PayPal chargeback problem

Sheps17 · 12 October 2017 at 5:00PM

I'm asking on behalf of my son. He has traded digital product on line and took the payment through PayPal. The money has since been taken from his account by PayPal and given to the buyer. The buyer claims that the money was taken fraudulently from his account and PayPal have immediately decided that he is right. PayPal say that there is nothing more that they can do.
Does anyone have any advice. My son has lost a substantial amount of money. He has reported it to the police but the likelihood of them being able to retrieve the money is vanishingly small.
Thank you.

eddddy · 12 October 2017 at 5:16PM

Sheps17 wrote: »

The buyer claims that the money was taken fraudulently from his account and PayPal have immediately decided that he is right.

Are you saying that you don't believe the buyer? You think the buyer made the purchase, but is now denying it?

Do you have contact details for the buyer?

If so, you can chase the buyer for payment.

Ultimately, if the buyer refuses to pay, you can make a claim through the small claims court.

chappers · 12 October 2017 at 5:49PM

hang on who is doing what here.
Are you saying your son sold something and got paid via paypal and that the buyer fraudulently used someone elses Paypal account so the money has now been paid back to that person.

Sheps17 · 13 October 2017 at 9:22AM

I'm checking on the correct answers to your follow up questions.
Thank you for responding.

RichL74 · 13 October 2017 at 9:27AM

Sounds like a Chargeback situation.

Customer has got the goods and doesnt want to pay for them so is making out the money has been taken from his account without his knowledge.

Paypal will always side with the buyer in this situation. Very sorry for your son but the likelihood (sp) of him getting anything back is very slim.

If I have read it wrong then apologies for worrying you more.

Candyapple · 13 October 2017 at 10:33AM

Sheps17 wrote: »

I'm asking on behalf of my son. He has traded digital product on line and took the payment through PayPal. The money has since been taken from his account by PayPal and given to the buyer. The buyer claims that the money was taken fraudulently from his account and PayPal have immediately decided that he is right. PayPal say that there is nothing more that they can do.
Does anyone have any advice. My son has lost a substantial amount of money. He has reported it to the police but the likelihood of them being able to retrieve the money is vanishingly small.
Thank you.

Unfortunately for your son, this is a common scam. When accepting Paypal, you need to have sold physical goods and then post it using a tracked and signed for service. Because your son sold digital goods (automatic denial for any seller protection from Paypal) and also has no signed proof of delivery (second strike for seller protection) then he has no comeback.

He will have to chalk this one up as a lesson learned as that money is long gone. Perhaps next time before he sells anything he should learn to do his research on common scams, Paypal acceptance and about how to be eligible for Paypal's seller protection.

chappers · 13 October 2017 at 10:35AM

that's one of the issues with paypal, they are very happy to emphasise the security of sending money but not very quick to accept the shortcomings of receiving money.
The ease and flexibility of using paypal are it's weaknesses too; one click payments, the ability to still operate an account many years after you have vacated the registered address, the addition of cards to your account that aren't even yours or registered at the paypal address etc.

As a seller you can protect yourself to a certain degree by only posting to the paypal address.

Sheps17 · 14 October 2017 at 10:46AM

Thanks to everyone who has replied. This has taken my 19 yo son's summer earnings and savings - all of it. I am (of course) furious that PayPal appears to be, in effect, supporting organised crime by failing to address this problem but there seems to be little that we can do about it.
I hope it will teach my son to read the small print. I also hope that he will appeal to the CEO of PayPal/eBay in the hope that this system will change.

eskbanker · 14 October 2017 at 12:29PM

Sheps17 wrote: »

He has traded digital product on line

Sheps17 wrote: »

This has taken my 19 yo son's summer earnings and savings - all of it.

I'd formed the impression that one sale out of many had been (wrongly) reversed but if his trading consisted of one single high-value sale then that in itself sounds a hugely risky proposition, so, regardless of any other lessons learned from this, hopefully it's clear that putting all his eggs in one basket like that isn't a good idea....

WillyWonga · 14 October 2017 at 2:01PM

Sellers beware. Even sending recorded delivery is not good enough to stop chargeback as will only recognise guaranteed delivery service. Unfortunately some people know these flaws and will exploit sellers if digital transactions done online as they know PayPal will find in their favour.

Marksfish · 17 October 2017 at 2:51PM

I don't sell and accept Paypal now. A few years ago I sold an item (not expensive, about £20), sent by a "tracked" service as per the requirements. Sent to the confirmed address, so all eligible for seller protection. Signature from the person named on the account, all hunky dory. 10 weeks later I received a chargeback stating unauthorised funds, this is despite the eBay account being the same as the PP account and the named person signing for the item. Seller protection went out the window and I got charged £10 for them processing the chargeback!!!

PayPal chargeback problem

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