A chargeback against me on ebay...help?

[Turtle]

Hello!

 

I checked my paypal account this morning to see that slab I sold on ebay in April is now getting a chargeback. The buyer took a little while to pay but ended up paying me via paypal. I shipped the book with tracking and the buyer got it 2-3 days later. USPS still shows the item was delivered (to the address given by ebay, no less) and I got positive feedback from the transaction saying I shipped quickly and didn't overcharge.

 

I submitted the tracking number through paypal's dispute console and mentioned that I could provide transcripts of messages I had with the buyer as well as positive feedback I'd received from him.

 

This is my first time dealing with a chargeback through ebay. How likely is it that I'm going to get screwed on this one?

[mschmidt]

I wouldn't worry at all - you have proof from USPS that the item was delivered, and have also received positive FB from the auction by the buyer.

 

Did the buyer specify why he was filing a chargeback?

[Mutant Manatee]

Did the address listed on the PayPal payment match the address listed in the buyer's eBay info?

 

I think you are required to ship to the address listed in the PayPal payment in order to meet PayPal's protection requirements. Also, if the item sold for over $250 you are required to have Signature Confirmation, not just Delivery Confirmation. Maybe you already knew this.

 

I hope it all works out in your favor. It's something I've never had to deal with but it's probably just a matter of time.

 

 

[Turtle]

I sent a message to the buyer this morning asking him to shed some light on the situation.

 

The item was about $185 total and the address on the paypal and ebay sites matched up.

 

Let's say everything does turn out and I don't get screwed. Does the chargeback from the CC company still go through? If so, who pays the $185? Paypal? Or is it an either/or type of thing. Either they side with me and the chargeback gets overturned or the chargeback stands the money is taken out of my PP account?

 

As I was writing this, I got an email from the buyer. He says he doesn't know and is looking into it. I'll use this thread to update. Wish me luck.

[Turtle]

Also, the reason was something like "the transaction was unauthorized".

[Mutant Manatee]

Well, it sounds like all your bases were covered.

 

PayPal really needs to take steps to prevent this kind of BS from happening. I understand that eBay wants their buyers to feel protected, and rightfully so, but sellers need to feel protected too.

 

Good luck and keep us updated.

[PeasOfCrap]

strange, sorry to hear you are dealing with this headache. keeps us posted as i would like to know what to do if this happens to me!

[Bomber-Bob]

Also, the reason was something like "the transaction was unauthorized".

 

Just guessing but if his credit card was involved in a fraudulent transaction(not yours) the CC company may stop payment on all transactions after the initial fraudulent transaction.

[the blob]

Also, the reason was something like "the transaction was unauthorized".

 

Just guessing but if his credit card was involved in a fraudulent transaction(not yours) the CC company may stop payment on all transactions after the initial fraudulent transaction.

 

This happened to me last year. All the guy's transactions got chargebacks and it took a while for the CC to sort it out, but I got my money back. A bunch of us ebay sellers (to him) were ticked off because we had no idea what was going on.

 

Don't e-mail the buyer with an angry e-mail like I did (it sure didn't help the situation!)...I had no idea CCs would do this with ALL transactions like this and figured the guy was ripping me off (when he wasn't, he didn't even know the CC had done this)...just let him know there was a chargeback but from what you can tell everything went fine..if he's not a jerk this will prompt his to get things fixed with his CC faster

[JohnT]

Also, the reason was something like "the transaction was unauthorized".

 

Just guessing but if his credit card was involved in a fraudulent transaction(not yours) the CC company may stop payment on all transactions after the initial fraudulent transaction.

 

This happened to me last year. All the guy's transactions got chargebacks and it took a while for the CC to sort it out, but I got my money back. A bunch of us ebay sellers (to him) were ticked off because we had no idea what was going on.

