Item received and not as described - help please?

[orba14]

Hi

I have discussed item with seller, who has agreed to refund the money I paid, once I send item back at my expense; this means i will have paid two lots of postage for an item not as described.

I paid via paypal, so I know I can open a dispute, however surely I should be refunded the total postage as well?

Thank you

[cq_tech]

If you lodge a dispute with Paypal, the seller will have to refund the entire purchase price including postage, but NOT the cost of the registered postage required to return it to him.

Please don't be tempted to send it at a cheaper rate as the seller can say he never received it and you won't have a leg to stand on.

If he is only offering a refund of the item price and not the initial cost of postage, don't accept it and lodge a dispute with Paypal instead, so you receive the full purchase amount.

Although some sellers will refund the cost of return postage as well, they are very few and far between, as they have no legal obligation to do so. It's the risk you take with online shopping.

[digital*ghost]

Many sellers will pay for all costs, including return postage, if an item is faulty or not as described, but just as many won't and there's nothing that can be done to make them. If PayPal are involved, they will require you to send the item back (with proof of post) and refund the original payment in full, so you'd be out one lot of postage. 

[*crikey*mate*]

May I suggest that you do open a dispute with PayPal before you return the item?

Now, most sellers will do the right thing, but the odd one may have you return the item and then not refund at all, so they have your item and your money.

At least through PayPal, you are assured that you will at least get your refund (if found in your favour, of course) providing you can provide tracking number and proof of postage. (At least that is what I was told and required to do when I recently had to return an item where the seller sent me the wrong item). In my case, once the seller receives the item, I will be refunded the cost and initial postage.

The seller had said they would refund me on return of the item (they were not interested in sending me the right item) plus postage costs, but on a $210 item, I wanted the protection of PayPal.

I did have to return at my own cost (despite the seller acknowledging that they had knowingly substituted the item I bought for a different one) but I considered this to be a reasonable trade off when weighed against the potential risk of ending up with nothing.