What can I do when a seller took so long to respond that I ran out of time to raise a dispute

[lamrud]

I bought an item for $99 that was broken when it arrived. I went through a convoluted process of describing in great detail what was wrong. I was then asked to take photos of the broken item, which I did.

Each time there was several days between before the seller responded to my emails.  The seller finally agreed to send me a new one 'tomorrow'. It never arrived. I tried emailing them many times and there was no response.

When I tried to lodge a dispute through PayPal I was told that the time for lodging a dispute has expired. This is very frustrating as I tried to do the right thing and work with the seller. It looks as if the seller was acutely aware of the time frames and ceased all communications when they knew it was too late for me to complain.

What can I do?

[amber-eyed-girl]

If you funded it with a credit card, try your bank for a chargeback.

next time, if there is a problem, communicate with the seller, but do not let them drag things out past your buyer protection period. File a claim around the 40 day mark if you are still without resolution. That gives you another 20 days of protection. If things get resolved then, you close the case.

[putney32]

amber is right.. never let a seller dictate the conditions to you

you have full Paypal protection (free of charge too) so it is up to you to use it correctly.  you can still sort it with the seller after the dispute is opened before it is escalated to a claim...

expensive lesson to learn, but please do learn from it and take control of the situation yourself next time

[horizon1907]

If you still have time, leave the appriate feedback. That may have lapsed also.