@david8searle,
Item specifics state: Brand: Unbranded
There is no way in a bucket of eels that I'd be buying such an item that's marked as unbranded. That is telling you that the item's been churned out in a Chinese (or other low-wage country) factory at the cheapest possible price, without components of the necessary quality/standard.
It's a cheap headset even if you paid, say, $10 more for it.
However, if it stopped working "a few weeks" after being received, that's an indication that the components are not up to standard.
(By the way, no one is suggesting INR (Item Not Received); we are saying it's NOT AS DESCRIBED. You must formally make a claim for a refund on the grounds of INAD/SNAD, not just rely on the seller saying they will refund in this sort of situation.)
I'm a little on the fence with this... If you were to buy a genuine headset - wireless/Bluetooth, connects to TV - with a warranty, you'd certainly be looking at more than $100, and in most cases more than $200. You cannot expect the same durability and quality with a $25-$35 pair of Chinese-made headphones.
On the other hand, what you received is clearly rubbish. The seller has also, as you say, messed you around. If you haven't actually opened a formal claim through eBay, under its MBG, then the seller is just telling you whatever will keep you from opening a formal claim through PayPal (presumably, as it's too late to make a formal claim through eBay). The seller is lying. There is no refund on the way. It's a well-known tactic.
If you'd looked through the seller's feedback, specifically by clicking onto the negative feedback ratings over the last 12 months (from the seller's feedback profile page), you would have seen meaningless soothing comments by the seller in reply to upset buyer comments. Repeatedly the seller says things like "customer's satisfaction is our NO.1 goal, communication is important" or "sorry,we keep trying to solve problem for you, but you didn't respond" - all of which are clearly the seller's attempts to mitigate the bad feedback by appearing to be a reasonable and responsive seller.
NOW is the time to open a PayPal claim.
As I said, I'm in two minds about this... but if we assume that the headphones stopped working about 3 weeks after they arrived, that's clearly not good enough and would in my view constitute INAD. (Item Not As Described, which is the same thing as SNAD - Item Significantly Not As Described.) In that case they were NOT as described upon arrival; you merely assumed they were by looking at them. I'll bet that the sound quality wasn't as promised, either.
So... open the claim/dispute. Either before or after you open the claim, you should contact PayPal and ask for their help, explaining the following:
- The headphones stopped working within x weeks (2? 3?)
- They are not as described (don't have the promised sound quality/capacity/whatever it may be - but you must be honest and only say what is true)
- You contacted the seller and the seller promised to refund you in full without your needing to return the headphones on xx/xx/2022
- You have not received a refund, but the seller kept reassuring you
- It's now too late for you to open an ebay claim, and you now realise that the seller has been stringing you along
- You would be willing to return these non-working headphones to the seller, but you are concerned that the seller would not refund the postage cost, given the fact that the seller has been lying to you
- In any case, the cost of the headphones $xx.xx is not commensurate with the cost of tracked return postage to the seller
- You request that PayPal action your refund without your needing to return the headphones
To contact PayPal, go to https://www.paypal.com/au/smarthelp/contact-us (and if you're not logged in, you'll have to do so), then scroll to the bottom of the page. You'll see something similar to this:
To call them, click onto the "Call us" link between the hours of 8 am and 8 pm AEST (Mon-Fri), and you'll get a one-off code and the phone number to call.
Good luck - and... if I were you, I would probably head down to a few audio shops - JB Hi-Fi, just as example - to get some advice about what headset would best suit your needs. You may need to brace yourself for about $160-odd or more, but it's possible that you could get a recommendation for one that's not going to hit your wallet with quite such a thwack. I would never purchase this sort of item from a Chinese eBay seller... NEVER.
