Recieved mouldy shoes in post but...

[GrogusMam]

I had a pair of shoes that I had bought and I absolutely loved them but they were too big. They were a shoe that is now discontinued and you cannot buy new.

I saw a post on FB marketplace of someone selling the shoes as 'worn once'.

So I bought them and paid via PayPal.

They have just arrived and they are mouldy inside!

The woman said she would not have sent them mouldy but I went back on the listing photos and without the flash on its much harder to tell but you can see the mould! But you wouldn't notice it if you weren't searching for it due to lighting and angles if that makes sense? So they were mouldy before they left.

Thing is, I do want to keep them, they are my size and they don't come up often.

Would PayPal allow me to persue a partial refund so I can get them properly cleaned inside? They're leather and I wouldn't want to do it myself.

The woman said if I send them back she will refund me when they arrive back but I don't want to post them back incase she doesn't and she also said she wouldn't return the 2 sets of postage I would pay either :(

They are immaculate and look completely new except for the mould inside which is bizarre!

here is a link to the image if anyone cares to see

Ask the seller for a refund and offer to return them but if they refuse, raise a dispute with pay pal. I did it recently for a pair of boots that didn't meet the description and pay pal refunded me.

Did you pay f&f or g&s? If goods and services you could open a case with PayPal.

Yes. Goods and services.

They look like they’ve been packed away damp. My DD’s shoes used to be like this when she came home from uni.

I know it’s still an issue with the seller but If you like them, could you not clean off the mould with a weak bleach solution? To make sure they’re as dry as they can be, fill 2 socks with cat litter and leave them in the shoes for a few days as it acts as a desiccant.

Is that her pic or yours? If it's hers I'm not sure if it's better you can see it to prove they're mouldy, or bad it's so obvious that they'll say you knew what you were getting?

Loads of my shoes have gone like this since we lived in a damp house. They're in an open drawer under my bed with ventilation but that doesn't seem to have helped.

They proably were worn once, then put away at the bottom of a wardrobe or in a cupboard and they've slowly gone mouldy as they've been undisturbed.

Not that that helps with your refund, but it's a bit minging that she didn't clean them before selling them!

No that's the photo I've taken.

Can you not just swab them with some white vinegar? It just looks like a bit of surface mould from being in a cupboard with a damp/condensation problem.

Obv if you spent a lot on them then return for a refund, but I don't think they need professionally cleaned, nor do I think that would achieve anything you couldn't do at home.

Looks like mildew not mould

Crunch up a sheet of newspaper and give them a rub. They’ve been packed away damp or the damp spores got worse in postage.