Paypal dispute - advice needed

Downthedrain

I regrettably ordered a guitar from China and paid using Paypal (linked to my Debit Card). 20 items were show in stock with a promised delivery time of 4 weeks. I placed the order and the stock level dropped to 19. After a few weeks the guitar was still shown as 'awaiting shipping' on my order status.

After repeatedly contacting the seller they eventually admitted they don't have stock and the guitar would need to be built to order, but despite three further messages to them they won't give me any idea of timescales and now have stopped responding altogether. I disputed the sale with the seller and asked for a refund but all they kept saying is I need to give them time to make the guitar.

My next step was to open a dispute with Paypal, but none of the pre-determined categories fits the situation and I'm stuck.

Can anyone offer advice on how to lodge my dispute?

eskbanker

Item not received?

Spikeygran

Which platform did you purchase from? If its ebay have you actually opened a case with paypal yet?

Downthedrain

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81960274#Comment_81960274

I ordered directly, not via a platform as the guitar isn't available elsewhere.

danny13579

Item not as described.

It showed as 20 in stock, then 19 after you ordered. In fact there were none in stock and they weren't even made yet.

I assume you were led to believe that the guitar was already made and ready to go, not that it had to be made from scratch? So misrepresentation on their part.

You were promised a delivery time of 4 weeks, if this has passed then seller hasn't fulfilled their end. The language barrier probably isn't helping either.

Is PayPal not giving you an Item not as described option? This all seems pretty straightforward to me. Have your messages between you and the seller ready as you may need to send them to PayPal when you open your case, but they'll tell you what they need.

Downthedrain

I can select item not as described, but none of the next set of questions apply as they're all based on actually receiving an item:

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81960405#Comment_81960405

How can you open a "Item not as described option"

When poster has not received anything?

As per @eskbanker "Non Receipt" is the way forward.

danny13579

Downthedrain

I can select item not as described, but none of the next set of questions apply as they're all based on actually receiving an item:

Is there any option such as misrepresentation by seller? You were sold an item that you were led to believe existed and was ready to send but didn't exist and wasn't ready to send. This option looks a bit like it.

Downthedrain

That looks to be the best option - I'll file a claim and see how this goes. I suppose another route if that fails would be to try a charge-back through the bank, but as PayPal is linked to my debit card I don't know if this would be possible. I need to research what the position is.

Diaz09

If you're struggling with the PayPal dispute categories because you haven't received anything yet, you might also consider raising a chargeback with your card provider separately. Since you paid via debit card through PayPal, you potentially have two routes for getting your money back. The seller falsely advertising stock levels when they had none could strengthen your case with the bank, especially as they've now gone silent on communications.

Downthedrain

Here's an update: I gave the seller a final chance to supply the guitar but they responded with more delay tactics and after giving them an ultimatum for them to refund directly or I'll file a claim with PayPal they still tried to keep me on the hook. I filed the claim, but the seller didn't respond and I got a decision in my favour around two weeks ago.

Now here's a turnaround - This morning my wife said "what's this tracking number?" There's an email with nothing other than an EML number and tracking shows that Parcelforce has it. I still don't want the item as I now have other arrangements and it will be interesting to see how this works out. Despite the guitar costing just over £200 with shipping from China, the return postage via Parcel Force is almost £400 tracked and insured and the sellers terms are that all returns for whatever reason are at the buyers expense.

But, I'm no longer the buyer and there's no contract as the order was cancelled and refunded well before it was sent. To my thinking these are now unsolicited goods, but I am dealing with a substantially dishonest seller in China and I wonder if there's an angle to this I haven't thought about and it still isn't going to end up well.

Does any aspect of UK consumer law apply here, given I paid with PayPal?