Overpaid shipping: is it possible to file a PayPal claim? • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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Overpaid shipping: is it possible to file a PayPal claim?
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Alexander
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:55 pm

I bought a lot of MERP modules from a French seller. He billed me 30 euros for shipping, but he spent around 12 euros

I'm not against a little rounding up of shipping costs, but 18 euros is waaaay too much money! Does PayPal accept claims of this kind or will I be forced to use some of the Dark Arts of PayPal I learned in all these years? :twisted:

JasonZavoda
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:01 pm

Alexander1968 wrote:I bought a lot of MERP modules from a French seller. He billed me 30 euros for shipping, but he spent around 12 euros I'm not against a little rounding up of shipping costs, but 18 euros is waaaay too much money! Does PayPal accept claims of this kind or will I be forced to use some of the Dark Arts of PayPal I learned in all these years?

Dark arts most likely. Had a similar case recently and was forced to just neg the bastard.

benjoshua
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:50 pm

I asked this question on page three of this thread (it starts at the bottom of the page):

viewtopic.php?t=10032&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=40

The bottom line is no, Paypal will not reimburse you for the difference. The main advice I got in my situation was to neg the seller and not go through the hassle of communicating. Personally, I like to be patient with people and give them every chance to make it right.

One thing you should never ever do is threaten or say anything that could be interpreted as a threat. No warnings either. I give people a chance, make sure they understand the lay of the land, laws of eBay, whatever, and then do what I have to do.

Make sure you go ahead, right now, and block the seller now so there's little chance of retaliatory buying, unless you never sell.

You do have a couple of other more complicated options:

1) You could claim that what you bought was significantly different than what you paid for. While the item may be exactly what you paid for, the shipping clearly isn't, and you aren't likely to get much traction with this approach although there is an eBay procedure for this.

2) If the seller didn't use tracking on the item, you can claim you never received the item you paid for, get all your money back from Paypal/eBay and then send the seller by separate payment what you should have been charged to begin with.

Good luck!

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

copycat
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:53 pm

It comes down to a question of ethics. Are you a better person than the ass? If not, then you have a lot of options. If you are, then you have fewer ones, but you'll probably feel good about them.

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:56 pm

In a word... No.
You have no claim.
You do have the right to leave negative feedback though.

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

benjoshua
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 2:58 pm

serleran wrote:It comes down to a question of ethics. Are you a better person than the ass? If not, then you have a lot of options. If you are, then you have fewer ones, but you'll probably feel good about them.

True. Take your time on the resolution. Take a day or two to stew on it. You are more likely to do the right thing by eBay, the laws of the land and yourself.

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

TheHistorian
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:56 pm

First, I would just ask the seller for a partial refund of shipping, since he didn't use it all. Don't threaten, don't mention reporting anything, just ask. You might get lucky.

If not, report it through ebay, not paypal. They can do something about it, although it may just be censuring the seller. In my experience, I've had better luck picking up the phone and talking with someone than using the automated claims, but that's probably random.

This is an area that ebay is interested in pursuing, because they don't get a direct cut of inflated shipping charges (although when you pay via paypal, they get a bit there).

Areas of interest/knowledge: Harn, WFRP, Ars Magica, anything BRP based such as CoC, Runequest, Pendragon and all their related games

gembala
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:15 pm

It sucks that some sellers are overcharging on shipping. But it could be an honest mistake--before posting a neg, why not take a chance and ask him to refund the difference, less any extra costs for packing materials? If they are interested in keeping their good rating, they'll probably be willing to negotiate a suitable refund.

Of course, if they don't respond, deny the request outright, or generally are not being professional, you should certainly post a negative on their feedback.

Doug Williams
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:19 pm

gembala wrote:It sucks that some sellers are overcharging on shipping. But it could be an honest mistake--before posting a neg, why not take a chance and ask him to refund the difference, less any extra costs for packing materials? If they are interested in keeping their good rating, they'll probably be willing to negotiate a suitable refund.

Of course, if they don't respond, deny the request outright, or generally are not being professional, you should certainly post a negative on their feedback.

^^^^^Agree.

killjoy32
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Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:45 pm

gembala wrote:It sucks that some sellers are overcharging on shipping. But it could be an honest mistake--before posting a neg, why not take a chance and ask him to refund the difference, less any extra costs for packing materials? If they are interested in keeping their good rating, they'll probably be willing to negotiate a suitable refund.

Of course, if they don't respond, deny the request outright, or generally are not being professional, you should certainly post a negative on their feedback.

exactly what i would do.

Are we nearly there yet?

Alexander
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 4:57 am

I have already sent him some days ago a polite message explaining my problem and asking for a partial refund. No answers. And I have alreafy left positive feedback during one my feedback leaving marathons :oops:

. Hm, I'll use some unsporting method... I have just filed a complaint with PayPal mentioning problems with shipping costs AND items significantly different...

UPDATE: seller refunded me 18 euros and closed my complaint

benjoshua
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 7:15 am

Alexander1968 wrote:I have already sent him some days ago a polite message explaining my problem and asking for a partial refund. No answers. And I have alreafy left positive feedback during one my feedback leaving marathons . Hm, I'll use some unsporting method... I have just filed a complaint with PayPal mentioning problems with shipping costs AND items significantly different...

UPDATE: seller refunded me 18 euros and closed my complaint

It is amazing how asking nicely can usually resolve the issue. Too often we get fearful of the worst and allow paranoia to ruin any chance of resolution.
Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering. Hmmm, that's pretty good. I should make a movie with that quote in it. :wink:

Truth is worth finding and life is too short to work for money.

copycat
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:33 am

Actually, it was probably not the asking nicely but the dispute which caught the seller's attention.

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

Alexander
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:55 am

serleran wrote:Actually, it was probably not the asking nicely but the dispute which caught the seller's attention.

Yes indeed. My polite request for a refund went nowhere for three days (and I asked just for 15 euros of refund), no replies at all, so I was forced to use the heavy hand

I don't like - being a seller myself - using strong arm or subtle tactics and I have no problems in a little rounding up (escpecially for big packages) but 18 euros... :roll:

ashmire13
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 12:26 pm

I've recently sold a few items and on the few where the charge was over on shipping, I refunded the £couple that was the difference. Makes life easy and hopefully creates good karma back my way one day... :lol:

Although, I have just received a mail from a buyer in Oz getting the arse on because his items haven't turned up yet. Shipping was only £3.60 and he is complaining that the goods aren't there yet and that I should have posted it the cheapest way for £1.60!!

Rolls a '3'

"Did I hit.....?"

misterspock
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Posted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 1:25 pm

I'm glad that went well for you

It's always difficult to gauge whether someone's intentionally trying to rip you off or whether it's just an honest mistake.

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