Temu refund dispute: how to secure the evidence

What to capture on Temu

Why Temu disputes are really evidence disputes

Most Temu complaints come down to one question: what exactly were you promised, and what did you get? The answer lives on a product page that you do not control. Listings on large marketplaces are edited all the time: photos are swapped, descriptions shortened, prices changed, and products taken down when complaints pile up or when an item is reported as unsafe.

By the time you open a refund request, file a chargeback or write to a consumer authority, the page you relied on may look different or be gone. Then it is your memory against the seller’s current version. A screenshot helps, but it is an editable image with no reliable date, and it rarely shows the full page.

• Item differs from the photos or description: size, material, colour, function or quantity.
• Unsafe or non-compliant product: missing CE marking, no EU contact details, chargers, toys or cosmetics that seem dangerous.
• Refund or return disputes: a refund refused, a return label that never comes, or only a partial refund or credit offered.

What EU regulators have said about Temu

You do not need to cite regulators to get a refund, but the public record shows that the problems many buyers report are taken seriously at EU level. The following steps are documented by the European Commission and national authorities:

• May 2024: the Commission designated Temu a Very Large Online Platform under the Digital Services Act, which brings the strictest obligations under that law.
• November 2024: the EU consumer protection (CPC) network and the Commission called on Temu to fix suspected practices, including fake discounts, pressure selling with false deadlines or low-stock claims, missing information and a gamified fortune wheel with unclear conditions.
• July 2025: the Commission preliminarily found Temu in breach of the DSA over the risk of illegal products on its platform; in May 2026 it fined Temu 200 million euros for failing to properly assess that risk.
• From 1 July 2026: a temporary 3 euro customs duty applies to low-value parcels up to 150 euros entering the EU, charged per tariff category of goods in the parcel.

Capture the product page before you complain

Capture first, report second. Reporting a listing or opening a dispute can trigger changes to the page, and a product reported as unsafe may be removed entirely. So secure the listing before you press any button.

1. Open the product page and scroll through all photos, including the video if there is one.
2. Expand the full description, the specifications and the size chart.
3. Note every claim: material, dimensions, power rating, age suitability, certifications, what is included in the box.
4. Open the seller or store information and the trader details shown there.
5. Capture the whole page with its web address and date, not just the part visible on your screen.

Temu is app-first: get the web version of the product link

Most people shop on Temu in the app, and an app screen cannot be sealed with its web address the way a web page can. The fix is simple: nearly every Temu product also exists as a normal web page.

1. In the app, open the product and tap Share, then Copy link.
2. Paste the link into a browser on your computer. It redirects to the temu.com product page.
3. Check that it is the same product, same variant and same seller as your order.
4. Capture that public web page, and keep the final temu.com address it resolved to.

Prices, discounts and even shown photos can differ between the app, a logged-in session and a logged-out browser, and between countries. If the dispute is about the price or offer you personally saw, capture it in your own logged-in browser as well, not only the public page.

Order details, chat and refund offers sit behind login

The strongest proof of what you bought and what Temu promised is in your account: the order page, the tracking history and the support chat. These pages are only visible when you are logged in, so a server-side capture cannot see them. Capture them from your own browser, in your own account.

• Order page: order number, date, item, variant, quantity, amount paid and payment method.
• Tracking: carrier, tracking number, each status update and the delivery confirmation.
• Support chat: the full conversation, including automated answers and the moment a human agent replied.
• Refund offers: partial refunds, credit balance offers and any request to keep the item or dispose of it.

How to capture pages behind login with the browser widget →

Fake discounts, countdown timers and free-gift games

Huge percentages, a timer that restarts every visit, a warning that only a few items are left, or a free-gift game that needs one more purchase: these displays are part of the offer, and the CPC network has specifically asked Temu to address such practices. Under EU price rules, a shop announcing a price reduction must show the lowest price it charged in the prior 30 days as the reference.

• Capture the offer page at the moment you see it, with the timer, discount and stock message visible.
• Capture it again later, for example the next day: a timer that has reset or a discount that never ends is evidence in itself.
• For a free-gift or reward game, capture the rules and conditions and the step where more purchases or invites were required.

Fake discounts and the EU 30-day price rule, explained →

Photos and video of what you received

Your own photos are the other half of the comparison. Take them before you use, wash or throw away anything, because Temu or the seller may ask for images that match the listing point by point.

• Film the unopened parcel with the shipping label and order number visible, then the unboxing in one continuous clip.
• Photograph the product from all sides, next to a tape measure or a common object for size.
• Photograph labels, CE marking, the manufacturer or EU contact details, warnings, and the absence of any of these.
• Keep the product and packaging until the dispute is closed, unless it is dangerous, in which case stop using it and store it safely.

Where to complain: Temu, your bank, consumer authorities

1. Temu support: open a return or refund request in the order, within the deadline in Temu’s return policy, and attach your photos. Refuse credit if you want your money back: for a withdrawal, EU law requires the refund to go to the original payment method unless you expressly agree otherwise.
2. Card issuer or payment provider: if Temu refuses or stalls, ask your bank for a chargeback or use your payment provider’s buyer protection. Deadlines are set by the card scheme and your bank, so do not wait too long.
3. Consumer authority and ECC-Net: for EU users, Temu’s contracting party is Whaleco Technology Limited in Dublin, Ireland. If you live in another EU country, your national European Consumer Centre can help with this cross-border complaint free of charge.
4. Unsafe products: report them to your national market surveillance or consumer authority and through Temu’s own reporting function, after you have captured the listing.

In most EU countries you can also contact a national consumer authority or consumer organisation, and in serious cases, such as a product that caused injury or damage, a lawyer.

How to capture it properly

A forensic capture turns a Temu page into evidence that is hard to dispute: a full-page screenshot, the page source, a network log, SHA-256 hashes, an eIDAS qualified timestamp and a Bitcoin anchor, packed into an Evidence ZIP that anyone can verify independently. With GetProofAnchor you paste the public temu.com product URL and get that package, and the browser widget on subscription plans does the same for your order page and chat in your own logged-in browser.

No court is bound to accept any particular piece of evidence, but a sealed, verifiable capture is much harder to challenge than a screenshot. Only capture what you can lawfully access, such as public product pages and your own account.

See the one-time starter pack and plans →

Frequently asked questions

This article is general information, not legal advice. Return deadlines, chargeback rules and consumer procedures differ between platforms, banks and countries; for a specific dispute, contact your consumer authority, a European Consumer Centre or a lawyer.