Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Panamhutdirekt is an ebay scammer be aware

jonbuilder

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,561
Location
Grass Valley CA Foothills
If this post belongs in an already started thread I have no problem if it is moved - my apologies if this is the case
Panamahutdirekt not to be confused with Panama Hats Direct a legitimate seller of Montecristi hats on the web.
I purchased a superfino Montecristi hat from Dorti who sells Panama hats under ebay under seller name of panamahutdirekt. I asked him if he could block a hat to 7 ¼ long oval prior to purchase, I left him a note as he asked, when I purchased requesting a 7 ¼ long oval, and I immediately follow up with a message through ebay telling him a left a note with the purchase requesting a 7 ¼ long oval. A few days later he sends me a message saying he has blocked my hat [Witch was a lie he never blocked a hat for me]

Here is his message “Your Panama hat has already been finished from our hatter and given its final shape. Now the desired hat band will still be attached, so that we can send your hat via DHL-Express Worldwide.

We would like to make you an attractive offer.
We can offer you an “Ultrafino” with 30/31 weaves per inch with an additional charge of USD 129.00. Panama hats with such a fine weave normally costs about USD 700.00. We would like to offer you this Panama hat because the hat was blocked exactly in your size 62 (long oval) as hat model “Clásico”. The leather inner band is included in the price of this fineness grade. The “Ultrafino” is also ready for shipping.”


So, I agree to pay him an additional $100 through paypal over the original $359 I paid him for the hat. I missed the fact that the returned hat he wants to send me is size 62 which is not a size 7 ¼ but size 7 ¾. When the hat arrived, it was 3 sizes too big, the crown was unusably short, the hat was shadily finished, I understand why the original purchaser returned the hat.

I contacted Dorti and he tells me I need to ship the hat back. I contact ebay, and ebay reads the message file and determines Dorti sent me the wrong size hat and is responsible to send me a return shipping label. Ebay contacts me the next day by message saying Dorti claims he cannot send me a shipping label because the shipping is international. Ebay suggest I contact the seller to work out shipping. Ebay can produce and send me the shipping label at seller expense, and it is ebay policy if the seller does not send me a shipping label, ebay will refund the purchase price and I can keep the item.

Dorti sends me a message if I ship the hat he will reverse my expense immediately.


New message from: panamahutdirekt (290 )

“Dear John,

Don't worry! We will pay the return costs. That's why I gave you detailed instructions for the return.

We cannot print a shipping label for this order on eBay because we ship from Ecuador. So please send
the hat by USPS as explained and send us a picture of the shipping document. We will send the shipping
costs immediately to your PayPal-account.

Should you have any further questions, I will be pleased to assist you.
Best regards,”

Dorit


So, I ship the hat back to help Dorti and send him the shipping costs receipt; and he refuses to refund my shipping cost.

After ebay was satisfied the hat was delivered and time expired for the seller to refund, ebay refunded the original $359 purchase cost. Ebay will not refund the additional $100 for the upgrade because it was not part of the original purchase. Today the seller has not refund the additional $100 and I have opened an investigation with paypal and waiting for a refund of the $100
 
Messages
18,941
Location
Central California
If this post belongs in an already started thread I have no problem if it is moved - my apologies if this is the case
Panamahutdirekt not to be confused with Panama Hats Direct a legitimate seller of Montecristi hats on the web.
I purchased a superfino Montecristi hat from Dorti who sells Panama hats under ebay under seller name of panamahutdirekt. I asked him if he could block a hat to 7 ¼ long oval prior to purchase, I left him a note as he asked, when I purchased requesting a 7 ¼ long oval, and I immediately follow up with a message through ebay telling him a left a note with the purchase requesting a 7 ¼ long oval. A few days later he sends me a message saying he has blocked my hat [Witch was a lie he never blocked a hat for me]

Here is his message “Your Panama hat has already been finished from our hatter and given its final shape. Now the desired hat band will still be attached, so that we can send your hat via DHL-Express Worldwide.

We would like to make you an attractive offer.
We can offer you an “Ultrafino” with 30/31 weaves per inch with an additional charge of USD 129.00. Panama hats with such a fine weave normally costs about USD 700.00. We would like to offer you this Panama hat because the hat was blocked exactly in your size 62 (long oval) as hat model “Clásico”. The leather inner band is included in the price of this fineness grade. The “Ultrafino” is also ready for shipping.”


So, I agree to pay him an additional $100 through paypal over the original $359 I paid him for the hat. I missed the fact that the returned hat he wants to send me is size 62 which is not a size 7 ¼ but size 7 ¾. When the hat arrived, it was 3 sizes too big, the crown was unusably short, the hat was shadily finished, I understand why the original purchaser returned the hat.

I contacted Dorti and he tells me I need to ship the hat back. I contact ebay, and ebay reads the message file and determines Dorti sent me the wrong size hat and is responsible to send me a return shipping label. Ebay contacts me the next day by message saying Dorti claims he cannot send me a shipping label because the shipping is international. Ebay suggest I contact the seller to work out shipping. Ebay can produce and send me the shipping label at seller expense, and it is ebay policy if the seller does not send me a shipping label, ebay will refund the purchase price and I can keep the item.

Dorti sends me a message if I ship the hat he will reverse my expense immediately.


