\* TL;DR: Seller decided to ship an order that was going to be refunded, in an effort to scam me. Am I allowed to keep the package if I get my refund before it arrives?*
Recently, I bought a product online. While ordering, I had the ability to choose from 3 different warehouses where the product would be dispatched from. I chose the German one since it was the only one inside the EU (to avoid customs).
A day later, I found out (through DHL and not the seller himself) that the seller decided to send it from China, without notifying me (both the order, invoice and email stated it would be sent from Germany). After some back and forth between the seller and myself through email (and them denying to help in any way), I requested the cancellation and refund of the order. They denied the cancellation at first, and forwarded me to their Terms of Use (stating that they are not responsible for any custom fees). However, after I pointed them that " (7.1) It is Seller’s responsibility to notify stock statuses to the buyers prior to shipment (taken from their Terms)", they backed off and we agreed on the cancellation and refund.
Fast forward a few days, and I got sent an email from DHL (again, not from the seller), that the order had been dispatched from Germany this time. Confused, I emailed the seller again seeking for an explanation. They told me that they decided to send the order, despite the fact that we had agreed on the cancellation - again, without notifying me. Bear in mind, that the reason why the order was not dispatched from Germany in the first place was because, as they told me, "Germany warehouse stocks can only be ship to only some EU countries. We do not ship to Greece from Germany warehouses due to customs issues." which turned out to be a lie, since they were able to send the order in the end.
Frustrated, I requested that the shipment would be cancelled, considering that the order should have been invalidated as agreed. They completely denied it this time and told me that "Only way to cancel the order now is you have to refuse the package and you have to wait for refund until it reaches back to seller's warehouse." something that will take too long. They also advised me that "We highly recommend to you to accept the order to avoid the delay in refund." (how thoughtful of them).
In the end, I decided to bring the matter directly to PayPal in order to get my refund, since they offer a really helpful buyer protection program. They have a history of refunding relatives, so I am not worried that they will do so on this occasion. So, essentially, my question is:
In the event that I do get my refund from PayPal before the package arrives (could be unlikely - but I need to be sure), am I allowed to keep the package? The initial order was cancelled, meaning that the package they sent me is not part of an order. I do realize that this may not be the most ethical thing to do, but considering the unacceptably unprofessional way that they treated the matter, I do not know if I want to just remain passive on this.
Written By: messinismarios
Source: http://bit.ly/2vgXPhG
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