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!!******

Message Boards or Forums

Do you frequent them?

Do you have regular ones you go to?

I do. I have been using message boards forums ever since I was Trying To Conceive. It's an awesome thing about the Internet. There are people out there like myself, going through the same struggles of TTC, parenting, marriage, and life.

We post about our daily lives, what's going on, issues we are having. People respond with comments, tips, and such.

But alas, my favorite part of the forums, is the drama. Yes, I'm a Drama Ho, and proud of it. Because of the Internet being so anonymous, you can post just about anything, unless you are on a forum that is censored. I've seen tons of debates natural/c-section birth; breastfeeding/formula feeding; circ/no-circ; co-sleep/crib....

I could go on and on. People love to argue. I think alot of people will not say things in real life, because they are shy, or don't want to start fights. But, hey on the Internet, it's fair game. You can post your opinion, defend your opinion, and if people don't like it, you sign off your computer. You can come back in a few days, and a lot of steam has been blown off. Why? Cause there is some new drama that everyone is talking about.

I'm writing this post today, because one of the Forums that I subscribe to is down. There are over 6,000 members on this Forum. It is unknown on how many people are actually active. I'm also on several sub-boards of this message board. This is a sad day for everyone....people can't wait for this Forum to come back up, we WANT, we CRAVE, the DRAMA....

So all my other peeps out there, hopefully, the Forum will be back up soon, so we can eat our dinners in peace tonight, in front of the computer, and rehash some awesome DRAMA.

Something posted on one of my Forums

I was lurking on my internet Forums aka Message Boards the other night and saw this posted. It really captures how I feel about the Internet and my online buddies. So Thanks Krissi for posting this:

Friends Without Faces

We sit and we type and we stare at our screens,
We can't help but wonder what all of this means.
With mouse in hand ...we roam through this maze,
On an infinite search...lost in a daze.

We chat with each other, we type all our woes
At times we'll band together to gang up on our foes.
We wait for somebody, to type out our name
We want recognition, but it is always the same.

Soon friendships are formed - but - why we don't know,
But some of these friendships, will flourish and grow.
We give kisses and hugs, and sometimes we'll flirt,
In IMs we chat deeply, and reveal why we hurt.

Why is it on screen, we are so easily bold,
Telling our secrets, that have never been told.
The answer is simple, it is as clear as a bell,
We all have our problems, and need someone to tell.

We can't tell real people, but tell someone we must
So we turn to our 'puters ...and to those we can trust.
Even though it sounds crazy...the truth still remains,
Most of my "friends" have no faces...and odd little names.

~Rusty Black, ©1996