New message from: panamahutdirekt (290 )

“Dear John,

Don't worry! We will pay the return costs. That's why I gave you detailed instructions for the return.

We cannot print a shipping label for this order on eBay because we ship from Ecuador. So please send
the hat by USPS as explained and send us a picture of the shipping document. We will send the shipping
costs immediately to your PayPal-account.

Should you have any further questions, I will be pleased to assist you.
Best regards,”

Dorit


So, I ship the hat back to help Dorti and send him the shipping costs receipt; and he refuses to refund my shipping cost.

After ebay was satisfied the hat was delivered and time expired for the seller to refund, ebay refunded the original $359 purchase cost. Ebay will not refund the additional $100 for the upgrade because it was not part of the original purchase. Today the seller has not refund the additional $100 and I have opened an investigation with paypal and waiting for a refund of the $100

Man, that sucks. I hope PayPal sides with you and gives you a full refund. I never “work out returns” with the seller, but rather use the eBay return system. If the add-on was through eBay I would have thought they would cover that too. I feel your pain.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

jonbuilder

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,561
Location
Grass Valley CA Foothills
The add-on did not go through ebay, but paypal confirms they will process the $100 soon as they verify the seller received the item, the UPSP tracking number confirms delivery. Ebay gave me a coupon to cover the shipping cost. The whole process was frustrating and time-consuming.
 
Messages
18,941
Location
Central California
The add-on did not go through ebay, but paypal confirms they will process the $100 soon as they verify the seller received the item, the UPSP tracking number confirms delivery. Ebay gave me a coupon to cover the shipping cost. The whole process was frustrating and time-consuming.

It’s good to know. A while back there was some talk about that seller and no one had any information to share...now we do.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

MichelleP

New in Town
Messages
1
jonbuilder, I purchased a fedora hat from this same company on Dec. 18, 2018, and am currently going through almost the exact same issue with this so-called merchant, "Panamahutdirekt". They also use the company name "Panamahatcollection" (all one word), and "Panamahatco" (again, all one word). They sent me a second hand hat that I paid $179.00 for on Etsy.com and made the purchase through Paypal.com. The fedora hat's brim was completely flat all the way around it, and just like you said, the crown was too short and touched the top of my father's head (I'd bought it for him for a Christmas present). The stupid merchant claimed (try not to laugh!!!), that if we put the hat on, the brim will curl up in the back. I fell out of my chair laughing at the absurdity of this!! I had to open a dispute with both websites. Etsy said they couldn't do anything since the purchase was through Paypal, so I would have to open a dispute with Paypal. So that's exactly what I did. I had a long conversation between me, this scammy merchant, and Etsy. Etsy finally agreed with me that the hat was "clearly" not what the merchant had listed on their product listing page, but again, couldn't do anything to help me since I'd purchased it through Paypal. Paypal never gave me the opportunity to submit photos (I'd submitted them to Etsy, however). Paypal was completely unfair about the dispute *I* opened and allowed the merchant to send them information on the dispute but I was not able to. I called Paypal to complain and they told me they'd reopen the case. To this date, it's still an open dispute and Paypal is doing nothing but mishandling it. They've sent me my receipt twice. Why twice?, I don't know. The merchant was consistent saying they COULDN'T send me a pre-paid return merchandise label to return it to them for a full refund, however they did promise a full refund. I don't believe them though. They said there was no way for them to make that label. I believe they were referencing USPS's policies. However, they sent me the hat using DHL, just as they did you. I know for a FACT that DHL will make pre-paid labels for return merchandise from Ecuador to USA. So will FedEx and UPS. They're all world-wide. He's doing this so he can keep the money from the purchase and not have to refund it, then we're stuck with trashy hat purchases. I believe he is possibly buying them from discounted outlets in Ecuador (possibly even from the USA, then shipped to Ecuador), and reselling them on American websites for considerable profits! That's a common thing here in the USA with furniture, glassware, and even clothing. If a product does not come out just right for inspection before it's sold, it will be put in the functional-but-with-imperfections pile and sent to discount outlets for a deep discount. The hat he sent me had dirty finger smudges on the brim. It was very imperfect. He used that as leverage saying that showed it was hand-crafted custom-made. I am currently in the works with my bank's credit card dispute department trying to close this deal. I've sent them 25 documents along with a copy of this forum's thread so that they can read for themselves that it's happened to people other than me. I'm SO glad you posted this!! And I do humbly hope you got all of your money back. I am hoping to as well. Oh!!!, almost forgot to mention, this guy has a website in Germany (of all places!!!) where he sells ponchos. It was his same address in Ecuador and same name, Thomas Hesse (not to be confused with the Thomas Hesse that works in the music industry). And yes, I've had correspondence with Dorit as well. If you do a Google image search for her name Dorit Hesse, you'll see a white lady with medium length blonde hair that's a pic that's been cropped out and pasted on another website. It's crazy how far this guy will go! Thomas Hesse has a facebook page for Panamahutdirekt (that I've reported already as a scammer and fake), and a Twitter account that he doesn't really use. He's also got 3 different Ecuadorian addresses that will not pull up on Google Maps. Yes, I've done some detective work! haha! Anyways, stay safe all!....and PLEASE do not purchase anything from this seller!!! He is a confirmed scam artist!!
 

Forum statistics

Threads
107,291
Messages
3,033,170
Members
52,748
Latest member
R_P_Meldner
Top