Ebay deal gone bad, Paypal gone crazy. EDIT : solved

Just thought I'd ask for advice here, seeing as it's a problem with a UK-based seller. Here's the whole story :

A while ago I bought a bunch of tools and a rollcab on Ebay. Due to the rollcab's size, it was shipped as a separate parcel.
The small parcel with the tools arrived within a week, but the one that consisted of the rollcab didn't. According to the tracking info, it was delivered to a completely different person on the other side of Belgium.

As soon as I found out, I contacted the seller. They promised they'd let the courier pick it up again where it was delivered and ship it my way. More than a month later I am still waiting. I'm a patient man, but there are limits.
A few hours before the 45 day deadline I started a dispute, asking for the seller to either send me another rollcab or to refund me the price of the rollcab.
The seller's reply : "We'll give a refund if you send back the item". Kinda hard when the item never arrived to begin with, isn't it?

Of course I escalate it to a claim, asking for either a new rollcab or a refund of the item's price without even factoring in the shipping costs. That's how fed up I was with the whole thing.
Paypal has decided that I can get a full refund if I send back the rest of the order and the seller verifies that everything is there and in good condition.

After more than a month, the tools are in used condition and I made some modifications to some of them. Also, one of them (a pedal spanner) was bought because I broke a friend's spanner on a stuck pedal and hence felt obliged to give him a replacement. As a result, not everything is in my possession anymore and hence sending them back is not an option.
Paypal doesn't care, their helpdesk wench told me that it was the only way I was ever going to get my money back. Basically I'm screwed out of £200-ish.

Is there some sort of trading standards organisation in the UK where I can file a complaint?
Also, has anyone got any experience with absurd Paypal rulings and, more importantly, how to get them to review their decision?

I'm not naming and shaming yet because it's ongoing. However if you're buying tools on Ebay and the seller's name consists of "parts", "care" and "ultimate" (not necessarily in that order), be sure to state your address at least 5 times.

Re: Ebay deal gone bad, Paypal gone crazy. What now?

Take him to the small claims track of the county court for your money. Problem is, you've got to get yourself there if he decides to go the whole way, and there's no guarantee of having your expenses awarded even if you win.

At the very least, print off the form, fill it out, send it to them with a letter giving them 7 days to either refund or provide a replacement or you'll lodge the form with XYZ county court. Inform them that any further correspondance will be charged at £50 a letter and added to the claim. I've don't it twice, and each time they folded and I got my dosh.

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I have been repeatedly successful getting part refunds. I would imagine the seller would be prepared to offer such after negotiation. That would be my next move anyway.

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Just call PayPal. Although the items were bought in one transaction they are still separate items, it helps that they shipped them separately as you can prove the item was never received by you.
Their system will not be able to separate it but if you speak to them they'll be able to help.
Ebay guarantee you will get your item which you haven't so instead you'll get a refund.
If you need a cheaper number to call just use the 'say no to 0870' website to find a landline number which should be cheaper than the 0845 local number they'll have for the UK.
Both eBay and PayPal are very buyer focused so it shouldn't be too hard once they have all of the info.

Re: Ebay deal gone bad, Paypal gone crazy. What now?

Agree with the above.

Give them a call.

I had an issue with a sale and PP recently. Gave them a call (free phone from the UK) and the issue was sorted in 10 minutes whilst I was on the phone.

Re: Ebay deal gone bad, Paypal gone crazy. What now?

I did talk to them on the phone, and it didn't provide any solution. Basically PayPal insist that I need to ship the rest of the order back (in original unopened packaging) before I get a full refund.
Partial refunds are out of the question because they claim they can't calculate the actual amount they'd need to refund from a multi-item order. I don't see the problem, as the missing item's price is clearly listed on the Ebay page and the seller doesn't do combined shipping.

I sent Paypal a mail to object to their decision on Wednesday, but despite their "we'll try to get back to you in 24 hours", I haven't heard anything back.
I'm supposed to submit tracking info BEFORE tomorrow, so I guess they'll just let that deadline pass and then tell me it's too late and the dispute is closed.

If that happens I'll contact the seller, giving them 48 hours to come up with my refund or a new tracking number. I have until the end of the week to leave feedback, and I will mention my next move in there.

I already have the N1 form, but still need to fill it in. I also need to find out which county court Mirfield (West Yorkshire) falls under.

TBH I'd prefer not to go the court route, but I'm not prepared to lose £180 because some muppet put the wrong address on a box and Paypal is too lazy to do anything about it.
Come to think of it, I really should do something about them too.

Re: Ebay deal gone bad, Paypal gone crazy. What now?

Sounds like PayPal are being unreasonable. They'd not look good in a small claims court.trying to explain their position.

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Turns out it's not Paypal who are unreasonable or at fault. I phoned them again today and the helpdesk explained the problem.

The seller has told them that he wants to get the items back and give a full refund. Seeing as the seller is willing to give a refund, apparently they have no option but to respect his wishes on how to do it.
Even the helpdesk employee and his supervisor find it rather absurd, but apparently there's nothing they can do. They did extend the claim's deadline though.

Looks like I'm going to have to contact the seller and give him an ultimatum. The deadline for feedback is Thursday and I have noticed that the seller is very sensitive to that, so I still have one ace up my sleeve.


Getting so tired of this nonsense ...

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Problem is one or two red feedbacks mean didly squat in the scheme of many positive feedbacks.
Be interesting how this land out.
Just send it (other part) back even if it has nothing to do with the other item. Saying they are as good as they can be given they have nothing to do with the other part.
I cannot see,from what you say, why PayPal in not seeing a better way forward.

Re: Ebay deal gone bad, Paypal gone crazy. What now?

Sadly you need to get the spanner back from your friend and comply. These people are being dreadfully awkward, but take a deep breath and get your money back.