Monday, September 14, 2009

My Paypal Debacle

On 09.09.09, I received an e-mail from Paypal at about 11:30pm. It came through my iPhone while I was trying to stay up and watch TV. I've known that people have received some fraudulent e-mails using Paypal before. I've seen the scams.


But, this Paypal e-mail came through the right e-mail address with Angry Husband's name on it. It also had his nickname or abbreviated name that we use on the account.

The e-mail stated this:

Hello Angry Husband,

We were recently notified that one of your buyers filed a chargeback and asked the credit card issuer to reverse a payment made to you on July 1, 2009.

The buyer claims that this purchase was made without authorization to use the credit card. Their credit card issuer needs additional information from you about this transaction. Please respond within 10 days so that we can help resolve this
chargeback. To respond, log in to your PayPal account and go to the Resolution
Centerto provide information about this transaction.


The credit card issuer decides if the buyer's claim is legitimate. Once the credit card issuer receives your information, it may take up to 75 days to make a final decision.
Because the credit card issuer has reversed the charge for this transaction, we've placed a temporary hold on the funds associated with this transaction until the case is resolved. Our user agreement explains our policies on holding funds.


You can learn more about chargebacks in the Resolution Center
tutorials.



This was related to a transaction that I made on 07.01.09. I sold some Boden clothing to someone on a large parenting forum. The chargeback was for a $100, which is a significant amount of money. I've sold on the forums for years, and never had a chargeback. The person I sold to had feedback. She left me feedback. I assumed the transaction was over with.

Because I've used Paypal for over seven years, I know Paypal's policies. I did everything right. I accept the Paypal payment. I mailed the items out within a day. I shipped through the Paypal site. I used Delivery Confirmation. My response to the chargeback was an explanation, and a I also including the tracking number, which showed that the item was delivered to the correct address. Do you know that Paypal has a Seller Protection Policy? I complied with the Policy. Unfortunately the representative from Paypal said that it could take approximately 7-30 days to get my account re-instated. For right now, I have a negative balance.

Oh, and the best part of this. This woman did the same thing to several people on the same forum. I wasn't the only victim. Some of the incidents happened in May and June. They were able to clear it up with a phone call and get their accounts re-instated. My main problem is that the account is in Angry Husband's name. I did this for safety reasons, and it has given me problems more than once. I couldn't get anything accomplished on the phone because Angry Husband was not present. And with us both being so busy, I still haven't had time to have him call Paypal. They also advised me that the account name is established and that we can't change it, even after this issue is closed.

Do you know what this really means for me? I can't shop online. Well I can shop online, but not at etsy or e-bay, two sites I frequent DAILY.

Hopefully, I can get this all cleared up within the next day or so. Otherwise I'm going to lose my mind! I don't know if I'll ever sell any of Angry Toddler's used clothing online again. I'm pretty pissed off about this. I currently have two totes of clothing to purge in my house. I might take it to a local consignment store soon.

I'm not against Paypal. I will keep using their service. I think it's a great idea, even with all of their fees. But I'm still frustrated.

***Update 09.14.09...I got a hold of Paypal last night. They cleared my account. I can finally shop!!******

9 comments:

  1. Oh man that sucks!! What is that lady's problem? That's such a scam!

    What about selling his clothes on craigslist? I've seen people selling bags of clothes for one price. Or find a local swap. Or sell the clothes to one of those gently used places.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, man! That sucks.

    I went the consignment shop route a few weeks ago. I only made like 1/10th of what I'd make on Ebay/Forums, but I didn't have to deal with anything but dropping it off at the store.

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  3. You should totally blow up her spot on the site you met on. Then she'll be just as screwed as you were... only her situation will be permanent. Nothing like giving someone a bad name to teach them a lesson!

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  4. Wow that really stinks! If she keeps doing this to people, why hasn't PayPal closed her account? She'll probably keep doing it until they do.

    I hope you can get this resolved quickly. Oh and I use Once Upon A Child for consigning kids clothes. Its a franchise so there may be one near you. They give you cash on the spot, no need to wait for it to sell.

    Good luck!

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  5. oh no! what a bummer. i think i would curl up & die if i couldn't shop on-line! what a travesty!

    xoxo, K

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  6. just read that your problems are solved! yeah!!!!

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  7. Yea, I need to figure out what to do with Angry Toddler's clothes. I might try Craig's List. It has worked for me.

    Oh, and the forum that this occurred on. The woman was BANNED.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Sorry about the chargeback..

    I had one a long time ago.. An ebay buyer filed a chargeback the day I shipped..

    I was out the merchandise and money :(

    As for not being able to sell toddler clothing anymore online..

    Try
    http://www.kidsconsignmentsales.com

    Find a local consignment sale (NOT STORE!) .. I do participate in a local sale here in NE Oklahoma and bring home $200-$300 on one weekend :) I don't take fancy brands to the sale ..its mostly walmart, target, kmart brands !! I get 70% for what my item sells for !!

    I've been doing ebay for 7yrs but since i discovered my local sale, I save my daughter's clothing to take to 2x's a year sale. No more overpriced ebay fees, picky buyers, no PP ;)

    ReplyDelete

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