PayPal problem. NEED ADVISE

[ruthsdevildog]

Just curious this is only a scenario. Sold item and buyer paid with PayPal. Approx. 33 days after the transaction was sent an e-mail by PayPal saying the buyer did not authorize the payment. PayPal reversed the transaction. I am out the money and the item. What action can be taken if any?
Thanks.

[audioshack]

Sounds like someone is running a scam.

Have you contacted the buyer by email or phone about this? Did you ship to the buyer or to some other address? Did you ship to the confirmed address?

If PayPal did not ask you to provide proof of delivery the buyer has done a chargeback directly through the CC issuer. Do you have delivery confirmation? If so, contat the buyer and ask them to return the item immediately. If they refuse or no response email again and advise them that you will be contacting Postal Authorities to initiate a fraud claim. If they are in the USA postal fraud is taken very seriously.

[auctiondropnship]

Did you ship too the confirmed address
Todd

[muminlaw]

When you say " this is only a scenario." do you mean it didn't actually happen? You're just wondering "what if....??" It hasn't happened to me so I don't KNOW what the exact procedure would be, but if you followed PayPal's rules you should be OK - if you missed on even one, you're probably SOL -- and how, in Canada, do we get on-line trackable numbers? From what I've read, delivery confirmation doesn't cut it with PainPal and apparently even Registered isn't what PP defines as on-line trackable! Sounds like Canadians are screwed from the get-go!!

Please, someone, tell me I'm wrong!!!!
. Glenda
To Golf or Not To Golf? What a stupid question!

[gloriaguides]

No, you're right Glenda. I've been on the wrong end of a couple of within Canada chargebacks and since most addresses aren't confirmed anyway, I've had to bite the bullet. Fortunately, they weren't large amounts. When Paypal takes back, it's very hard to get any info or any money back. Sometimes the amount isn't even worth the hassle--I block and move on. Gloria

[ruthsdevildog]

Yes this is just a scenario for myself but I have heard of this happening. Just curious what to do in the situation.
Thanks for all your replies.

[karensvariety]

It just happened to me. I received a message from Paypal saying they were contacting the charge card company since the buyer claimed it was an "unauthorized" charge. How can I possibly fight this? She bought, paid and received the item. She won't answer my emails. A blatant scam as far as I'm concerned. Paypal can't do anything about it, I am sure. I will just live with it and block her!

[chuck111fishing]

I just cant believe paypal can do that. if I would know that i would never been on ebay. I was told this before but didnt think they had the autority to do such as thing without your concent. In my books this wrong and they should have proof before handing over free money thats not theres.

[llee2]

From my experiences, Paypal will do a chargeback if your buyer does a chargeback through the credit card company. Regardless of whether or not you shipped to a confirmed address, or whether or not you have delivery confirmation. Paypal will say that you must pursue the matter through the courts. Bottom line is no matter what "proof" you have, Paypal will not get stuck with a loss. If Paypal loses the money due to a CC chargeback, expect it to come out or your account.

I had one buyer who disputed a few purchases that were made with his compromised credit card. He notified Paypal that the card was compromised and Paypal decided to claw back all payments made from his account in the last 30 days. Happens that he paid me by instant transfer and not credit card. Did that stop Paypal from charging back the legit payment he sent me. Nope. The buyer even sent Paypal an email telling them that our transaction was legit and complete and to return the funds to me. Paypal still would not return the funds to me and even had the nerve to charge me a $10 chargeback fee. Buyer ended up sending me a cheque to cover it, no thanks to Paypal.

Lincoln

[rockcandyland]

It happened to me! I got the payment. I sent the item. Withdrew funds from my PayPal account. 2 weeks later, I got an email saying they were investigating the buyer's account for fraud and debited the money from my account (so I was at a negative balance). It took another 3 weeks for it all to be sorted out which involved several calls to PayPal and the buyer. The buyer had NO idea what was even going on! If I hadn't been such a persistent hardass I am sure I wouldve never got the money back.

