Help with refund on faulty and damaged item

ZappBrannigan89

I wonder if anyone can help on this situation I’m in. 

I bought an item costing approx £1,500 from an overseas company called prime 1 studios using PayPal. When it arrived it was damaged and was going to and from with them with emails and ended up going through PayPal to try and get a refund.
The company replied to the case saying they would send out a replacement and the case as closed. The replacement took 3 months for it to arrive but on opening it, I was annoyed to see that the replacement was also faulty and damaged. I’ve tried to email them for a refund and have had no reply. I went onto PayPal and because the case is closed they can’t do anything for me which is infuriating. 
PayPal said I should go to small claims court but when I checked it says they won’t do anything that’s bought oversees.

Does anyone have any advice on how to resolve this situation as I thought PayPal was there to protect the consumer. 

born_again

PayPal does offer protection, but it is only their own & has no legal standing. So you are limited to their rules. Which like chargebacks are over & above your consumer rights. Which in this case are (subject to link to correct site) Japanese.

When did you last email them? 

Is this the company?

https://www.prime1studio.com/contact

1. Any disputes related to the Terms of Service shall be exclusively settled by the Tokyo District Court in the first hearing.

You could try via their facebook page

https://www.facebook.com/Prime1Studio/

Aylesbury_Duck

That's correct - since you purchased from an overseas seller, the applicable consumer laws are those of that country, so you'd need to pursue the equivalent small claims action wherever that is.

The trouble with Paypal is that I believe it breaks the link that might have given you section 75 protection if you used a credit card.  Paypal isn't there to protect the consumer, it's there to make money.  I think you need to get back to Paypal to get them to re-open the case because the replacement is faulty.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

From what I recall Paypal buyer protection isn't set up for replacements, for SNAD the buyer returns and the seller refunds, I appreciate it is preferrable to get a replacement (in this instance presumably) without the return but that runs the risk of what has happened here.

If the company is in Japan, even if there were rights it's sadly going to be hard to enforce, if you now have 2 of this £1500 item OP is there any value in the goods that can be achieved through a sale on eBay/Facebook/etc to at least limit the loss? 

ZappBrannigan89

Aylesbury_Duck said:

That's correct - since you purchased from an overseas seller, the applicable consumer laws are those of that country, so you'd need to pursue the equivalent small claims action wherever that is.

The trouble with Paypal is that I believe it breaks the link that might have given you section 75 protection if you used a credit card.  Paypal isn't there to protect the consumer, it's there to make money.  I think you need to get back to Paypal to get them to re-open the case because the replacement is faulty.

I asked them to re open the case and they point blank refused which I was shocked at so I know not to use them again to buy expensive products abroad. 

born_again

ZappBrannigan89 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

That's correct - since you purchased from an overseas seller, the applicable consumer laws are those of that country, so you'd need to pursue the equivalent small claims action wherever that is.

The trouble with Paypal is that I believe it breaks the link that might have given you section 75 protection if you used a credit card.  Paypal isn't there to protect the consumer, it's there to make money.  I think you need to get back to Paypal to get them to re-open the case because the replacement is faulty.

I asked them to re open the case and they point blank refused which I was shocked at so I know not to use them again to buy expensive products abroad. 

Was the original item returned & who paid?

ZappBrannigan89

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

From what I recall Paypal buyer protection isn't set up for replacements, for SNAD the buyer returns and the seller refunds, I appreciate it is preferrable to get a replacement (in this instance presumably) without the return but that runs the risk of what has happened here.

If the company is in Japan, even if there were rights it's sadly going to be hard to enforce, if you now have 2 of this £1500 item OP is there any value in the goods that can be achieved through a sale on eBay/Facebook/etc to at least limit the loss? 

In order to give me a replacement they asked me to destroy the piece I had and send evidence of it being destroyed

ZappBrannigan89

born_again said:

ZappBrannigan89 said:

Aylesbury_Duck said:

That's correct - since you purchased from an overseas seller, the applicable consumer laws are those of that country, so you'd need to pursue the equivalent small claims action wherever that is.

The trouble with Paypal is that I believe it breaks the link that might have given you section 75 protection if you used a credit card.  Paypal isn't there to protect the consumer, it's there to make money.  I think you need to get back to Paypal to get them to re-open the case because the replacement is faulty.

I asked them to re open the case and they point blank refused which I was shocked at so I know not to use them again to buy expensive products abroad. 

Was the original item returned & who paid?

They asked me to destroy the item and then they sent the replacement out which took 3 months to get to me. It’s ridiculous to think you can’t reopen a case when new information/evidence is presented 

ZappBrannigan89

I also ended up paying £270 on import fees which I don’t know if I can get back?

Okell

ZappBrannigan89 said:

... Does anyone have any advice on how to resolve this situation as I thought PayPal was there to protect the consumer. 

As has already been pointed out, you were labouring under a serious misapprehension if you thought PayPal was there to protect you.

When buying anything (but particulalry from overseas) you should, if possible, pay directly by credit or debit card to get the best protection via either s75 CCA or chargeback.*

As a matter of interest, how did the seller want you to return the original damaged item to Japan?  You haven't mentioned this.

I presume you have also been clobbered with VAT and import duties x 2?  If so, I'm not sure but wonder if you could claim those back from HMRC in the circumstances.  ie both the original and the replacement are faulty.  Others will know.


*Like @Aylesbury_Duck I presume payment via PayPal breaks the debtor-creditor-supplier relationship required for a s75 claim but I may be wrong

user1977

ZappBrannigan89 said:

I also ended up paying £270 on import fees which I don’t know if I can get back?

Should be able to - see here:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/refunds-and-waivers-on-customs-debt#claims-for-defective-parts