PayPal is absolutely brilliant if you have photographic evidence

[sea.breeze]

I remember the bad old days when PayPal were a complete pain. However yet again I have found that providing ample photo evidence has done the trick. I have even had 3 completely fake nokia 810's that I bought from China fully refunded because the seller told me to ship them back and because there were 3 it was worth it for me, however I was not allowed to ship the batteries and if I paid for registered post it would not be worth senind back.

So I photographed and even videoed the objects going into the addressed bag and then being handed to the PO. The seller said they never received the item after I failed to provide tracking because there was none. After providing photo evidence PayPal refunded.

Today I had another photo moment, I bought a pH meter for $11 with free shipping from Sydney, today I had to collect from the post office and pay an extra $7.10 because they tried to send it as an envelope. I see by the seller's feedback that this is not the first time they've tried this. At the PO the item was addressed to me but with no return address so I could not let it be returned to sender. So I photographed everthing including the extra payment, including the lack of return address which implied deliberateness on the part of the seller. Put it all in a dispute and the refund was almost immediate. I believe this is because the seller must know that PayPal places a lot of weight with photographic evidence. 

eBay is still rubbish in this regard. So there should be a sticky somewhere to make sure you have plenty of photographic evidence for a PayPal claim, even if you think it won't help. I have found on numerous occasions it works like a charm.

[kopenhagen5]

I have also won PayPal cases with just photo proof.

They are far more professional then eBay.

[springyzone]

That's great to hear.

With the refund on the item where you would have had to pay extra postage, how did the refund work? Did they refund you just the extra postage or the whole amount?

I was in a similar sort of situation about a year back. I bought a cheap item for a hen's night party but when it arrived it was-not broken but mismade, unusable. I took photos & they immediately promised to replace, which they did. But they were only in Sydney and didn't post it out for almost 2 weeks, by which stage the hen's night had come & gone.

And when I picke dit up from the PO, I had to pay an extra $3.50 or whatever as it had been sent in an envelope (as had the original one but that got through).

I would not have picked it up if I had known for sure what the item was.

I ended up giving them positive feedback because at least it was a replacement but sometimes i think I should just not have given any FB.

I think you did exactly the right thing to make a claim.

[sea.breeze]

@springzone,

In the ammount where it asks what you are claiming or if you will accept part payment, I just put in the $7.10 postage. And a link to all the photos. I didn't need to escalate as the seller refuned very quickly. I left them a +ve also the last buy they did this to left a -ve but that's because I guess they just accepted it.

[imastawka]

Just as a side issue, how thick is this PH meter?

It only takes button batteries, and so if it's 20mm or less, then they are entitled to send them by letter, not parcel.

Maybe protective wrapping made it thicker?

[sea.breeze]

Just saw this, it's irrelevant how thick the item is it is simply a matter of if the finished package slips through the testing slot.