r/neogeo • u/OkResponsibility2541 • 3d ago
AES+ Plaion refund
I’m having a pretty frustrating experience with PLAION and PayPal Buyer Protection and I’m curious if anyone has dealt with something similar.
On April 29, 2026 I paid €868.99 to PLAION for a NEOGEO AES+ Ultimate Edition.
Months later I found out online that delivery had been delayed by roughly a year, until September 2027. PLAION never proactively emailed me about that major delay.
Because of this, I cancelled the order and requested a full refund.
PLAION later confirmed in writing that:
• my order was cancelled
• a refund of €868.99 would be issued to my original payment method
• the refund was being processed by their Finance Team
However, the money was never refunded.
I had already opened a PayPal dispute. Despite the item never being shipped, the order being cancelled, and the refund not being received, PayPal initially closed the case in favour of PLAION without giving me a meaningful explanation.
That is what I found particularly concerning. This seems exactly like the kind of situation Buyer Protection should cover: the seller has my €868.99, no product was delivered, the order was cancelled, and the promised refund never arrived.
I contacted PayPal support again today, provided all the emails and evidence, and they have now reopened the dispute.
At this point, regardless of how this ends, I will never buy anything from PLAION again. Ever. The delay, lack of proactive communication, and failure to actually return my money after confirming the refund have completely destroyed my trust in them.
Has anyone had a similar experience with PLAION/Replai or with PayPal initially rejecting a claim like this? Did PayPal eventually refund you after the case was reopened?
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u/Pineapple-Intrepid 3d ago
I also paid with PayPal. I got an email confirming that my order had been cancelled and that I’d be refunded within 10 business days, but then nothing happened for five weeks: no refund, and no reply to any of my emails.
Getting a bit annoyed, I eventually sent them an email full of legal jargon, threatening to file a complaint with the European Consumer Centre, and the refund came through the very next day.
Maybe it was just a coincidence.
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u/Alekazam 3d ago
Nah, did this as well. Emailed cancellation request on 10 September, had to follow up two more times before they acknowledged and said they were processing it. The 10 days they said it would take from that point expired, so I emailed them saying that they were in breach of consumer protection regulations (I.e. they should have refunded me within 14 days of my initial request to cancel) and that if they did not return my money within 48 hours I would open a PayPal dispute and report them to Trading Standards in the UK.
They returned my money in under 24 hours of that email.
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u/Cultural-Ad2539 2d ago
I got my paypal refund, without dispute opened, but a full month after Plaion email cancelling confirmation.
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u/RedRedButton 3d ago
Item not received or never shipped on a pre-order is probably not the correct reason to dispute for PayPal.
Not as described is more accurate as the delivery date being delayed by 10 months is definitely not as described when you purchased.
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u/TheOnlyJaxi 3d ago edited 3d ago
I cancelled the large bundle on September 10th and involved PayPal on September 14th, citing "item not received." On September 17th, I received the cancellation confirmation from Plaion, stating the refund would be processed within 10 business days at the latest. That period passed without a refund. Shortly thereafter, PayPal rejected my buyer protection claim. A phone call didn't help. I changed the case type to "item not as described" and submitted screenshots of the original announcement and the notice of the delay. I also pointed out the relevant EU legal regulations (I'm living in Germany). PayPal ruled in my favor after 24 hours, and I received the refund. I'm done with Plaion! I waited a whole month for my refund.
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u/OkResponsibility2541 3d ago
To be honest, PayPal’s buyer protection is pretty unreliable. And Plaion should be avoided at all cost.
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u/z2qvs 3d ago
Now you sound like you're running pr. Paypal is the only reason I got my money back. 🖕
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u/OkResponsibility2541 2d ago
Well they first decided in favor of the seller with no reason given. Took a lot of effort to explain everything again for them to reopen the case. So I like PayPal but protection is not perfect.
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u/Jealous-Strategy-200 3d ago
Fuckin scammers. It's hilarious that some people fight so hard to get their refund only to order again from Amazon 😂 "But but it's a pre-order so I don't have to spend any money." Dude you're still bending over for a company that screwed you over once. Why would you let it happen again?
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u/OkResponsibility2541 3d ago
Who says I am ordering again? Not ever happening.
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u/Jealous-Strategy-200 3d ago
I didn't mean you, I meant this is what people are doing and suddenly feeling better about themselves.
