Incredible cheek - how to proceed?

FutureGuy

I recently purchased a present of a paint brushe set and dvds from the online store of a very famous television painter. I bought 3 brushes in a set, a 3-set dvd box of classic landscapes and another dvd of Irish landscapes.

I paid via paypal and the goods arrived about a week later. So far so good.

My mum is not one to complain but she got onto me regarding the poor quality of what she received. All items are advertised as new.

1) 3-DVD landscapes set
The box was clearly used. One of the 3 discs was missing and the other two had smudges and scratches all over the dvd. You would not believe the state they were in

2) Irish landscapes DVD
The dvd was dirty, had scratches and had a fine white powder all over it.

3) Paintbursh kit
It wasn't a kit but 3 brushes thrown in. One of the brushes was sent in the wrong size holder which damaged the brush en route.

I paid via PayPal and rang the customer services number a week ago. The guy on the other side was evasive and hung up twice. I sent 2 e-mails to their customer services e-mail and received no reply.

I opened a dispute with paypal after days of no contact. Today, when I paid a visit home, I got to see the delivery first hand and was stunned at the cheek of the people to send it.

I rang the number again and asked for the person that was on the e-mail address (X@Y.com). His son answered, and I asked if X was there. He said hed be home at 6.30 but when I stated what I was ringing about, he hung up. After 13 calls and 13 hang ups, I finally got through and stated I want to speak to X and if he did not return a call, I would be seeking advice on how to claim my money back.

I escalated the paypal claim so that paypal would intervene.

10 minutes later, got a call from X saying he knew nothing of the company and that I must have the wrong number. I pointed out the coincidence that his name and the name on the e-mail were the same. I ended the call amicably, stating that if he had nothing to do with the company, it was fine but that I would be seeking advice on how to proceed against the company that send me the merchandise.

Tonight, I received an e-mail from paypal stating that since I received goods that PayPal will not intervene.

So I'm 50 euro out of pocket and not sure how to proceed.The e-mail and phone of the company are wither wrong or fake. It's not the money I'm after, it's someone to take responsibility for sending out incredibly poor quality goods.

Can anyone give me advice on how to proceed?

TouchingVirus

Paypal should provide you with the full details of the recipient of your money, but you may have to go to the Gardai to get Paypal to release this information for you.

They should also be registered if they are an Irish company so check with the CRO. Make sure you get the contact details correct is your first step.

If it is a company, or a sole trader, it sounds like a small claims court trip is in order.

If it's an individual then I'm not sure.

Since the items were bought outside of ebay Paypal only has the power to deal with disputes about the delivery of an item (i.e. I never received the item). For things like "not as described" or whatever it only does those disputes if buying through ebay. You could try calling your bank and getting them to do a chargeback. Let the seller come calling for their products then?

MarkR

If there is an online store, and you have a receipt, I'd go down the route of small claims. It'll either light a fire under their ass, or you'll get it resolved.

FutureGuy

I have the paypal receipt. The e-mail address of the person who is the contact on the paypal is the same guy who is listed on the website AND the guy who is the contact for the official Facebook page. Also, the guy that answered the phone has the same name.

If the e-mail address is not being answered and the phone number is "apparently" wrong, then I'm not sure how the gardai can contact this person.

TouchingVirus

FutureGuy wrote: »

I have the paypal receipt. The e-mail address of the person who is the contact on the paypal is the same guy who is listed on the website AND the guy who is the contact for the official Facebook page. Also, the guy that answered the phone has the same name.

If the e-mail address is not being answered and the phone number is "apparently" wrong, then I'm not sure how the gardai can contact this person.

Contact your bank, dispute the charge.

FutureGuy

Perhaps a post outline my problem would attrat more attention on his facebook page?

TouchingVirus

FutureGuy wrote: »

Perhaps a post outline my problem would attrat more attention on his facebook page?

I reckon it would be swiftly deleted and do you no favours

Jev/N

FutureGuy wrote: »

Perhaps a post outline my problem would attrat more attention on his facebook page?

If there are any issues as to truth, you could be looking at an issue of defamation if you took that route.

Even if not, as already mentioned, it would do no favours if you took a trip to the Small Claims Court.

Did you check a Who Is? of the website and if a company, a CRO search for addresses etc.?

FutureGuy

Jev/N wrote: »

If there are any issues as to truth, you could be looking at an issue of defamation if you took that route.

Even if not, as already mentioned, it would do no favours if you took a trip to the Small Claims Court.

Did you check a Who Is? of the website and if a company, a CRO search for addresses etc.?

There is no who is information on the website. The CRO search gives no information

deadl0ck

The website registration details may tell you who the company or person is.

Try here : http://www.whoislookup.ie/ and see what's listed under the registrant details.

Mods - Can FutureGuy name and shame ???

FutureGuy

deadl0ck, I checked the website and found a contact address which happens to be the actual artist.

I may send him an e-mail explaining the situation in a very factual matter. I have a feeling he would have nothing to do with the online shop portion of the website as it seems like the same guy is doing customer services and the facebook account.

axer

TouchingVirus wrote: »

Contact your bank, dispute the charge.

You can't do that since you would be charging back on paypal even though paypal provided the service that was paid for.

dudara

deadl0ck wrote: »

Mods - Can FutureGuy name and shame ???

Ah - No

dudara

MOH

FutureGuy wrote: »

There is no who is information on the website. The CRO search gives no information

Did you check for business names as well as company names on the CRO?
If it's a sole trader operating under anything other than his own name he should have the business name registered.

Check the website registration on http://www.domaintools.com/ to confirm who owns it.

FutureGuy

Just to update everyone. I received an email from a guy affiliated with the website. They said they would send out a replacement DVD. Of course, that's only one of a number of things wrong wioth the order, so I'll see what they send. Also, his spelling/grammar was pretty poor which makes me a little suspicious.

I'll wait and see, and will keep everyone informed.

phil1nj

I thought that you could file an "item not as described" claim with PayPal if you were not happy with the goods recevied from an online purchase (I've done this in the past with several items purchased on eBay).
The only downside to this is that you must return the goods back to the seller at your own expense i.e. pay for it to be posted with tracking. Once you provide proof of this within your claim details then the dispute should be decided in your favour. Even though you've taken delivery of the item you still have the option of taking the seller to task if the goods are not up to scratch. Unless PayPals dispute policies have changed in the past couple of years, this is what I imagined should have been the correct course of action for them to take.

penexpers

phil1nj wrote: »

(I've done this in the past with several items purchased on eBay).

Here's the problem - you can only do that for items purchased on ebay - this was not purchased on ebay.