Ebay / Paypal Faulty Items Claim

[hundreddolla]

I recently purchased an iphone on ebay for £240. When it arrived it had faulty speakers. I emailed the seller stating that the product was faulty and i wanted to return it. At first he claimed i was lying, then when i escalated it to a paypal claim, stated that he would refund my money, stating that he now thought the phone had been damaged in transit. I should mention at this point that it was sent via Royal Mail Next Day Special Delivery, which is insured. I have had nothing back from him since regarding the refund. I still have to wait for Paypal to decide on the claim. I know Paypal is a dog with no teeth, and that i will only see the refund via Paypal if there are funds in the seller's Paypal account - highly unlikely.
My question is this: What do i do when ultimately Paypal cannot refund any money, because there are no funds in the seller's Paypal account? What other roads can i go down to get my money back?
Thanks.

[pink-kittens]

"i will only see the refund via Paypal if there are funds in the seller's Paypal account"

Not true at all assuming the listing was covered by PP protection (which is true, up to £500, in 99.99% of listings). You will get your refund if you have done as pp asked and sent it back by trackable means. Whether the seller has funds is completely irrelevant - they will refund you and get the money from the seller, and they chase hard and fast.
You will just have to be patient PP are notoriously slow

Was he a business seller? If so, then under DSR law he should also refund your return postage, however, that is unlilkely and TBH, not worth chasing.

[hundreddolla]

Thanks Pink Kittens, below are the Eligibility Requirements for a Paypal claim cut and pasted from their website in the dispute console. Read what it says next to the ***** Whereas you state - Whether the seller has funds is completely irrelevant - they will refund you and get the money from the seller, and they chase hard and fast.

Eligibility Requirements

Claims can only be made for physical goods that can be posted and are not prohibited.

Buyers must raise a dispute within 45 days of a single PayPal payment for the full price of the item. If no satisfactory response is received from the seller, a claim must be filed within 20 days of raising the dispute.
Buyers cannot make multiple claims on the same payment.

***********IIf the Claim is decided in your favour, your recovery is limited to the amounts that PayPal can recover from the seller's Account.

How do you explain this?!?!

[pink-kittens]

That is true, for NON eBay sales
For eBay sales you will get your money back whether the seller has the money in his account or not

[hundreddolla]

oh i sooo hope you're right! These are the Eligibility Terms that come up after choosing the ebay options, so i naturally thought they would apply to ebay as well.

[pink-kittens]

Yup, tis true =)
It's an agreement PP have with eBay and eBay are the only company they have this agreement with. If you'd bought your iphone direct from, say, ARGOS, and paid by PP you wouldn't get anything back if there was nothing in the sellers a/c - thankfully it WAS an eBay sale

Just one other thing though - this is a UK based seller isn't it?

Come back and let us know once you have your refund =)

[hundreddolla]

Yeah UK seller. I'm still waiting on the Paypal verdict, apparently i'll know on 10th October. I'll let you know! Thanks for your help thus far Pink Kittens!

[hundreddolla]

I got my back! Woo Hoo! Thanks Pink Kittens!