 

Don't e-mail the buyer with an angry e-mail like I did (it sure didn't help the situation!)...I had no idea CCs would do this with ALL transactions like this and figured the guy was ripping me off (when he wasn't, he didn't even know the CC had done this)...just let him know there was a chargeback but from what you can tell everything went fine..if he's not a jerk this will prompt his to get things fixed with his CC faster

 

Wouldn't the buyer be aware of this? Strange...

[the blob]

The CCs sometimes just leave you a voicemail when they think something is fraudulent, freeze the CC and want to hear back from you. Maybe the phone # they have isn't your cell and maybe you don't check it as much. I dunno.

[synch]

Also, the reason was something like "the transaction was unauthorized".

 

Just guessing but if his credit card was involved in a fraudulent transaction(not yours) the CC company may stop payment on all transactions after the initial fraudulent transaction.

 

This happened to me last year. All the guy's transactions got chargebacks and it took a while for the CC to sort it out, but I got my money back. A bunch of us ebay sellers (to him) were ticked off because we had no idea what was going on.

 

Don't e-mail the buyer with an angry e-mail like I did (it sure didn't help the situation!)...I had no idea CCs would do this with ALL transactions like this and figured the guy was ripping me off (when he wasn't, he didn't even know the CC had done this)...just let him know there was a chargeback but from what you can tell everything went fine..if he's not a jerk this will prompt his to get things fixed with his CC faster

 

Wouldn't the buyer be aware of this? Strange...

 

No, unless you happen to go online & check you're CC stuff & notice a ton of new charges that you did not make before the CC company does... Take in mind it normally takes a few days + for the CC charges to update as well (at least for mine it does [master card])

 

Normally when this happens the card simply starts to get maxed out with large large purchases! It happened to my dad once someone got hold of his info some how & used it for various online poker sites! CC called & terminated the card & sent a list of purchases & then you got to go through them all & figure out what is what

 

 

[herc2000]

 

I had a similar thing happen a few months back and was getting very wound up with it. At first paypal said it was because he did not leave positive feedback and it was done at random to make sure the seller was happy. I too contacted the seller and they said they were very happy, but were not helpful in responding to paypal or leaving feedback. I said to paypal they leave feedback for nobody, which you could see they did not.

 

The money was put on hold for ages and I thought I was going to lose it when out of the blue paypal restored the funds in my account.

 

This is slightly different as they left you positive feedback, just keep on at them reminding them of your tracking, positive feedback etc

 

I only realised by chance as I never got an email originaly, just when I logged into paypal and was looking over past transactions I spotted it.

 

Good luck hope it works out okay

 

herc

[Turtle]

Here's an update. About 2 weeks after I submitted all the tracking info, they closed the case (without notifying me) and here's the text that I got.

Using the information you provided, we are in the process of disputing this chargeback with the buyer's credit card company. Please note that this dispute process can take 75 days or more and that there is no guarantee that we will be successful in our attempt to recover your funds. If we are successful, we will promptly return to your account any recovered funds that we previously debited for this chargeback. We will notify you of any updates about this case by email and in the Resolution Center.

 

This matter has been resolved and no funds were debited from your account for this chargeback. We were charged a fee for processing this chargeback and have debited your account a Chargeback Settlement Fee.

 

If you have evidence to support your case that you have not yet submitted, upload or fax this evidence as soon as possible by clicking Add below. Your Chargeback Resolution Specialist can be reached at chargeback-response@paypal.com.

 

It is PayPal's standard practice to dispute wrongful chargebacks. One of the benefits of using PayPal is that our team of chargeback specialists will gather the necessary information from you and work with the credit card company until the chargeback is resolved. Learn more about how PayPal investigates chargebacks.

 

So the money that was frozen when the chargeback was filed on June 6th were released and I'm free to use them again, however there was no note on the June 21st line, rather the word "removed" was placed on the status of the June 6th line. I'm thankful I got the money back, but I'm not sure why I'd have to go digging to figure out the status of the dispute. Oh well....