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u/FriendlyVermicelli25 1d ago
My experience was flawless. I sent an email on 10/15 to request cancellation, not even a minute later I got the confirmation that I would be refunded within 10 days. Today 10/16 I see a pending credit on my card.
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u/NeoDiscourse 3d ago
I had to open a visa chargeback case after Plaion refused to acknowledge my emails but I did end up getting a refund via Plaion a few days later. The money was then back in my account within the week.
I agree I would never buy directly through them again and I'm even slightly wary that this console will even ever come out. I know they showed it at tgs and I have no evidence to back it up, but something just feels off about the whole thing and I can't quite pinpoint it.
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u/gotdemmadsquirtsyo 3d ago
Maybe it's Plaion being a shit company that lies and doesn't care about their customers at all. They seem to really need our money even though they haven't provided us with anything.
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u/NeoDiscourse 3d ago
Yeah it's the general lack of transparency. I desperately want this to succeed as I have unending love for the AES but I'm still not sure about them saying they had to delay simply to make sure all customers get the console at the same time. Because since then it seems like they're still working on it and don't necessarily have the finished product on hand just a month before it was originally supposed to be released.
I'd love to be proven wrong though and I'll happily buy one next year if I am.
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u/Stingray77_NL AES 3d ago
with thousands of people cancelling their orders; they have a problem processing everything correctly. I guess you will get a refund but the question is: when. I did get a refund it took 3 weeks in my case. good luck!
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u/OkResponsibility2541 3d ago
One email could have prevented this sh!tshow. Waiting for refund and missing out because of bankruptcy is not what I have in mind.
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u/Wide-Narwhal-9643 3d ago edited 3d ago
Hm. Email sent yesterday and acknowledged today. Fingers crossed...... Paid direct on Debit Card.
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u/AcanthaceaeOk1689 2d ago
I ordered the NEOGEO AES+ Ultimate Edition from Plaion for 900€ paid in four installments through PayPal.
After my order was cancelled, Plaion confirmed by email that a refund had been issued and that I should receive it within 10 business days.
I made the mistake of closing my PayPal dispute based on that confirmation, without actually waiting for the money to arrive. Big mistake, since a closed PayPal dispute generally cannot be reopened.
The 10 business days passed, and still no refund. Despite several phone calls and emails, Plaion kept blaming technical issues with PayPal and an unusually high volume of refund requests, without providing any specific refund date.
I eventually contacted the European Consumer Centre (ECC) and sent PLAION a formal notice by email, demanding a full refund within 8 days and stating that I would consider European legal proceedings if they failed to comply.
And guess what? It worked! I finally got my full payment back after sending the formal notice.
Lesson learned: NEVER close a PayPal dispute based solely on a seller’s promise to refund you. Always wait until the money is actually back in your account.
And if a company keeps delaying your refund, don’t underestimate the effectiveness of a formal demand for payment!
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u/Jealous-Strategy-200 2d ago
Did you also learn not to give scammers your money? Maybe start there and don't ever do it again?
How these shady fuckers haven't been served a class action lawsuit is beyond me. 😂
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u/AcanthaceaeOk1689 1d ago
Nah, PLAION isn’t exactly known for being a problematic company. They’ve always fulfilled their orders in the past. This situation is a bit different, though. They tried to play it safe by essentially running a Kickstarter in disguise, but ended up being overwhelmed by demand and rising production costs. Not the smartest move on their part, and it ended up backfiring on them. Still, I’m convinced the console will eventually come out, along with the games.
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u/hiddenblaze17_ 3d ago
I wrote them to cancel my order. The same day they answered and the next day I had the money back in PayPal. Thought I had to move the money to my bank account. But it was fast I thought it was harder to cancel the order.
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u/Old__Red 3d ago
Weirdly, I got a refund yesterday even though I didn't actually ask for one. I sent an email asking if it was possible to send the money back and take it again to keep my PayPal protection in play. They didn't even respond, just sent the money back through PayPal.
I don't think you need to worry, you'll get the money back eventually. I think there's only a few people dealing with the emails. They must have had a lot of refund requests.
I've now got the issue of whether to order again or wait until 6 months before release before ordering again. I hope the ultimate edition will still be available next spring.
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u/albiwankenoby 3d ago
The confirmed my order was cancelled and after 10 days the money was yet to show in my bank account. I ended up filing a chargeback