So I made an order with an international vendor and never received the product. I opened a dispute and the vendor said they would either give me a 50% refund or, if I end the dispute, do a re-ship.
I would prefer a re-ship but the only way to end the dispute is to finalize, which I don't want to do since I may not receive anything (again).
Other customers can't view the dispute so I'm not sure why they would pressure me to close it out and finalize unless they are just trying to scam. They have great reviews but I just see no incentive for them to send me anything once I finalize.
(The mod so far has just been letting us work it out together on the dispute page.)
Opinions? Should I just take my 50% refund or should I say I want to leave the dispute open until I receive the order? I'm trying to be fair but I don't want to be a sucker.
Just going off the title of your post and not even considering anything else, that kinda sounds like a classic scam attempt to me. After reading further, it most definitely sounds like a scam attempt to me. Think of it from a scammers point of view - he's not sending you anything anyway, so 50% of the money is still way better than nothing for him and a lifted dispute plus good (or at least neutral) feedback (Oh yeah... $2 says he'll ask you for positive feedback by pm after you end the dispute and before he'll "send" you your "reship") only strengthens his position to turn more licks on unsuspecting people.
I would keep the dispute open, closing it only takes away any power you have in this situation. Tell him you will be more than happy to close the dispute and release the funds to him once you have received your pack and gotten a chance to verify the contents. If he is unwilling to do this or tries to pull something funny, ask the mod to intervene. Just keep your money in escrow no matter what until you are satisfied with the outcome.