 

I'm basically posting this in case someone has a similar issue somewhere down the line.

[Boozad]

It is PayPal's standard practice to dispute wrongful chargebacks.

 

And then charge you for it

[dupont2005]

Someone pulled that with me and I provided tracking info and screencaps of the private messages where he acknowledged he got what I sent him. They released the money to me.

[RockMyAmadeus]

Here's an update. About 2 weeks after I submitted all the tracking info, they closed the case (without notifying me) and here's the text that I got.

Using the information you provided, we are in the process of disputing this chargeback with the buyer's credit card company. Please note that this dispute process can take 75 days or more and that there is no guarantee that we will be successful in our attempt to recover your funds. If we are successful, we will promptly return to your account any recovered funds that we previously debited for this chargeback. We will notify you of any updates about this case by email and in the Resolution Center.

 

This matter has been resolved and no funds were debited from your account for this chargeback. We were charged a fee for processing this chargeback and have debited your account a Chargeback Settlement Fee.

 

If you have evidence to support your case that you have not yet submitted, upload or fax this evidence as soon as possible by clicking Add below. Your Chargeback Resolution Specialist can be reached at chargeback-response@paypal.com.

 

It is PayPal's standard practice to dispute wrongful chargebacks. One of the benefits of using PayPal is that our team of chargeback specialists will gather the necessary information from you and work with the credit card company until the chargeback is resolved. Learn more about how PayPal investigates chargebacks.

 

So the money that was frozen when the chargeback was filed on June 6th were released and I'm free to use them again, however there was no note on the June 21st line, rather the word "removed" was placed on the status of the June 6th line. I'm thankful I got the money back, but I'm not sure why I'd have to go digging to figure out the status of the dispute. Oh well....

 

I'm basically posting this in case someone has a similar issue somewhere down the line.

 

It's good that the chargeback was found in your favor...

 

However.

 

This is why you should never ever ever ever ever ever ever...ever ever NEVER ever....EVER...leave money in your Paypal account.

 

Always "sweep" (the old term) it into your bank account as soon as you can.

 

That way, if this happens, they don't just take it from your balance, but give you a negative balance until it's "sorted out." This will work for occasional sellers, but for regular sellers, it's a royal pain.

 

Dekeuk did this to me last year. His credit card company just reversed the charge, without bothering to ask why. $405 item, too. I'm glad that guy doesn't show his head around here anymore.

 

Did you have to pay the "Chargeback Settlement Fee"...? Should be $10? If you followed the terms of the Seller Protection, you shouldn't have to.

[Turtle]

That's a good tip, RMA. However, if they do send my balance into a negative, I would assume that means that I am unable to use paypal until the negative is cleared or the case is resolved, correct? Seems like a pain either way. Is this why people have mentioned having 2 separate paypal accounts?

 

And no, I'm not seeing any chargeback fees. I'm fairly certain I followed all the rules. I shipped to a confirmed address and sent the item with tracking info. The item wasn't worth over $250, so I didn't insure it. Has that rule changed? I thought I read somewhere that it has and now all items need to be insured to be covered. True?

[RockMyAmadeus]

That's a good tip, RMA. However, if they do send my balance into a negative, I would assume that means that I am unable to use paypal until the negative is cleared or the case is resolved, correct? Seems like a pain either way. Is this why people have mentioned having 2 separate paypal accounts?

 

Yes, and yes.

 

And no, I'm not seeing any chargeback fees. I'm fairly certain I followed all the rules. I shipped to a confirmed address and sent the item with tracking info. The item wasn't worth over $250, so I didn't insure it. Has that rule changed? I thought I read somewhere that it has and now all items need to be insured to be covered. True?

 

No, they only want "signature confirmation" over $250 (total cost.)

 

However...current USPS policy requires ALL packages insured for over $200 to be signed for, so that's the workaround...plus, you're covered with insurance.

[Turtle]

Thanks.