[recped]

If a customer does a chargeback through their credit card company the ONLY way you will win is if the card was presented and swiped or imprinted. Almost ANY PayPal payment made with a credit card can be reversed, if the charge was made directly with you there is a chance you can provide enough evidence to the credit card company to win but even then it's rare.

Accepting credit cards via PayPal is always risky, the risk is directly related to the flakiness of your buyers which is directly related to the nature of the goods you sell. PayPal WILL NOT work on your behalf, why should they, it's far too easy for them to just grab the money back from you.

I sell collectable records and cd's, most of my buyers are serious collectors not scam artists so I have few problems but if you sell common items available from many sellers / sources it's a whole different "game".

Ben
"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915

[dragonimpact]

As of May 24th, I cancelled my PayPal.com account and adopted HyperWallet.com and BidPay.com instead. Last year I lost roughly $150 in money and product because of chargebacks and Paypal's "give the money back solve it later" approach. This year already I have lost over $300 as customers/crooks realize that if I ship via Canada Post and do not use a tracking # of any sort I'm automatically screwed. It wasn't like this 5 years ago when I first started out. Back then I could ship to anyone via regular mail with no tracking and have no problems at all, today, everyone knows that if you receive something shipped to you, you can file a claim with Paypal get your money back and have the product for free.

[dragonimpact]

It's been 5 days since I got rid of Paypal.
Already 3 auctions have been paid for with BidPay.

Cost to me for customers paying via BidPay ... : $0

BidPay has a $0 transaction fee for sellers and charges the customer/buyer for the service.

HyperWallet does have a per transaction fee but what is great about them is they cap their fee at $5.00. So if you sell something for $1000.00 you only pay $5 service fee.

Check it out, its another way to save some money and increase your profits, plus, if the customer really really wants what you are selling they will pay you whatever way they can.

Alex

[www-dot-netgap-dot-com]

Alex and others,

I just came back from Costco - I think some good news. I have seen many times the US folks are using Costco or Sam's Club to do CC processing. I pamplet I got says that Costco Canada is now doing the same (using the same backend, Nova, as they do in the US). It hasn't shown up yet on the Costco ca ... the pamphlet is dated March 2005.

Nova has it on their site - but no info. There is a toll-free 866-325-3281 . I'm calling them tomorrow - I like a few things they are saying (No Application Fee, No Statement Fees, No Settlement Fees, 1.66% swiped, MOTO 2.21%, internet 2.81% ... don't know what the transaction fees are, but they only charge .08 for a debit card).

[funkywatch_com]

It seems Nova is available in Canada but not for online processing...

http://www.novainfo.com/nova_canada.asp

NOVA Merchant Services Canada
120 Adelaide St. West Suite 2300
Toronto, ON
Canada M5H 1T1
Sales Contact # is 1-800-819-6707

[muminlaw]

netgap - did you make the call? What was the result? Please keep us posted on this.
. Glenda
To Golf or Not To Golf? What a stupid question!

[www-dot-netgap-dot-com]

I'll call tomorrow - kind of got caught up in other things. The Nova site here says nothing ... the site for signup is www something costcocanada something novainfo something com. I think they are only setting up now for costco.

[rd1000]

I have an application from them waiting for me to get around to filling it out. The rates are great, but you cannot process online. You have to manually enter the number into a terminal, which you can rent for $8.00 month. There is an $10.00 per month minimum charge. Discount is 2.21%.

A great deal actually.

Rob

[rd1000]

Oh, you have to have a platinum Cosco membership as well. $100.00 /year.

[www-dot-netgap-dot-com]

What Rob said ... almost. I thought I heard $18 a month ... could be wrong. Right now they only have POS and MOTO ... I was pressing to find out when internet will be available - he would not commit to a timeframe. There are no transaction fees except for debit cards. The only other condition is that this is a 2-year "contract" and if you cancel early you have to give them $125.

The account is for CDN dollars only - I got the impression that US funds is a way down the road to never sort of thing.

It doesn't fit with me to well (mainly the lack of internet and the $US). But maybe in a few months. BTW - anyone with a B&M should have a look at them.