Archery (Bow arrows) scam from China

[gregd61]

I recently purchased some archery gear from a China based seller.  Items were supposedly sent by registered post but what arrived was a red santa hat in a registered post bag (I assume so the seller could deceive paypal by giving them a registered post number...there is no detailed description of the goods such as weight and size).  I have lodged a paypal claim and suggest all the other people who bid on items from him around Christmas\New Year do the same.

[phorum_junkie*]

I have been using paypal for the whole time I have been using ebay....nearly 8 years now and I have made thousands of payments using paypal.  Never have I lost a claim if I have followed the rules.

I can beat you by a few years Lyndal and I too have never lost a dispute either as a buyer or a seller.

Just because Paypal may initially find in the other party's favour it doesn't mean you can't take it further.

[gregd61]

There are multiple complaints against this seller now (as more people get their santa hats I assume)...ebay and paypal really need to improve their system to prevent this...maybe an escrow system or, until a seller gets say 20,000 sals all their revenue must be held in escrow until the items are cleared...not really sure what the answer is (that is fair to everyone) but what they have now isn't working well.  The other annoying thing is that, despite there being multiple rports of this trader, paypal still gives him a week to respond...he'll be long gone by then.

[lyndal1838]

Greg, please read what you have been told....it makes no difference to your refund whether the seller answers the dispute or has shot through.

Don't be so negative about your paypal protection...you will get your money back if you follow the rules.

As for paypal holding payments in escrow until sellers have 20,000 sales on their record.....that is unrealistic.  There are thousands of sellers who will never in a million years sell that many items. And why should all smaller sellers have to find the money for all their postage while paypal sits on their funds just because a few sellers do the wrong thing?

What makes you say that the current system is not working?   Is it because you are annoyed at having to wait for your refund?

[vintfe · Accepted solution]

There is a simple solution here if you paid with PayPal and PayPal does not refund your money lodge a complaint with the banking ombudsman as you did not receive your item and you have been defrauded I have found an ombudsman gets action

[davewil1964]

There's an even simpler solution, given that there are plenty of Australian providers of the subject equipment.

It might cost more, but this thread attests to the fact that it might well be cheaper in the long run.

[lyndal1838]

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@vintfe wrote:
There is a simple solution here if you paid with PayPal and PayPal does not refund your money lodge a complaint with the banking ombudsman as you did not receive your item and you have been defrauded I have found an ombudsman gets action

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There is absolutely no reason for the OP to be thinking about the Ombudsman at the moment.

His paypal claim is going along smoothly and there is no reason to think he will not get his refund at the end of the process.

Why look for problems when there are none in sight at present?

[gregd61]

LOL...no really...so there are no crooks in Australia?  Of course, if you are referring to Australian retailers who take exactly the same product and add a 400% markup then all I can say is 'tell them they're dreaming'...many of the Chinese traders are reputable, just as many Aussie traders are reputable...just as many [insert nationality of choice here] traders are reputable..it's just the crooks that are the problem and intermediaries like ebay need to take responsibility for not managing their environment such that crooks are prevented from scamming.

[tstore]

"it's just the crooks that are the problem and intermediaries like ebay need to take responsibility for not managing their environment such that crooks are prevented from scamming."

Yes, and that is called opening a PayPal dispute.