YOYBUY ARE FRAUDULENT SCAMMERS!
I paid YOYBUY $1,227.79 AUD ($814.68 USD at the time of conversion) via PayPal on the 4th of July for a Lenovo Xiaoxin Pro 13 laptop (which isn't available in Western markets), which was to be purchased via Taobao. I was lured into purchasing through YOYBUY by the generally favourable reviews (which were poisoned reviews written by shills) and the option of using PayPal as the payment platform (whose main marketing spiel, buyer protection, is farcical), and I convinced myself that I was being paranoid by thinking that the transaction would be high-risk. Almost immediately after making the payment via PayPal, I received an email from a YOYBUY representative who stated that my account had been disabled/locked (i.e. I was no longer able to log into the YOYBUY website) for "safety" reasons. The justification was that the type of item (i.e. high-value electronics) I had requested for purchasing and the payment platform (i.e. PayPal) I used was (ironically) deemed too risky for YOYBUY, and they insisted that I pay via an alternate payment platform such as Alipay, Qiwi, WebMoney, WeChat, or Western Union. The problem with this request was that YOYBUY hadn't refunded/reversed the original PayPal transaction, so they were expecting me to pay double the cost of the item. At this point, it became crystal clear that I was being scammed, and YOYBUY were going to try and bleed me dry. Being naive and under the illusion that PayPal's buyer protection was more than just a marketing spiel, I filed a dispute, hopeful that PayPal would diligently investigate the fraudulent transaction and assist in recovering my stolen funds. As soon as YOYBUY became aware of the dispute on the 5th of July, I received another email. On this occasion, I was notified that my account had been re-enabled/unlocked. I was assured (i.e. lied to) that my funds would be refunded after one month had elapsed, but if I wanted a refund in a more timely manner, I should cancel the dispute and use the credit/wallet system on the YOYBUY website to make a withdrawal. Of course, this is yet another scam tactic, as there is no legitimate reason why YOYBUY couldn't have immediately refunded/reversed the transaction through PayPal. However, even if I opted to do this, there was no credit/wallet balance anyway. I received the final email from YOYBUY a day later on the 6th of July, where it was reiterated that I should cancel the dispute and utilise the credit/wallet system, and I was reassured (i.e. lied to again) that it wasn't a scam (maybe I would have been more convinced if my funds weren't being held for ransom). After three weeks, the dispute had been settled and PayPal found in favour of YOYBUY. I can't rationalise how PayPal reached this outcome. I provided all of the emails I sent (which repeatedly requested to be refunded via PayPal) and received (which clearly demonstrated YOYBUY withholding the funds for nefarious purposes and attempting to persuade me to cancel the dispute and use their credit/wallet system). Additionally, there were no purchase receipts (i.e. YOYBUY never purchased the item), postage tracking numbers, or refund records (although, YOYBUY did fraudulently falsify a refund record on the 6th of July, but PayPal should have made them prove beyond reasonable doubt that this actually occurred). Essentially, YOYBUY had provided no evidence that they had provided the requested services/goods. Any individual with a double-digit IQ could have correctly analysed and concluded this dispute, it should have been a slam-dunk. Clearly, PayPal (like many large corporations) are employing low-skilled workers (who don't have the capabilities or care factor to operate successfully within their roles) as a cost-cutting strategy, much to the detriment of the users. I mentioned earlier that I allowed favourable/positive reviews of YOYBUY to persuade me into trying their services. At the time, I wasn't attentive enough and quickly skimmed through the reviews. Having revisited the reviews, they are clearly poisoned reviews written by shills. Generally, they all use the same buzzwords, phrasing, etc. and there are identical reviews under different usernames (for example, take a look at the Trust Pilot reviews by "Shloup" on the 2nd of August 2017 and "Samya Rafiki" on the 3rd of August 2017, which both begin with "Great site, ordered via..."). Currently, the world has little trust in China (due to COVID-19 and human rights violations), so I find it perplexing that Chinese merchants would solidify this lack of trust by scamming international customers instead of being grateful for their patronage. I believe in karma, so I'm sure that YOYBUY and those involved in scamming others will get what they deserve eventually.