Beware buying large items from overseas

[Anonymous]

I bought a telescopic ladder for $107 from PlowLive, a company in China. After some delay it arrived but badly damaged. I complained to ebay, the seller responded and, after I sent photos, they offered to replace it if I sent more money for more postage. On ebay's advice I refused and the seller then offered $35 compensation. I thought this inadequate, asked for a new ladder and, again on ebay's advice escalated to Paypal. The seller then said they were out of stock and offered $60, to which I agreed, but they then refused to confirm this with PayPal. So I escalated further with Paypal for a full refund, who responded weeks later that this could only be done if I shipped the damaged ladder back to China at my expense. The freight on that would be more than the ladder was worth in the first place. So I'm left with a useless ladder, I'm out of pocket over $100, and the seller (PlowLive), ebay and Paypal couldn't give a damn. So be warned and be aware that all the transaction protection promises on ebay and Paypal will not help when it comes to the crunch.

[***super_nova***]

Yes, when buying from o/s you always have to consider the cost of sending the item back if anything goes wrong.   All you can do is to leave factual FB.

Arrived badly damaged = useless, too expensive to return

Calm, professional and no mention of disputes.

[lyndal1838]

You should have known that as soon as you escalated the dispute to a claim you would be required to return the item for a full refund.

The seller, ebay and paypal have not done anything wrong...it is standard procedure to return items at your own expense.

[thecatspjs]

If your claim is still open, there is a very slim chance that you may still be able to get a refund via paypal if you can get a written quote for returning this item  from the service you will be using and it shows that the costs to return outweigh the benefit. 

[cq_tech]

Call Paypal once more and ask to speak with a supervisor, making sure you let them know that the cost of returning the damaged item to China far outweighs the original total cost, making it uneconomical to do so, then mention that under the circumstances, they should make a discretionary payment, and if not, you will be forced to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman.

My guess is that Paypal will cave and refund your payment, but if not, please go ahead and immediately lodge a complaint with the Ombudsman on the following link... https://forms.fos.org.au/OnlineDispute ...as there is a very good chance that you'll receive all of your money back with no further expense on your part.

[***super_nova***]

Oh dear, the OP left a FB:

Item came damaged. Offers to compensate never eventuated. ebay, Paypal useless

OK, i should have said not to mention PP or eBay, I thought that not mentioning disputes would cover it.  :_|

If the seller is at all clever, they will have this FB removed.  😞