I suppose mentioning PayPal accepting payments for the site may force them into refunding me since they clearly won't do anything until they're forced to, especially if the authorities do anything about it. You've lost me with the whole Chinese Ambassador stuff though. I assume that is where the website is hosted? You said they used a proxy though, doesn't that mean the IP address is different, or did you manage to track it down?

Since it looks like there is very little chance of me getting my money back now, is there anyway I can report the site and get it closed down or even get the owner charged?

Well, that's been shot down as well. It seems as since I'm still in possession of said faulty item, even that Point of Sale query form is of no use. It seems I need to pester PayPal to give me a confirmed address of the seller. Is it possible to request the sellers registered address under the freedom of information act since I've had a transaction with the seller?

Visa themselves don't do chargebacks but you can complain to them and they will mediate it between you and your bank. Useful since no-one in the bank knows the rules on visa debit cards. The phone lines are different. They insist a broken item is a trading standards issue. I just need to find some hard line T&C's, and find the relevant parts to show to my bank. Dealing with this over the phone will take forever.

I called the bank of scotland helpline and they advised me that a chargeback only counts for items not received and doesn't cover broken items, which is also wrong. It seems like I'm forever going round in circles. At this rate, it might just be easier to contact Visa themselves and get them to lend a helping hand.

Went in yesterday and there wasn't anyone in that could deal with my complaint so I went in again today. Spoke to a manager and she insisted that Visa Debit cards don't have a chargeback and I told her the Visa website says different and that I've spent the past few days researching this. She said there wasn't a form for it and filled in a Debit Card (Point of Sale) Transaction Query form. She said it can take anywhere up to 3 months for me to MAYBE get my money back. I asked for a copy but she wouldn't give me one and she said there isn't a generic chargeback form. I don't think she knew entirely what she was doing and I'm not keen on waiting 3 months to see whether or not I even get anything back. She recommended that I push paypal for an address, return the item there, and then take it to a small claims court if need be. Is there anything else I can do?

Got held up at work today and the bank closed before i could get there. I'll go in tomorrow morning and explain my situation to the bank. Even if they say no, I'll at least ask for the claim form so I can try.

I see. How likely is it that the bank will claim that I'm trying to chargeback PayPal and not the seller? The way I see it is that I'm paying paypal for a service of transferring my money and ensuring safe delivery, the latter which has not happened, since they are a consumer service and not a bank. Will this stand in a chargeback argument?

I use a Visa Debit card so I have the same chargeback facilities. Even though PayPal HQ is abroad, they still have to have a UK trading address, which makes then remit to the UK civil claims procedure. I believe their address is Hotham House 1 Heron House Richmond Upon Thames Surrey TW9 1EJ GB Still though, even if I get the bank to agree to give me a chargeback, won't paypal just bill my account the chargeback amount?

I'm wanting to contact my bank and tell them to reverse the payment, but the problem is that aren't they just going to claim I'm trying to chargeback PayPal and not the fraudulent seller? I've called them once and the person on the phone just said that doesn't fall under Visa chargeback rights, receiving a broken item, but it clearly does. Also, the bank ATM machine ate my card yesterday for no reason. Bank of Scotland are really starting to annoy me.

Conniff's been a great help and his tracking skills are rather impressive to say the least but we've agreed that since I'm entitled to a chargeback, that is my easiest option at the moment. The main problem is that I've never actually pursued a chargeback before so I don't know what I need to do. I've got copies of emails where I told him it was broken and asked for a refund, which he ignored. I've got the PayPal dispute logs where I asked for a refund under the Distance Selling Act and for a Return Address, which was also ignored. I also have the Royal Mail tracking number and delivery date. Is that enough for me to file a claim? Since I don't have a confirmed address, only the PO Box address sniffer Conniff found, I cannot send letters. Also, since very few people in the bank understand the Visa chargeback T&C's, what if they claim I am charging back PayPal and not the seller?

Actually, the transaction was for £99.90. That going to be a problem? All I've done is send emails and as soon as I mentioned a refund or return address, he started ignoring me.

That's interesting IdaInFife. I called Bank of Scotland and they said the item being broken or not as described is a Trading Standards issue and not their problem. Is there any way I can call up and get them to issue the chargeback by quoting the visa site? Does the LBA thing in your sig apply to this situation?

I bought something from an online shop but it has arrived faulty. The item doesn't do anything other than power up. I paid with a Visa Debit card from the Bank of Scotland via Paypal. The website offered a 28 day guarantee so I asked for the problem to be rectified. But with the packaged instructions, there was a "28 day trial period" not mentioned anywhere on the site, and the website refused to do anything until the 28 days was over. Basically the item doesn't work and 6 days later (or 4 working ones) I requested a full refund under the Distance Selling Act and asked for a return address. From this point on, the website started ignoring all my emails. I raised the dispute with PayPal, and when I requested a return address, the seller ignored the messages again. And shockingly, PayPal sided with the seller saying So even though the seller is clearly fraudulent, PayPal don't care if you buy something and they send you junk. As long as you receive anything, they're satisfied and hide behind their fine print. I've tried calling my bank regarding a chargeback and they've done much the same, saying that I received the goods so it's not their concern if it is faulty. Is there anything I can do to get my money back?

how would I get in touch with my council's rent officer? To be honest, I think the rent on my flat is pretty cheap already. It's a pretty big 3 bedroom flat for only 575 a month + bills. Two reasons for that is that it's in the east end of glasgow and the furniture in this flat is pretty old. I'm also moving out in a few months, is contacting my council's rent officer worth the effort?