Need advice: I think I may have been ripped off!

[Handmaiden]

I bought TOG Redesigned from a seller on a used curriculum board (not this one) and her ad said that it was new and included 4 pop quiz cds. I just received the box and 1) it is definitely NOT new (has writing in it and the binders are very shabby; 2) the pop quiz cds are not there, just the cards; and 3) the Loom CD, which is supposed to be a part of redesigned, is not in there.

 

I emailed her but haven't received a reply yet.

 

To say that I am upset is an understatement! This was a very expensive purchase, and now I have no idea if I will get everything that's been promised. :(

 

This is the first time in years that I've had a transaction go sour. It sure turns me off to online buying, but at the same time I don't want to stop buying used! I really can't afford to buy all new curriculum.

 

What can I do? Has anyone filed a transaction dispute with Paypal? Does anyone have advice for me?

 

Thanks for letting me vent! :banghead:

[joannqn]

I'd suggest that if you don't hear back from her or get a satisfactory response to go through Paypal's dispute process. That's what it is there for. My husband used it once a while ago and he got his money back.

[MamaT]

Oh no! You're scaring me. I also bought TOG used (supposed to be in mint condition), and I'm waiting for it to arrive(not off this board, either). I would be so angry. I would certainly go through Paypal dispute process and get my money back.

 

I hope you get this resolved and find another seller for what you need.

[Night Elf]

I think I heard not to wait too long to dispute something with paypal because once the money has been taken out of their account, paypal can't do much. Is that true?

[Melissa B]

I've only filed one dispute through paypal, but I won. A seller sent me a copy of a set of CDs instead of the actual CDs. I received all of my money back.

[Handmaiden]

Thanks for your replies! :grouphug:

 

I am trying hard not to panic. I still haven't heard from her. I want to give her the benefit of the doubt about the Loom and Pop Quiz CDs...maybe she forgot to include them for some reason...but to advertise something as "new" and then receive it obviously in used condition just doesn't sit right with me, kwim?

 

I hope it doesn't come to a paypal dispute. I have so much on my plate right now, and this is one more thing I'd have to deal with.

[KristenS]

Go through paypal, and also through whatever site you used if it has a dispute process.

 

Paypal seems to take things very seriously. My mom does a lot of ebay selling, and a buyer had an issue with her over something (this was the buyer's fault, though) and Paypal took care of everything. My mother was pleased with how they handled it. I would expect them to go to bat for you if what you received was not as described.

 

ETA: Another option, if you used a credit card via Paypal, is to use the credit card's dispute services too.

[Cindyg]

I think I heard not to wait too long to dispute something with paypal because once the money has been taken out of their account, paypal can't do much. Is that true?

 

Oh! Not true!

 

Just file a dispute through PayPal and you get to keep the product plus you get your money back for the purchase and the shipping!

 

I was ripped off by PayPal in just this way (as the innocent seller), and I will never sell anything through PayPal again. I despise PayPal and will happily warn everybody not to use it. It's great when it's great. But when you have a problem, the seller automatically loses. No recourse.

 

OP, you do need to file your dispute quickly. Don't wait.

 

But, whatever happened, you win.

[ConnieB]

You have to file your dispute with Paypal within 45 days of making the payment. You basically open up a dispute and through their process you are stating your case in an email format that goes to the Seller. They then have a specific time to respond. If they do not respond you must escalate your dispute to a claim (or if they respond but it doesn't resolve it). Watch the documentation you receive from Paypal closely for the date you must escalate....failure to do so timely forfeits your case!

 

Assuming that the dispute process doesn't resolve things and you escalate it to a claim, paypal will then review the case and make a decision.

 

If the ad said that there were CDs included and they weren't included.....then that would qualify under their "substantially not as promised" (or whatever the wording is, I'm on a laptop on a modem and can't open a second window, lol). I'm not sure that the Loom CD issue will stand up unless the ad specified it, maybe if it's a part of the program and not an extra? But, with the 4 CDs she specified not being there, that should be a given.

 

Now...the rub goes that even if you win, if there is no money in her account, then paypal can't pay you from that. Since it doesn't sound like it was purchased through ebay you also don't have their buyer protection, which would guarantee your refund even if the account is empty.

 

You can NOT file a dispute with your credit card company if you file a dispute with Paypal. Once they receive notice from the credit card company that you have done so, they will dismiss your paypal dispute and you can't refile it. BUT.....if you're not certain that there will be money in her account, going through your credit card company may be the better method in this case. I say that because you don't have the ebay protection which typically helps even if the paypal is empty. If your credit card finds in your favor they will do a charge back against Paypal (which means your money comes from Paypal's account, not the sellers). This gets your money back to you, but don't be surprised if Paypal then shuts down your Paypal account (they seem to do this sometimes, not all the time). I always figured if Paypal shut my account, I'll open one in DH's name.

 

One other suggestion.....some websites don't keep the advertisements up for very long after they are sold, so be sure that you print it out and also save it to your hard drive (if you use IE, choose "file" then "save as" then change the "type" to Web Archive. It will save the page as a .mht file which is viewable as an offline archive. Your credit card company will likely accept a mailed/faxed copy of the page, but Paypal may want a web based documentation, as they rarely do anything by snail mail or phone.

 

Good luck to you. I've had a few ebay purchases go south and it's never a good feeling to know that someone deliberately ripped you off. I hope that she writes back to you and it was all a mistake and she fixes it to your satisfaction, or if she doesn't have the CDs you need, that she offers a full refund. I've had those happen as well, so there is hope.

[Handmaiden]

Thanks, again, for the replies.

 

The ad is no longer on the site, but I did cut and paste her ad in my email to her saying I was interested. She replied with my original email attached, so that's the only proof I have.

