hence the otherwise full refund. But as far as I know, as per the distant selling regulations I should get the refund of the return postage, too. And, if the item is a fake, it should be pulled out of the market, not sent back so it can be sold to someone else.

What are your thoughts? Paypal insists they don't cover the returning postage and they seem like protecting the dodgy seller by not recovering this additional expense from them. The last time I communicated with Paypal about this suspicious behaviour they replied they forwarded the case for investigation, but that was over two weeks ago and I have never heard from them since. I kept nagging them about this for a while before, not letting it disappear. I am saving all the communication with them about this.
Thoughts?

BorisThomson

What is the website you ordered from, and did you contract under UK jurisdiction?

Why have you started a new thread on this?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5798710

Estelle77

BorisThomson wrote: »

What is the website you ordered from, and did you contract under UK jurisdiction?

Why have you started a new thread on this?

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5798710

I have no idea what website it is. I looked for the specific model of the item and this came up on the second or third page of google. When I went back to look for this, it does not come up so I guess the bogus trader pulled the website down after it sold the rubbish out. It was none of the usual trading websites like ebay or amazon.
And yes, I did contact the seller via paypal, to which he never responded, so I escalated the case. It was closed since then after I received the refund for the item, but I am still trying to get to the additional expenses. On my last message on 22/Feb whether their notification about the investigation I will receive (heaven knows when) means I will get the refund, they never replied.

Estelle77

Why I posted it again... because in that section it did not get the response I hoped for. I thought that relevant responses will come in this topic.

Estelle77

Whether under the UK jurisdiction: I don't remember the website, the item came form Hong Kong, but the seller is said to reside in Canada. Paypal is not an UK company, so probably not.

[Deleted User]

If the company is not based in the UK you have no hope of getting anywhere using EU regs. How can you not remember the website you bought something from? Do you have an email receipt?

My Paypal account offers a refund of postage for returns (up to £15 I think) - is that not available in your account?

KeithP

Theonlywayisup gave you good guidance on your earlier thread.

DCFC79

Estelle77 wrote: »

Why I posted it again... because in that section it did not get the response I hoped for. I thought that relevant responses will come in this topic.

You could have just bumped up the other thread.

What other advice would you like ?

As Keith says, you received good advice on the other thread.

Estelle77

My original question was: "Is it acceptable to post a suspected counterfeit item to the seller instead of confiscating it?"

Nobody replied to that one. Instead I learned that:

1. I should not buy from dodgy websites - I am quite careful where I buy from. How do you say which website is dodgy? There are countless small retailers having their own websites. Amazon or e-bay are not the whole world.

2. contacting Action Fraud - that operates on the UK. Not in Canada, not in other European countries. Paypal is not the UK company. Would they hold Paypal responsible for a wrong decision of not withdrawing the fake item from the market?
3. I was blamed for buying an item and that I am not supposed to expect to be compensated for it (despite the policy of the company, albeit limited). As per Paypal I would expect that when I report a fake item it will not be sent back at my expense which has two elements in it: returning a fake back on the market (big fail) and making me at loss sending this stuff without the compensation by the company at wrong (I did not insist on Paypal carrying the burden, but since they managed to recover the cost of the item from the seller, they as well could recover the cost of the returning postage when they have this silly policy of making the innocent customer out of pocket). That was before I learned about their 'return on us' policy and that was the only useful advice I was given and I followed. But that does not sort out THIS problem.

NOBODY replied to the question I asked. What would reporting to the brand owner do, when I no longer have the item to prove my case?

Now I am adding another question: Is Paypal obliged to follow the distant selling regulations, even before I registered for the 'return on us' scheme?

mije1983

Estelle77 wrote: »

Now I am adding another question: Is Paypal obliged to follow the distant selling regulations, even before I registered for the 'return on us' scheme?

Paypal are not the seller, so no they are not.

And as the seller is also outside the EU, you have little chance of getting them to cough up for the postage.

Did you tell Paypal the item was counterfeit?

boo_star

Estelle77 wrote: »

My original question was: "Is it acceptable to post a suspected counterfeit item to the seller instead of confiscating it?"

Nobody replied to that one. Instead I learned that:

1. I should not buy from dodgy websites - I am quite careful where I buy from. How do you say which website is dodgy? There are countless small retailers having their own websites. Amazon or e-bay are not the whole world.

2. contacting Action Fraud - that operates on the UK. Not in Canada, not in other European countries. Paypal is not the UK company. Would they hold Paypal responsible for a wrong decision of not withdrawing the fake item from the market?
3. I was blamed for buying an item and that I am not supposed to expect to be compensated for it (despite the policy of the company, albeit limited). As per Paypal I would expect that when I report a fake item it will not be sent back at my expense which has two elements in it: returning a fake back on the market (big fail) and making me at loss sending this stuff without the compensation by the company at wrong (I did not insist on Paypal carrying the burden, but since they managed to recover the cost of the item from the seller, they as well could recover the cost of the returning postage when they have this silly policy of making the innocent customer out of pocket). That was before I learned about their 'return on us' policy and that was the only useful advice I was given and I followed. But that does not sort out THIS problem.

NOBODY replied to the question I asked. What would reporting to the brand owner do, when I no longer have the item to prove my case?

Now I am adding another question: Is Paypal obliged to follow the distant selling regulations, even before I registered for the 'return on us' scheme?

If you only suspect it’s counterfeit, yes.

If you’ve had it verified by the manufacturer or one of their agents as being fake, not really.