posted on April 26, 2002 07:13:14 PM new
Paypal Nightmare: You can learn from my mistake (I am making this as short as possible)....
On 12-20-01 I received a Paypal payment of $350.23 for Ebay item. After receiving the items, buyer came up with a silly excuse and insisted on return, he asked me to do the refund by check to avoid more expenses. I did the full refund by a check., which he cashed on 2/04/02. Next thing I know, I notice that on 3/6/02 My Paypal account has a balance of - (minus) $362.23. I call Customer Service where they tell me that Chargeback Dispute has been filed by my customer. I explain the situation and told to fax proof of shipment and cashed bank check. I faxed it all on 3/07/02. On 3/11/02 I call Paypal and I am told that 30 day wait process is applied. In meantime I receive a payment from another customer of $239.50, which is taken out of my account and now my balance is -$138.78. I called and emailed Paypal total of 7 times with a request to help, because when I tried to pay for an item I purchased, I got a warning that the money will be applied towards my debt with Paypal. I never get a response, by email or phone. Except on 04/17/02 I get this email:..." We have received a copy of the reimbursement check. After further review as we are unable to make out the information on the back of the cashed check we are not reimbursing your funds at this time.... Sincerely,
Tina PayPal Chargeback Division"...
I sent a bank copy of my cashed check by mail also and as of yet I have no responses. You can clearly see the check was cashed. In meantime the buyer continues to use Ebay and Paypal. The question is will I ever get some help from the Customer Service? By the way I called many times and always told that only Chargeback Dept. can help me with my questions, but there is always 30-40 minutes hold wait....
posted on April 26, 2002 08:18:13 PM new
have you called this buyer and speak to him ,sometimes things do get resolved when 2 persons talk on the phone??
(especially if he is still bidding on ebay).
mention ebay safe harbor and his local police and his credit card issuer and internet fraud investigation,usps mail fraud and FBI.
i bet paypal also take an extra 10.00 from you for chargeback fee.
dont be emotional,stay calm and mention if this cannot be resolved,you have no choice but to consult with these organisations.
posted on April 26, 2002 09:32:55 PM new
I would say this might be a scam the buyer started. There would be no reason refunding by check would be easier than refunding money from a PayPal account (unless he had a Premier account which would have fees). Even then, you shouldn't do that, you shouldn't refund by check since generally your supposed to refund by the same medium sent to you (for example, a user could buy something from a store with a credit card and return it, and if he got a check as a refund, he would be getting a cash advance while not having to pay any extra interest or fees). The fact that he filed a chargeback suggests that he might have been planning all along to ask for a check and then charge it back too, since he didn't even e-mail you before charging it back. I'm not saying it could be a misunderstanding but that seems unlikely.
However, what was done is done, and you are entitled for a refund back from PayPal. I have seen many excuses by PayPal for not paying back money but illegibility of a check is one of the most wildest I've seen. PayPal didn't even ask you to refax or mail the check. Furthermore, faxing something usually deteriorates quality, and because backs of checks are very confusing and hard to read to begin with, I am surprised PayPal even asked you to fax it if they needed to read it in detail.
What I would do is, if you have a scanner, post pictures of what you can on the internet. Don't post any confidential/personal information (blot it out). If you provide a link to a copy of the canceled check (front and back) here (scan it in very good quality so they can't make the excuse that it is unreadable), PayPal will basically have to acknowledge that they have it, since its hard to deny it when it's posted for everyone to see.
(That's what happened in another case: A user filled out forms and sent them to PayPal, and got them back asking for more information. Then PayPal denied getting or returning any information, and Damon continued to say the user never sent it in until he posted a scan of the postmark, and a scan of the note PayPal wrote wrote him with the information they returned, on the internet.)
[ edited by andrew123s on Apr 26, 2002 09:37 PM ]
posted on April 27, 2002 06:52:40 AM new
some folks use the chargeback as a way to delay paying cc bills in full or avoid paying interest on disputed items.
if you have a personal account,i believe you cannot accept credit card payment,and there is a 100 dollars limit on cash you can receive per month
posted on April 27, 2002 07:38:01 AM new
I was trying to make my story short, so I did not mention that I called the buyer on 3/19 and he said that he just spoke to his credit card co. and they will take care of the chargeback. He was also very nice and responding to emails fast at first, then no responses and rude on the phone after the chargeback started. (He even pretended he did not know what chargeback I'm talking about at first). I already figured he planned it all along., I will never do refunds by check again for a credit card charge, that's for sure. Also, the last part of the email from Paypal said:.." We have contacted and requested reimbursement from the buyer. Once PayPal has received reimbursement from the buyer, that reimbursement will be forwarded to your account".... It has been 10 days, there is no reply from anyone. I emailed the buyer to ask him to payback the money, no answer. I think Paypal should not have given him the refund until the problem was resolved. Now they admit the money should be returned, but do not want to give it from their funds, since the buyer stole it. And $10 Paypal charge fee, yes they sure took that out too.... Thanks everyone for your comments, I appreciate it.
PS. I was really hoping to get some HELP from Paypal Damon!
posted on April 27, 2002 09:27:18 AM new
your local banker may be able to help-find out how and when this check cleared and correspond with his bank to see if it was deposited into his account.
his bank may not disclose much,but if it tells you the money was received and credited to a certain account and his name is on the account,then you can bypass paypal and go to internet fraud / usps fraud investigation to tell your story,he will have to reimburse you for that 10 chargeback fee as well.
when you file usps mail fraud with USPS,a copy is automatically sent to the local police,he will receive a letter on police stationary.
no one wants to receive a letter from the local police
posted on April 27, 2002 10:47:44 AM new
Sounds great. First I was going to call him on Monday. There is no way I am leaving this alone with Paypal also. Once again Thank You! I like that idea of trying to get the bank to get that info., will check with my bank on Monday also.
posted on April 29, 2002 07:47:38 AM new
My account was finally credited today, thanks to Damon, (I guess, because he never really replied). Of course Paypal did NOT refund $10 Settlement Fee, eventhough per Paypal rules:"... The $10 fee will be waived in those cases where the sellers have fulfilled all of the requirements of PayPal's Seller Protection Policy..." I hope this will be resolved also. Thanks to everyone for all the comments!
