Paypal does tend to treat customers outside US quite different…
PayPal screwed me recently also. They told me I had to ship the bad product back to China even though the sellers web site clearly stated it would take returns at its California warehouse. I paid with a PP balance also, so I couldn’t take the matter up with my credit card company either. Last time that ever happens.
So I had to escalate my claim through Paypal and I eventually got a partial refund.
I understand how these companies work…that they are just drop shippers that never actually see/hold the product. However this is by far the worst customer service I have experienced when buying flashlights online.
TMART purposely dragged it out as long as they could and kept insisting that this tiny dim LED was the “New Generation” XM-L, despite me having overwhelming evidence. They basically told me that I don’t know what I’m talking about.
Places like Fasttech, Banggood, and Gearbest might not be perfect they have actual customer service and they will indeed work with you to resolve issues.
Needless to say I won’t be buying from TMART again. It’s just not worth the hassle.
Whoa… if paypal really starts to demand that we send the products back at our expense, it will dramatically reduce my online shopping. The return shipping might sometimes cost more than the actual product did. Paypal has worked pretty nicely so far, maybe the separation from ebay changed their policies?
Wasn’t there an ebay-related thread a few days ago discussing how it’s actually illegal to send a counterfeit product back to the seller? Was Paypal disputing that the LED sold by Tmart was fake?
Gearbest is just as bad. I recently ordered an item that came DOA and they refuse to refund me or send another item. I opened a paypal claim and I’m currently waiting for paypal to decide.