I bought a laptop battery, thinking I was dealing with a local company. I sould have been warned by the fact that they required Paypal instead of the usual Direct Bank Transfer, but that’s done. I don’t have the required credit card to open a Paypal account but my dad said he’s never had any trouble so I gave him the cash and he paid through his Paypal account.
After six long weeks of waiting, it turned out the company is based in China and they sent the wrong model battery.
They said they’d gladly send the correct battery when I had returned the wrong model. The NZ Post Office requires batteries to go Airmail Track and Trace (Signature Verified etc etc) charging $70 for the 600gm package. China offered a $12 refund for postage.
After two months of emails back and forth they’ve agreed to refund just over half the original purchase price ($50 of $92) and I ‘get to keep’ the battery I can’t use and don’t feel comfortable selling on - since I have had nothing but changing stories from the seller and I can’t even plug the battery in to check it works.
I’ve agreed to the refund as a $42 loss with an interesting paperweight is better than a $92 loss WAIP and I think that’s the best deal I’m going to be offered.
TLDR Version:
I am expecting a refund of $50 from a Chinese business to my dad’s Paypal account this week.
Given they would receive my agreement on Friday - possibly after their close of business
When should I expect the payment to show up?
Can they just pick up the details they need from the original transaction or do I have to provide more payment details?
What else can possibly go wrong?
I’ll be spending most of the refund buying Dad beer for the hassle/victory.
When I refunded some money to an eBay buyer who’d paid via PayPal, I was able to select the original transaction in PP and there was an option to refund. I entered the amount to refund and that was that, took about 2 minutes.
In my experience Chinese OEM Clone batteries are generally OK. Were I you I would sell the battery for an attractive price and you should be made closer to whole. China massively subsidizes outgoing shipping for Chinese companies mailing goods to foreign markets so their real cost to ship may well have been only a few dollars.
Also useful (re re-selling) I’m considering this, but my latent honesty is working against me - I feel I’d have to fully explain the situation, driving down the asking price.
It’s a generic clone battery, chances are very high it will do it’s job without problems. You were simply shipped the wrong battery by a Chinese seller. In these cases returning it is often a PITA as you have found. Why does being shipped the wrong battery have to become part of the item description or be a matter of “honesty”. You have a clone battery assumed to be in new condition you wish to sell, there’s no need to make your frustration with receiving the wrong battery part of the sales description.
Guarantee that it works. If it does not refund their money. There’s no reason to make this complicated or destroy the sale value of the battery with a backstory that has nothing to do with its presumed utility.
I don’t put my honesty in quotes - however bad it may be for business. I will probably put it up for a reduced rate saying that it was sent in error and has not been used. I cannot guarantee that it works. I have no way of testing that. If nothing else, that makes me hesitant to claim it’s in perfect working order.
Yeah, the battery had just arrived within the 45 days & I was still thinking things could be sorted out. I bought it direct from a website (that had a local address suffix)that advised a few weeks delivery time. It was sent from Singapore which is fairly common with imported goods here, but had to be returned to China, no local agent.
But I’ll be selling it on TradeMe (local version of Ebay) which is another reason to be clear wih buyers - I have perfect feedback and don’t want a or (horrors!):mad: if the battery isn’t up to spec.
You can however, guarantee that you will refund the purchase price should it not work, which should satisfy any buyers. And is a perfectly honest approach.
Somethin’ tells me your dad’s going to stay thirsty…
Or does it generally take a month and a half to ship something from China to New Zealand? I’ve gotten things in three days, and I live half a world further away. I think these people intentionally delayed to the end of the refund assistance window and sent you the wrong (probably cheaper for them) battery, knowing you wouldn’t likely return it.
Gwendee - I’m having enough hassle with refunds that I don’t want to put anyone else in that position, however unintentionally or with whatever intentions, this has been a shitty, messy transaction from the start. I’d rather be upfront and complete a clean transaction that leaves the whole situation finished.
**WhyNot **- 3 weeks is usual, four common, 5 … not unusual, this was around 6. They’d given a long delivery time (not as long as my last Amazon order, so a reasonable time, the book arrived early)
Bingo on the price, what I received is advertised significantly cheaper than what I ordered. Their options for the last month have all been based around me either losing money returning the incorrect battery or sending them more money to buy another one.
This refund offer has come at the end (I hope) of a very long string of emails.
I appreciate peoples suggestions for re-selling, you’re trying to minimise my losses.
I’ve written off the whole amount. It’s not part of my budget any more.
The refund will be a bonus if it arrives. I may yet decide to keep the battery as a reminder not to be so gullible on the internet - or give it away if a friend can use it. Selling it is one more task that I would have to fit in to an incredibly busy schedule.
$50.00 has been paid into my dad’s paypal account today. And only four days after they said they paid it a week previously! (ETA: They say they paid it on 24/3!)
or (horrors!):mad: if the battery isn’t up to spec.