 

Connie, thanks for the pros/cons of filing a dispute through paypal. I rarely have money in my own account as I always transfer cash to my bank acocunt immediately, so I wonder if this seller would have any in hers? There would be no way for me to tell. I'm going to have to pray through this one to figure out what to do.

 

As for the Loom, I've always believed it is a standard part of the year plan package. Are there any TOG users who can verify this?

Edited March 15, 2009 by Handmaiden

[Tree House Academy]

I would file the dispute if you do not hear back from her, but the money has to be in her account before they can refund you the money...even if they side with you. :( Ask me how I know... :(

[Handmaiden]

I forgot to share another piece of the puzzle.

 

This morning she emailed me (before I had a chance to go through the box and thoroughly examine the contents) and she said she found a literature worksheet that didn't make it into the binder, so she scanned it and emailed it to me.

 

I asked her if she could please send me the original. Scans don't print well on my computer.

 

I still haven't heard back from her.

 

If you're a pray-er, please pray that this gets resolved quickly and smoothly. I have so much going on in my life right now and don't want this to push me over the edge.

[Dawn E]

I think I heard not to wait too long to dispute something with paypal because once the money has been taken out of their account, paypal can't do much. Is that true?

 

Well, this was true for me. You only get money back if the seller has money in their account or if paypal is able to access their funds. In my situation, the seller had an account attached to a bank account and closed the bank account. So I won the claim and got nada...no product, no money. So...my advice is to file the dispute asap. Usually that will get the seller to respond to you and resolve the case. If you still hear nothing or get the runaround, escalate it to a claim and see what happens. In most cases things will get resolved in your favor quickly. Many people were burned by my seller, but I think she was probably more of an exception than a rule.

[Audrey]

I forgot to share another piece of the puzzle.

 

This morning she emailed me (before I had a chance to go through the box and thoroughly examine the contents) and she said she found a literature worksheet that didn't make it into the binder, so she scanned it and emailed it to me.

 

I asked her if she could please send me the original. Scans don't print well on my computer.

 

I still haven't heard back from her.

 

If you're a pray-er, please pray that this gets resolved quickly and smoothly. I have so much going on in my life right now and don't want this to push me over the edge.

 

 

Well... now, maybe I'm a little naive, but with that piece of info in place, I'm thinking maybe she's just a little disorganized. And, I wouldn't be so quick to worry if she didn't respond to email right away. Some people don't check email more than once a day, some even less than that.

 

It really could be an innocent mistake, and she didn't put everything in the package.

[Handmaiden]

Audrey, that's what I am hoping...that it is an innocent mistake about the cds and software.

 

The thing that still bothers me, though, is that it was advertised as "new" when it was clearly not. You know, I would still have bought it used, in good condition...it's the principle of the matter. I try really hard not to misrepresent the condition of the books I sell.

 

I'd really rather not go through a dispute, so I'm hoping she responds with a resolution, but it involves a lot of money and my curriculum budget is not limitless.

[Audrey]

Audrey, that's what I am hoping...that it is an innocent mistake about the cds and software.

 

The thing that still bothers me, though, is that it was advertised as "new" when it was clearly not. You know, I would still have bought it used, in good condition...it's the principle of the matter. I try really hard not to misrepresent the condition of the books I sell.

 

I'd really rather not go through a dispute, so I'm hoping she responds with a resolution, but it involves a lot of money and my curriculum budget is not limitless.

 

Oh, yes... there is that -- the "not really new" condition. Well, still... I'll think positively for you and hope you get a satisfactory resolution soon. :001_smile:

[bella_gitana]

I had something similar happen to me a few years ago. The lady took her jolly ol' time shipping, when she told me she would be going to the PO the next day. I'd email her and she'd take 4-5 days to reply. I finally receive my box 3 weeks later and an item is missing. I email her again. She replies a few days later with some silly excuse, that she left the item out and didn't notice until after she had mailed out the box, but she would ship it the next day.

To make a longer story short, I never received the missing item, the other things she did send were not as good as she had described, and worst of all Paypal denied my claim because it had been more than 30 days since the transaction. I believe she was stalling to make it past the 30 days. It used to be 30 days, but some one mentioned 45, so maybe it has changed in the last couple of years.

Good luck!

[Handmaiden]

She replied back but didn't have satisfactory answers. Said that I didn't ask about the Loom, and that she thought she had put the Pop Quiz CDs in there. She never responded to my question about why she described it as new when it clearly wasn't.

 

I said that I would like to send it back to her if she sent me reimbursement for my original payment plus shipping back to her, which she did tonight through PayPal.

 

So all's well that end's well.

 

Thanks for all your advice. I pray I never have to go through this again, and I hope none of you do either!

[ConnieB]

She replied back but didn't have satisfactory answers. Said that I didn't ask about the Loom, and that she thought she had put the Pop Quiz CDs in there. She never responded to my question about why she described it as new when it clearly wasn't.

 

I said that I would like to send it back to her if she sent me reimbursement for my original payment plus shipping back to her, which she did tonight through PayPal.

 

So all's well that end's well.

 

Thanks for all your advice. I pray I never have to go through this again, and I hope none of you do either!

 

 

I'm so glad that it turned out well in the end for you. Many times when sellers are willing to take an item back it's with the buyer paying the return shipping and the refund not including the shipping that was paid in the original purchase. The fact that she paid shipping both ways means she likely knew she was in the wrong, or at least that she'd lose in the dispute.

 

It may be interesting to watch her listings and see if she relists it and makes the proper corrections about it's condition and the missing items.

Edited March 19, 2009 by ConnieB
Edited to remove "Ebay" because after I hit send I realized OP had said it wasn't an ebay listing. Sorry.