Fell for a scam - let me tell you my stupidity so you don't do so.

[Thistledew]

I made the mistake of buying something from an add that came up on Facebook. It was advertised as a wooden number block set and purported to be a US registered company.

What finally arrived was some foam bath toy numbers.

Fortunately, I paid via PayPal so I'm hopeful I will still get my money (about £40 worth) back.

However, the company (now apparently based in China) is still trying to rip me off. They have made a formal offer via PayPal's dispute resolution of a partial refund only, but have alternatively offered in their communications to me to refund fully if I send the item back.

Of course, the cheapest recorded postage will cost me around £14, and as they haven't made a full refund offer properly via PayPal's mechanism, I think it unlikely that I would get my money back.

I'm about to escalate it directly to PayPal. Does anyone have any tips about the best way to do this? I have already sent picture of the advert, of the packaging showing that the order reference matches, and that the weight declared for the customs declaration is no way equivalent to the weight of posting something wooden.

Any other tips for getting PayPal to refund me?

Do NOT communicate directly with the seller any further. I had a dispute and spoke on the phone to PayPal and they advised me to not speak to the seller at all, only communicate with PayPal via their resolution centre.

I very regularly see this button down cardigan on various targeted ads from different companies on my fb and insta, photoshopped in various colours. It’s actually a photo taken from a knitting pattern
I recognised it straight away because I actually have the pattern, it’s one of the first I downloaded when I started loom knitting and have yet to attempt to make it. The ads have been popping up for a couple of years now! I actually looked at the comments of one the other day, loads of people saying that what they ordered and what arrived was completely different. I actually gave a few people the link to the real pattern

Don’t beat yourself up op. I did similar recently, only time I’ve bought from ad on fb and never again.

Still waiting for my goods 10 weeks after ordering just keep getting same message on way from Hong Kong! I’ve opened a chargeback with my bank.

Nobody seems to have mentioned the protection against stuff like this that you automatically get with your credit card. We ordered trainers, paid via credit card, through PayPal. We onlyreceived face masks and no trainers and our credit card company fully refunded following an investigation. Never use your debit card, even with PayPal.

@Wowserme how you do send a private message?

My DH bought something. Turned up not as described.

He raised a dispute with PayPal. They eventually sent him funds to return the product to China.

He sent it recorded delivery.

Royal Mail lost the item and refunded him.

So by pure chance he ended up not being out of pocket too much (maybe £2 or £3?)

Once bitten, twice shy though.

I was sent something from a website that took weeks and ended up coming from China. It was poor quality (not eBay). Requested a refund through PayPal and the seller offered a discount, I refused and they offered a larger discount. I refused and escalated it. THe seller then said it had to sent back recorded by courier which was a big chunk of the item cost And they offered another partial refund . I spoke PayPal who agreed it was unreasonable , I didn’t know the item was coming from China. PayPal refunded in full and the item wasn’t returned/ sent it to the charity shop

@PotatoBasher
I've used New Chic too, mainly from their clearance section so sizes available were a bit random but the items were VERY cheap, e.g. dress under £5 etc. The sizing can be a bit off and the quality is really hit and miss. I have a few items that were really nice, but yes, some tops that were nowhere near as nice as they looked in the picture.
The bras are most peculiar. I ordered a few, again, cheaply from the clearance section. None of them had underwire, but they were actually very well made and a supportive structure that lifted your breast really high.
Another friend had a bad experience with the targeted ads for sandals that look great, but arrive a cheap and ill-fitting shoe, nothing like the picture.

I ordered £108 worth of Monsoon clothes from a FB ad, and instead received a pair of obviously fake Ray-Ban sunglasses. I contacted the company and after being given lots of excuses (the correct items were sent, the correct items weren't sent) was offered an 80% refund.
I'll be claiming back the full amount via chargeback from the credit card company and reporting the advert to FB.

This is why I now don't use EBay for anything, and avoid Amazon as much as possible. I've had some right tat sent from both of them, and as someone said on here once, the quality of goods generally can be hugely variable from those sorts of online marketplaces.
If I see something I want on Amazon/EBay now, I have a look there for a rough idea of price, then go off and google a website within the UK selling the product. I usually have to pay slightly more in postage but I don't care, I see it as an investment to ensure I get a decent product with decent fallbacks should there be any problems.

yinu I’m sorry but you ordered a folding piano and got a cardboard picture of a piano?? That’s such a pisstake.

And that picnic mat!! Think I’ve been lucky but will me way more cautious now

Having a similar issue where I was offered (off PayPal) a 20% discount on a worthless cheap shirt. I’ve escalated to a claim.

One of my neighbours ordered her wedding dress from China. It looked lovely in photo but it did not arrive in time for the wedding dispite promise of 6 weeks. It arrived 2 weeks after wedding and was nothing like photo.

I've ordered many things off eBay from China as cuddly toys and small widgets are generally fine, and my kids like paying a couple quid for a toy that turns up 6 weeks later as a surprise.

I did once hit a fake website when I wanted Buffy DVDs and just missed Amazon doing them for a great price. Ordered using my credit card. They turned up in obvious fake packaging (by the BBC, apparently!) but my card company was on it before I contacted them and I was never charged.

The DVDs work perfectly so that was a win!

Why are people surprised when they buy something for 10% of the normal retail price and they get crap. It is quite obvious that the goods they are ordering are not what they seem

Grrr!

I escalated this to PayPal and proposed as a resolution that I be refunded all but USD$2.50 of the transaction (cost was USD$39.98, so I should get USD$37.48 back). The value declared by the sellers on the customs declaration was USD$5, and I thought it not unreasonable to halve this to reflect the disappointment and inconvenience of the attempted scam. This would also be less hassle for me than sending it back for a full refund.

It seems that PayPal agreed, but the muppet processing the complaint put the wrong figures into the system and has refunded me USD$2.50!

I'm hoping that PayPal will review the decision and sort it out, otherwise I will see if I can still raise a dispute via my credit card from which the PayPal payment is made.