Need your help! Please be on the lookout for this stolen Batman 121 CGC 7.5 2 2

[Filter81]

On February 25th, we had someone purchase this Batman 121 CGC 7.5 from us, which we shipped Fedex overnight, he acknowledged receiving it and said "it looks great, thanks", and then recently filed an unauthorized credit card chargeback through Paypal without returning the book.  

He apparently goes by the names Jeffrey Ledbetter, Ben Shroy, and George Panek.  The address he gave us is in Little Rock, Arkansas, but his phone number came up with a Kansas area code.  

If someone with anyone of these names tries to buy a book from you please be careful, and if anyone sees this book show up anywhere or lives in Little Rock or KS and has a good relationship with the local comic stores (or local police) please let me know.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

I hate to hear this. I’ve saved the picture and will be on the lookout.

[Legion of Goom]

Wow. I'm truly sorry to hear that and will keep a look out.

 

Im unfamiliar with this side of the hobby...with Paypal, shouldn't he have to return the book to get the refund since you can prove it was delivered to him?

[Filter81]

16 minutes ago, Legion of Goom said:

Wow. I'm truly sorry to hear that and will keep a look out.

 

Im unfamiliar with this side of the hobby...with Paypal, shouldn't he have to return the book to get the refund since you can prove it was delivered to him?

Unfortunately he didn't file an item not received claim, he filed an unauthorized purchase charge through his credit card, which I guess has a different set of rules.  I still plan to appeal through Paypal but am not extremely hopeful on that front.  

Edited March 11, 2021 by Filter81

[Legion of Goom]

8 minutes ago, Filter81 said:

Unfortunately he didn't file an item not received claim, he filed an unauthorized purchase charge through his credit card, which I guess has a different set of rules.  I still plan to appeal through Paypal but am not extremely hopeful on that front.  

That really sucks. I hope it works out for you. 

I can understand a platform wanting to be buyer-friendly, but that's an insane loophole to abuse sellers with if that's how it shakes out. 

[Crops068]

23 minutes ago, Filter81 said:

Unfortunately he didn't file an item not received claim, he filed an unauthorized purchase charge through his credit card, which I guess has a different set of rules.  I still plan to appeal through Paypal but am not extremely hopeful on that front.  

Sounds like a compromised Credit Card that might have been used to purchase the item without the card owner's knowledge.  Is that possible?

Definitely is terrible about the book and will be on the lookout as well.  You may want to file a police report for stolen property once you talk to Paypal.

[ThothAmon]

I’ll volunteer for the posse. Hate stories like this. 
 

[Filter81]

Thanks everyone!  We will be filing a police report this afternoon.  A little bit of good news I spoke to Paypal again and my case with them might not be as bleak as I thought it sounded yesterday.  It sounds like there is a decent chance they may protect us after all.  But we won't know for sure for somewhere between 20 and 90 days from now   

Hopefully the book turns up somewhere or the police will be helpful.  I'll post updates if I get any.

I appreciate all the kind words and eyes out for this book!  

Edited March 11, 2021 by Filter81

[nines]

You have screenshots of the buyer admitting he received the item. I can't see how you lose this.

[Lightning55]

13 minutes ago, nines said:

You have screenshots of the buyer admitting he received the item. I can't see how you lose this.

My take on this:  The "buyer" DID receive the item, but it was not his credit card that got charged.  "Buyer" is happy - he has the book. 

But the credit card owner is the "victim" here.  He is the one filing for unauthorized use of his credit card.  That is who PayPal has to refund, which means they want to charge someone back.  That is why there is now a case open.

Usually PayPal (or eBay) covers you for fraudulent purchases as long as you can show it was delivered.  Over $750, you have to have signature confirmation or you're not covered.

No one likes paying payment processors 3% for transactions, but you can see that they can use up a lot of 3% fees to protect sellers on claims. 

Whatever this book sold for, if PayPal covers it, they have to process 33 more similar sized transactions just to fund that coverage.  Actually maybe 100 transactions.  PayPal doesn't get the whole 3%.  They get about half, the cc companies get the other half.  And then they their own expenses to cover from that.  Not to say they can't afford it, but I suspect the biggest loss to their bottom line is paying protection claims.

[Chaz G.]

That sucks. I hate hearing this.

Curious, was this sale through FaceBook? eBay? Online store?

Good luck getting it back.