Paypal chargeback...... question

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
T

Texatdurango

Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
4,649
Location
Show Low, Arizona
I am curious where Paypal's allegiance lies when dealing with buyer chargebacks.

Paypal says they have a team of "chargeback specialists" to assist you the seller build a case to dispute the credit card company claim when the buyer contacts their credit card company to reverse the charges. That sounds good but what has your experience been....... Have you found that the Paypal "chargeback specialists" actually work on YOUR behalf or do you find you are actually fighting Paypal to get your frozen funds back?

In order to keep unrelated discussions, heresay and unfounded opinions to a minimum, I would appreciate hearing replies only from those who have actually dealt with chargebacks through Paypal with a customer who tried to reverse charges for a pen or item you shipped to them.

Thanks
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
I had someone try to get their money back saying item was never sent. I supplied paypal with a copy of the tracking number (I always provide tracking numbers). They returned the money back to my account.

I think the whole process took about 3 days. My paypal account was restricted during that time. I could still get paid for items, as far as I could tell the only thing I was restricted on was sending money. I have a paypal business card and it still worked during that time also.

So to answer specifically my answer would be yes they workednfor me. But it may alsobeon a case by case basis. If that custom would have said item broke, wrong or whatever it may have gone another direction. I might start insuring packages too.
 
not pen related, but I had a paypal chargeback for an item i sold on Ebay. buyer claimed it was "not as advertised". Provided Paypal with pictures and shipping info (ALWAYS TRACK!) and a picture of packed item. finally gave up...Paypal wanted "proof" and apparently a copy of the listing with pictures wasn't enough....
 
That was not enough proof? Good grief I think that answers who paypal lines up behind

I have found that sometimes I feel they think they are the only player in town and they don't want a customer to bad mouth them...a merchant ? Well deal with it

Soon paypal will BE the only player...payment option....on eBay
 
I shipped a cell phone to a buyer in Buffalo, New York. I let the money that the buyer paid sit in the account. After FOURTEEN DAYS went by they took the money back with the reason that the sale was not guaranteed with a valid address. I do not use PayPal any longer and if I did, the money would immediately be withdrawn. There table of experts did NOT help me in any way.
 
Looks like my problem is turning out as feared. The buyer said they returned my pens claiming they did not resemble what was shown and filed for a chargeback. I sell through my website not ebay and have actual photos of my pens.

Like Andrew's experience I have not been able to talk to anyone at paypal and my messages seem to be going unanswered so far. It appears so far that all some unscrupulous person has to do is buy an item, say it was wrongly identified then claim they returned it, file a chargeback to get their money back through their credit card and we the merchants are screwed since it appears that paypal wants to keep the credit card companies happy! I haven't heard a peep since July 6th, over a week now.

Looks like that this "consumer protection" nonsense has gotten really out of whack and while it might hinder my online sales efforts, I may go back to how I started.......

When a person wanted a pen, they could send me a postal money order. When I was notified by the post office that I had a money order I would go down with the pen(s), cash the money order right after the teller gave it to me THEN mail the package, all in one transaction! Crude and barbaric BUT it worked many times before I found the convenience of paypal!

Now that I have experienced the inconvenient side of paypal, I'm not so sure that my old was was all that bad! I'm not a volume seller so won't mind the occasional drive to the post office.
 
Have you tried calling PayPal. You can get a number online and it requires that you give them the pin number you receive when you request to call them.

Go to the bottom of your account page and click "contact us"
On the right hand side of the new page you will see Contact Us by phone or email.
With the new page, just go to option 2 and click it. There you will get a phone number and a pin number.

Hope this helps.
 
I tried calling them, but it's a US number, and I was on hold for 10 minutes...I wasn't about to spend another bunch of money chasing after a hundred that I lost, when there's likely only one person in the call center answering phones...

I never like to throw good money after bad...
 
Paypal does not do much in the way of customer service for regular accounts. However, if you have a $30 a month merchant account and use their card processing system, you get far more attention.

John's statement above is really valuable advice. I never leave a balance in my paypal account for them to come back and steal from me based on a customer complaint or chargeback. What I don't know is how paypal works it if you have a zero balance and someone charges back an item via their credit card...

Additionally, I never pay for anything with my paypal balance... I always clear it out and then pay with a credit card so I have some recourse as a buyer. I was sent the wrong auto part once, paying for it with a paypal balance and never got my money back. Had I charged it I would not be out that $79.

George, I think you're smart in going back to the money order route for payments from total strangers buying off your web site directly. It's smart business and you have to go down to drop off the pens anyway. I will remember this.
 
Last edited:
If you zero out your PayPal balance and they want to charge you back they will overdraw your account and show a negative balance. I asked that question in the heat of my argument and that was the response. I also have the buyers e mail address and after five years continue to harass them.
 
maxwell_smart007 said:
I tried calling them, but it's a US number, and I was on hold for 10 minutes...I wasn't about to spend another bunch of money chasing after a hundred that I lost, when there's likely only one person in the call center answering phones...

I never like to throw good money after bad...
Click to expand...

that's why I quit on my "chargeback"...it was about $40 and not worth the time...
 
Parson said:
Paypal does not do much in the way of customer service for regular accounts. However, if you have a $30 a month merchant account and use their card processing system, you get far more attention.

John's statement above is really valuable advice. I never leave a balance in my paypal account for them to come back and steal from me based on a customer complaint or chargeback. What I don't know is how paypal works it if you have a zero balance and someone charges back an item via their credit card...

Additionally, I never pay for anything with my paypal balance... I always clear it out and then pay with a credit card so I have some recourse as a buyer. I was sent the wrong auto part once, paying for it with a paypal balance and never got my money back. Had I charged it I would not be out that $79.

George, I think you're smart in going back to the money order route for payments from total strangers buying off your web site directly. It's smart business and you have to go down to drop off the pens anyway. I will remember this.
Click to expand...

Based on my experience with anything Paypal paid if you don't have the money in your Paypal account that is being requested they take it from the linked bank account you use to set up the Paypal account. They do this for sales and it is my understanding they will do the same for chargebacks (although I guess they could have changed that.)

We had a chargeback not too long ago because a customer had a credit card stolen and put a stop on the card. The customer told us this as soon as it happened (pen was either in transit or already with customer.) The customer was very up front and said to let him know if there was a charge back and he would take care of it with another card at that point.

When it finally did happen it was like a couple of MONTHS after the sale not just two weeks. In fact I had forgotten about his call to let us know this even could happen. However, with paypal I believe the burden of proof is on the vendor and you best have some darned good proof.

In our case the fix was very simple. He paid with another card and we sent that message to paypal and it was over - funds unfrozen.

Linda
 
I've lost money with Paypal as both a buyer and seller. Their team of experts look out for Paypal's interests. I use them as a last resort for anything.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom