Open Paypal Claim Even When Seller Agrees To Return?

I bought a record from a Discogs seller and it arrived damaged. He agreed to a return and provided me with a return label (though, only after I asked.) I'm wondering, should I start a Paypal claim anyway? Or simply trust his word? Opening a claim would let me keep track of the tracking and progress, and the amount would be automatically refunded to me, I believe.

Factors that make this a tough decision for me:
- Despite agreeing to return, seller was a jerk in his communication and I can't really trust him
- If I send this back to him and he doesn't refund me in full or just sends me back a partial amount, what recourse do I have if I haven't opened a claim in the first place?

Hoping someone here with experience can provide an answer on the matter. Thanks.

 

Open the claim, I don't think it impacts him in a negative way, but you have to protect yourself first and foremost

 

If it were me, I'd wait to see until it's all figured out through Discogs and the seller. I think you have 120 days to file a claim. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that number. When it's done and you want to leave negative feedback, most likely the seller will be able to have it taken off if they did refund you. I'd go the route of neutral feedback and be careful of your wording. Don't get personal.

 

I typically don’t leave negative feedback even when I want to because it invites retaliatory negative feedback, and I wouldn’t want to jeopardize my score. A lot of sellers don’t allow buyers with less than perfect feedback from purchasing (I know I have that set up on my seller account.)

 

I always think it's jerky when sellers won't leave good feedback until the buyer leaves feedback.

 

Do you a tracking number for the return? If so you can prove you've returned it your seller should you have to open a Paypal refund if he dicks around with refunding after receiving it. Paypal gives you 180 days to file a claim.

 

Ok so that was an initial question of mine. You're saying after I return it to him I can still open a PP claim and show that it was returned via the tracking? I wasn't aware it worked like that.

 

I usually don’t leave feedback first if I’ve had no experience with the buyer. If someone tries to pull a scam on me like the guy who claimed his LPs were scuffed and I have already left positive feedback, all I can do is remove it. But this individual has been my only shady buyer, while sellers have been outstanding. Even the two or three LPs I bought that didn’t play skip free were credited in full.

I don’t leave feedback after every purchase but when it is positive, due to prompt shipping, excellent descriptions of items and excellent packing. Today’s purchase arrived and I was surprised that some items were graded far too conservatively.

 

If he doesn't refund yes. Paypal, before they'll grant you a refund, requires that you send it back and provide them with proof it being received by tracking number.

 

What if when he gets the return he refunds me only partial? Can I still open a claim to get the rest?

 

That I'm not certain about. Best to contact Paypal itself on this or maybe someone else knows.

 

Good points. While there are shady sellers, there are certainly shady buyers too. There are also new buyers who don't quite understand what Discogs really is. Just the other day for work, some guy was asking where his cd was. I had to explain we sent it out one day after the order was placed, it had only been six days, there is a tracking number available that says 'expected delivery', and that we aren't Amazon. This was also on President's Day weekend so no mail was running for two days.

 

You are damaging the integrity of the feedback system if you are not leaving honest feedback due to fear of retaliation.

And if I blocked every buyer who has at least one ding for no payment I would miss out on plenty of sales. I simply ask the buyer when I should expect payment if it has not been made instantly. If I get no answer within 48 hours I look at their feedback and if they have zero, or previous strikes of no payment then I cancel the order and move on after blocking them.

 

All the shady Sellers are on Discogs.

A ********* even left negative feedback pre-emptively (i.e. without my leaving feedback at all - and I probably wouldn't have anyway) just because I mentioned that his scratched and dirty records were not NM. Guy just couldn't be told.

Most Sellers on Discogs have a poor attitude. All the Sellers whose low standards have tipped them out of eBay have wound up there, and they love the lack of accountability fuelled by the inane Discogs feedback rules.

You can't rely on Discogs support. The whole site is now geared to making money for its owners.

My advice to OP if Seller has attitude is work thru PayPal.

Even better don't buy on Discogs at all.

 

So I called Paypal and asked my question. They said I don't need to open a claim if the seller agreed to a return, but to make sure I have that tracking number. In the event the seller does renege on his promise or refunds me only partial, I can then open a claim and include my return tracking number to rightfully receive my full return.

 

Also, separately, when I first attempted to call Paypal (I Googled 'Call Paypal' and clicked on the number that came up in what I thought was a legit Paypal ad) I got connected with someone who asked me to download the Anydesk Remote Desktop app. When I asked why he would need to remotely access my Paypal app he said my account was suspended and he would help return it to active.

I could tell this was a scam so I just kept asking logical questions to see what they come up with, like 'If it's something I can do on my end then why don't you guide me through the process?' and 'How could it be suspended if I just made a purchase while on the phone with you?'. Eventually, I called him out as a scammer and he got frustrated and yelled that my account was terminated. LOL. Funny until you realize some idiots probably fall for this.

When I did call legit Paypal and mentioned this to them they confirmed it was a scam and that they don't do this, yada yada.

 

All of the worst LP condition graders are in the UK btw in case you've not noticed! Cha-Cha!!!

 

Wouldn't surprise me.

otoh perhaps the most conscientious are too. (Like I was for many years.)

UK can be like that. The superlative and the pits. No mediocre.

Discogs is the worst place in the world to buy anything.

Seems like the OP got good advice from PP.

 

So my initial suspicion that this seller was dishonest turned out to be right. Guy refunds me partial amount, minus two dollars because I didn't include both cardboard inners back in the case. Normally I wouldn't waste my time going through the hassle of opening a Paypal claim for $2 but I guess this is war.

 

Was it shipped with inserts to you? You should have sent it back exactly as it was sent to you. Tit for tat perhaps. What if the record was destroyed in transit, what would be the fair resolution?

As a side note, I too had a buyer do this to me once. I sent the record in a plastic inner sleeve and outer sleeve, outside the jacket. Buyer opted to keep the outer sleeve, and shipped the record back inside the jacket as well. The jacket got splits on the top seam, double LP gatefold. I issued a partial refund. And the skips they claimed were the reason for sending it back, could not be confirmed on my end. Perhaps bad equipment, perhaps they wanted a test drive. If they they would have sent it back as I sent it out, I would have of course issued a full refund. There are good sellers and bad sellers. Good buyers and bad buyers.

 

I honestly don't remember, I may have trashed the box. He also didn't indicate to me that he expected the very same packaging in return, so I don't see how he can make that argument post facto. In fact, I actually did him one solid by shipping the records outside of the sleeve so he didn't get seam splits, a courtesy he didn't grant me.

 

So I opened that Paypal claim and... it was denied. I called Paypal to find out what was up since earlier when I called the lady told me I didn't need to open a claim if the seller agreed to a return, only for this guy to tell me everything she said was wrong and that I should always open a claim no matter what. Amazing that two people from the same department and same company can give you opposite advice and you have to deal with it. And the guy was trying to buy me off with a $5 voucher for being a loyal customer for 19 years.

Anyway, so lesson learned for anybody Googling this very question, Yes you should absolutely open a Paypal claim even if the seller agrees to a refund because in the end it will be up to their discretion exactly what amount to refund you.

 

I think the lesson learned is that you actually wasted your time and others for $2.00

 

No, the lesson was in bold.

 

Well, I can say that Discogs is a great place to sell things. Not sure that we are talking about the same Discogs ...