tl;dr - Just wanted to vent. I bought into a scam. Only lost $30, so no big deal, but I expected to be better protected by PayPal.
At the beginning of lockdown, I saw an ad on Instagram for this stupid cornhole-like game, but you play with golf clubs and balls. The cost was about $30 and the ad was clearly plugging the game itself -- it showed families in the backyard playing the game, etc. First red flag was that the PayPal payment was going to some weird Chinese company -- SHENZHEN SOWEWAY INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS CO.,LIMITED -- but again, I figured PayPal would have my back if things went south.
Fast forward two months, nothing has arrived at all. I then get in the mail a single unbranded golf ball. At first, I thought that more was coming in the mail, so I wait another week or so. Then, going back to see exactly what I'd bought, I saw this description, including the weird symbols:
"��$18.9 Sale Now!!��Outdoor Golf Game - High-density foam practice sphere."
So, yeah. I bought a golf ball instead of a game. They could say that I should have read closer, and I admit that I should have, but I contend that the description above is purposefully hard to read. Oh well.
So I file a complaint and wait weeks for PayPal to get their shit together. Yesterday, I get an email that says I've been approved for a refund. Success! The catch: I need to return the golf ball (which I threw away) and I need to pay for shipping back to China. I don't have an exact cost, but this makes the whole thing pretty clearly not worth my time. Assuming $20 to get the ball home, I net a refund of less than $10, as well as months of frustration.
Here's the thing. This is explicitly and intentionally the company's plan. They absolutely know that they'll be protected from the majority of returns by this rule. They are completely unharmed by bad reviews, as their operation was short-lived. Anybody who wants to return the ball is welcome. Nearly everyone else who chooses to just eat the loss is a $30 win for them.
So, there it is. I'll keep using PayPal to do work with you all, but I'd say we're not nearly as well protected as we believe we are.
EDIT: Typo.
At the beginning of lockdown, I saw an ad on Instagram for this stupid cornhole-like game, but you play with golf clubs and balls. The cost was about $30 and the ad was clearly plugging the game itself -- it showed families in the backyard playing the game, etc. First red flag was that the PayPal payment was going to some weird Chinese company -- SHENZHEN SOWEWAY INTERNATIONAL LOGISTICS CO.,LIMITED -- but again, I figured PayPal would have my back if things went south.
Fast forward two months, nothing has arrived at all. I then get in the mail a single unbranded golf ball. At first, I thought that more was coming in the mail, so I wait another week or so. Then, going back to see exactly what I'd bought, I saw this description, including the weird symbols:
"��$18.9 Sale Now!!��Outdoor Golf Game - High-density foam practice sphere."
So, yeah. I bought a golf ball instead of a game. They could say that I should have read closer, and I admit that I should have, but I contend that the description above is purposefully hard to read. Oh well.
So I file a complaint and wait weeks for PayPal to get their shit together. Yesterday, I get an email that says I've been approved for a refund. Success! The catch: I need to return the golf ball (which I threw away) and I need to pay for shipping back to China. I don't have an exact cost, but this makes the whole thing pretty clearly not worth my time. Assuming $20 to get the ball home, I net a refund of less than $10, as well as months of frustration.
Here's the thing. This is explicitly and intentionally the company's plan. They absolutely know that they'll be protected from the majority of returns by this rule. They are completely unharmed by bad reviews, as their operation was short-lived. Anybody who wants to return the ball is welcome. Nearly everyone else who chooses to just eat the loss is a $30 win for them.
So, there it is. I'll keep using PayPal to do work with you all, but I'd say we're not nearly as well protected as we believe we are.
EDIT: Typo.
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