Oh, dear! China scam seller giving a final fight! What do I do?

[homostuck]

Looks like he's found yet another loophole! At the last minute too! People who set up disputes against these china scammers should be on the lookout for his last minute attack!

Story goes like this. I bought a too good to be true item of one of these china scammers. Some memory for a macbook. It was $24.99. I'm sure you've all heard about these scammers right? I was gullible enough to fall for one!

He had till the 23rd of November to respond, and just today, he supplies yet another false tracking number in hopes that PayPal would find him in favour and render my dispute "invalid"

What on earth do I do? I'm almost defenseless! Must I contact PayPal again and explain the situation and how this seller is a scammer? He's one of millions of clone accounts made by the same chinese person who uses them to scam others. The item was in the Cars Bikes and Boats category for crying out loud! Here's a pic for better reference [IMG]http://i61.tinypic.com/2ps4vph.png[/IMG]

[kopenhagen5]

You're absolutely right modest, I assumed the buyer refined the search in such a vast field.

So even without checking the category it simply wouldn't appear in the refinement.

As well, my contempt for Chinese members is ruling the better part of me and I thank you for putting perspective to my judgement.

[bakeandfry]

From memory you have 45 days or so with the card you used, see what paypal do i suppose, just let it be a learning curve and read listings carefully before buying, some sellers get buyers that dont read or partly read, buyer gets upset from there own mistake, and seller usually cops the flack.

[homostuck]

I realised something just now. I think he's only prolonging the dispute. Even if the tracking number was real, The dispute would stay open as the item could not be as described. Like say instead of sending the RAM, he sends one of the "Velvet Collars" that are all positive in his feedbacks. Looks like I'm not defenseless at all. This seller is only stalling and wasting more time. 

[cq_tech · Accepted solution]

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@send_me_it wrote:
It's not over yet! I'll contact PayPal one last time and explain the situation. The tracking number he supplied this time is completely different (But still fake). PayPal can check the validity of the numbers, but they'll turn up as fakes. Hopefully then they will give my money back.

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If, for whatever reason, Paypal ultimately find in favour of the seller, all is not lost; not by a long shot. Inform Paypal that unless they reverse their decision forthwith, you will be lodging a complaint with the Financial Ombudsmans Service at https://forms.fos.org.au/OnlineDispute and if they still refuse, then log on to the FOS and do exactly that.

Given that every time a complaint is lodged with the FOS against Paypal, a substantial fee is levied, something in the order of $1500 I understand, so in most cases it's in Paypal's best interests to simply roll over and settle your dispute, especially if the amount involved is a hell of a lot less than the $1500 that the FOS is going to hit them with. I suggest you go ahead and ring them again as you have absolutely nothing to lose, and everything to gain.

[2106greencat]

Listing in a category that does not have paypal protection - ie: cars, bikes etc, seems to be the latest scam idea...........

You open a paypal dispute, and receive the message you are not protected etc etc,

quite a few threads on the subject lately, and the best thing to do it speak to paypal and point this out sooner rather than later.

[5kazam]

Interesting too, that this Chinese seller can get away with listing in an incorrect category, whilst the mere mortals in Australia get listings removed, listing restrictions, and other slaps.

[cq_tech]

You more than anybody should know by now that Chinese sellers are a protected species on eBay. Unlike Australian sellers, it would appear that they can do no wrong in eBay's eyes. Just proves to me that when a lot of money is involved, it's very easy for eBay to turn a blind eye towards the transgressors. Of course, if you or I did the same thing on a regular basis, we'd be out the back door quicker than eBay put's up their fees and charges. As I keep saying, eBay are nothing but a bunch of two-faced hypocrites with the ethics and morals common to most large US corporations who don't give a toss about the little person. Their religion is money and people are irrelevant.

[5kazam]

You won't get any argument out of me with that post. 100% agree.

[homostuck]

People, I come baring great news!

I gave PayPal another call today, and guess what? I got my money back straight away! It's almost as if the lady knew the seller was a scammer (possibly because of other people's disputes being setup against him.)

What I did was explain to her what the situation is (Dispute etc) and she gave in. Didn't even need to threaten her with a FOS!

I'd like to thank everyone for your help, I really appreciate it!

[cq_tech]

That's really great news, albeit not unexpected. Still, knowing you're going to win and actually being given you money back are two different things, and it's nice not to have that niggling worry constantly at the back of your mind any more. Well done. 🙂