Scammer chargeback

[museumrarities]

Buyer opens account on April 15th, buys $400.00 item from me. Waits 25 days and then files chargeback with their credit card company saying I shipped another item. And even though I've been a seller for a decade and have over $20,000 in sales, scammer gets money back and I have to right a detailed report and wait up to 75 days. Oh ya plus have to pay chargeback fees oh and if i don't have enough funds to cover the scammer I better put money into my PayPal. I'm just about done. What can we do to protect ourselves???

[reallynicestamps]

You had the right to demand the return of the disputed item.

That ends a lot of scam disputes, since crooks are lazy.

Refusing to allow the refund as a policy, in my opinion encourages scammers, who rightly believe the seller won't demand the return,  and discourages honest but nervous buyers who feel the seller may be difficult to deal with.

[museumrarities]

Scammer is showing pictures of another item that they received instead of the actualitem I shipped. They don't even go through paypal or ebay. This is a chargeback with their credit card. I can't even get the merchandise back, and I'm pretty sure they'd spend the 10 minutes to package up their broken item to send back. Then I'd be out return shipping aswell

[ichopshop]

But the chargeback was processed through paypal?  Or do you accept direct payments?

Ian

[museumrarities]

I am in Canada so I can't accept ebay managed payments. They didn't contact either paypal or ebay. They contacted their credit card and their credit card contacted paypal and stole my money

[marnotom!]

The process of handling chargebacks is detailed here on the PayPal website.  Emphases in red are mine:

https://www.paypal.com/us/brc/article/customer-disputes-claims-chargebacks-bank-reversals

What is a chargeback?
A chargeback is when a buyer asks their credit or debit card issuer to reverse a transaction after it’s been completed. They are available only to buyers who make a payment with their credit or debit card. Because they are initiated with and decided by the debit/credit card issuer (not PayPal), the process is bound by the card issuer’s regulations and time frame.

How can I respond to a chargeback?
To respond to a notice or check the status of a chargeback:

1. Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Go to the Resolution Center.
3. Click Respond in the Action column next to your claim.
4. Select how you would like to respond and click Continue.
   

What was your response to the chargeback?

[esclyons]

what are they claiming you sent them,  because if it is completely different in size and weight , you could also use your postal receipt with the actual weight on it. as proof you didn't send the item they claim to have received.

[museumrarities]

They are claiming I sent an open box with another dvd vcr combo. Im sure its going to be close in weight

[museumrarities]

I disputed it. Phoned ebay and they said its paypal, phoned paypal and they said its buyers financial institution. Im telling you guys, this will happen to you. And there is absolutely nothing you can do to win. Just like me, it took them 3 days to steal my money and refund scammer

[museumrarities]

no I can't, financial institutions ie credit cards don't deal with returns, they keep my 400 dollar item for free. Paypal and ebay don't care

[esclyons · Accepted solution]

you may have to consider filing a police report for theft, and possibly the post office for mail fraud... I would consider even emailing the scammer and let them know your intentions and see how they respond.

[a51split]

Is it possible the buyer bought the item in the photo from another seller and mistakenly thought it was you?

This reminds me of a chargeback I had many years ago.  I sold an item on ebay that was for $99.  Buyer received it and gave me positive feedback.  A couple of weeks later, the buyer did a chargeback on his CC without talking to PP or ebay.  I sent the buyer a polite **bleep**?  It turned out that his CC was also charged $99 by Amazon for Prime membership without his consent, and it was that charge he wanted reversed.  When he was on the call with his CC, they picked my $99 charge by mistake.  I knew exactly what he was saying because I was also charged that same fee by Amazon without my consent.  

Hey Amazon, if you're listening, that is why I have not purchased anything on your lousy site in almost 10 years.

[ricarmic]

I have also had this situation and situations where a buyers CC was stolen/compromised and the institution charges back ALL transactions good and bad.

Generally in my discussions with the buyers everything turned out well in the end.

This is also a situation where I would have called the buyer on the phone. That bears a small risk of being sworn at or whatever on the phone, but a much larger likelihood that the buyers confusion would be cleared up and I wouldn't ultimately lose the $$$. (But remember I live in a happier "stamp" world).

[terence427427]

cookie jar insurance l believe is the only answer, assuming you continue with on line auctions. decide how much you want for the item, add 10% cookie jar insurance, add your expenses like gas to the post office, shipping materials etc, add the cost of postage, add the ebay fee 10-15% or so. And don’t go lower than this figure for combined price and shipping.

[museumrarities]

They signed up the day they bought this item, and haven't bought anything since.

[reallynicestamps]

@museumrarities 

I disputed it. Phoned ebay and they said its paypal, phoned paypal and they said its buyers financial institution.

Which was your error.

As @marnotom  posted

How can I respond to a chargeback?
To respond to a notice or check the status of a chargeback:

1. Log in to your PayPal account.
2. Go to the Resolution Center.
3. Click Respond in the Action column next to your claim.
4. Select how you would like to respond and click Continue.

If you phoned and chatted with some minimum wage clerk in Utah, nothing was going to happen.

You had to follow through within the Paypal chargeback system.

An expensive error.

And one we keep seeing.

People who think that the humans who are there to soothe them have any power to actually do anything on their behalf. 

[reallynicestamps]

I disputed it. Phoned ebay and they said its paypal, phoned paypal and they said its buyers financial institution.

[reallynicestamps]

Which was your error.

[reallynicestamps]

As @marnotom  posted

[museumrarities]

Dude I did all that, you've obviously never had a chargeback. There is absolutely zero you can do

[a51split]

...on ebay. What about other charges they may have made using their CC?

Too late, but when I list an expensive item, I put in the description that if you are new to ebay and have zero feedback, don't bid on my item. If you do, your bid will be cancelled.
I will gladly take a strike from ebay to avoid what you're going through now.

[reallynicestamps]

"Phoned ebay ....phoned paypal "

Phoning is not responding in the chargeback process.

You said you phoned. You did not say you followed the automatic process.

[museumrarities]

I'm telling you, if its a chargeback. There's no way we can win.