Poor article and refund: how to avoid paying return fees?

Vinted Problems
1

Hello everyone,

I’m new here and I have some questions I hope you can help me with.

First, the context: I bought two different items from the same seller (sweaters). After she sent the package, she informed me that she had sent the wrong one, so I would receive an item completely unrelated (a shirt).

Naively, I thought, “No problem, there’s buyer protection,” but no!

Once I received the package, I opened a dispute clearly explaining that I’m not returning it because I don’t like it, but because it’s not the correct items—and the seller herself admitted this in writing.

To get a faster response, I agreed to receive replies in English. However, Vinted decided that I should pay the shipping costs to return the package. I was told I can’t reverse this decision, even though I never selected a shipping method (which would either deduct the cost from my refund or require me to pay for shipping myself).

At the same time, I’m told I must discuss with the seller to see if they agree to cover the shipping fees—knowing full well that the seller is willing to pay, but we simply don’t know how to proceed. So it’s completely contradictory and unclear…?

But no, there’s no way to find out how to proceed because customer support no longer responds and hasn’t bothered to answer this simple question. I’m being ghosted now! :joy:

I’ve obviously sent all the evidence supporting my claims, but I feel like they’re not even reading my messages.

I’m fighting mainly on principle because I find it utterly unfair that once you’ve paid, no one cares anymore.

So you’re my last hope, I think—do you know how to make the seller pay the shipping fees?

Thank you in advance for reading this.

2

Hello and welcome.

It is actually the seller who decides whether to ask the buyer to pay the return costs.

In most cases, the seller leaves this charge to the buyer, as it discourages disputes for small amounts, quarrels over €3, etc.

In your situation, having been informed of the shipping error before receiving the package, the best course of action would have been not to accept the package and to wait for the carrier to return it to the sender. You would not have incurred any costs.

3

Translating French to English

I need to translate a French text to English while keeping the formatting intact, such as maintaining line breaks and paragraphs. The text starts with « Bonjour, » which translates to « Hello, » and continues with « Merci pour l’explication, c’est un peu ce que je redoutais en effet, » which could be translated as « Thank you for the explanation; it’s somewhat what I was afraid of, indeed. » I want to ensure that the translation respects the original structure and punctuation, so I’ll focus on that!

Refining the Translation

The phrase « c’est un peu ce que je redoutais en effet » translates better to « that’s basically what I feared. » I think the more natural wording is « Thank you for the explanation; that’s basically what I was afraid of. » The nuance of « un peu » means « a bit, » while « c’est… en effet » emphasizes the point.
For « Je saurais au moins pour la prochaine fois…, » I might choose « I’ll know for next time, at least » as a clearer way to express the conditional meaning. It feels more conversational that way!

Deciding on Translation Details

I need to address the ellipsis « … » in the translation. Since it’s part of the punctuation, I can keep it as « … » in the English version. For the phrase « Je saurais au moins pour la prochaine fois…, » I think « I’ll know for next time, at least… » works well. I prefer the natural phrasing: « I’ll know at least for next time… » Ah, let’s structure it:

Line 1: « Hello, »
Line 2: (blank line)
Following the original format is key! Now, I’m set on how to proceed.

Setting Up the Final Translation

I’ve noted there should be a blank line between paragraphs, so the translation will look like this:

"Hello,

Thank you for the explanation; that’s basically what I was afraid of. I’ll know at least for next time…

Thanks"

When translating « Merci, » it should simply be « Thanks, » and I want to preserve any accent marks or apostrophes. The original uses a curly apostrophe in « l’explication, » but I’ll go with the standard ASCII apostrophe in English. I’ll make sure not to add anything extra beyond the translation!

The final output will reflect that structure and punctuation.

Finalizing the Translation

I see the translation needs to reflect a natural phrasing, so instead of « it’s a bit what I was indeed fearing, » I’ll go with « that’s basically what I was afraid of. » I’ll also maintain the structure with two blank lines between paragraphs. The original format shows:

"Bonjour,

Merci pour l’explication… Je saurais au moins pour la prochaine fois…

Merci"

Thus, the final translation will be:

"Hello,

Thank you for the explanation; that’s basically what I was afraid of. I’ll know at least for next time…

Thanks"

I’ll double-check that there’s no extra trailing newline at the end!Hello,

Thank you for the explanation; that’s basically what I was afraid of.

I’ll know at least for next time…

Thanks

5

Be careful because the word « paypal » is a « forbidden » word, you could be restricted for a few hours if you say it in a conversation :sweat_smile:
Otherwise, create an article about your dressing room, the total amount, and the seller buys it from you?
And you close the other sale without a dispute.

6

Good evening everyone,

Thank you for your responses, but unfortunately, I only read them after closing this issue.

It turns out that indeed, it is up to the seller to decide if the buyer pays for return shipping, as stated in the first message. So, I confronted the seller about it.

She told me she didn’t know and hadn’t checked before clicking… Well, I didn’t really believe her.

At that point, I understood it was over, I wouldn’t be able to get a refund through Vinted (and I wasn’t very motivated to find a solution with the seller anymore).

So, I accepted my sad fate, I agreed to keep the item, even if it meant reselling it later. At least that allowed me to have something out of this situation, and not lose money for nothing. And most importantly, I was able to leave a review on her profile (something I couldn’t have done with a return).

So, I am obviously very disappointed with how people lie on Vinted, because even with a sample of 7 orders, 3 people sent me an item with a greasy stain that was not mentioned. And I can’t be bothered to drag out a dispute that Vinted won’t resolve in my favor anyway.

In any case, thank you to those who responded,

:slight_smile:

7

I find it crazy that Vinted doesn’t integrate this criterion of obvious seller error.

Afterwards, everyone has their own morals. Personally, I sometimes make mistakes (it’s even my specialty, and I bless Clemz’s option for names on shipping labels), but I fully assume the return costs. I’ve even sent the correct item at my own expense without returning the wrong one. And then at some point, you have to think long-term; I prefer to keep a customer rather than save on a return.

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