Fraudulent PayPal chargeback for digital goods... help!

tbs152

Hi all

I'm a freelance writer. In January I did some writing for a client in America totalling £378 which they paid by PayPal. I sent the articles via email and we were all square.

Now they have filed three differents chargeback for the three different payments, claiming non-delivery of goods, resulting in me being £378 in the red. I've mailed PayPal screenshots of email delivery and proof that the articles are being used on the claimant's website.

I am an honest person and feel sickened that someone would do this. I am told a decison could take them 75-100 days, which in a way is good as it gives me some time to save if I do have to repay money which I earned.

Does anyone else have any other advice in this tricky situation? Is there any further way I can prove I am in the right?

Should I start paying off the negative PP balance now or wait it out? How long can a negative balance stay in place before they go to debt collections agencies?

Any help would be appreciated!

tbs152

DVardysShadow

I would wait it out. A negative PP balance is not in itself a debt - something has to happen to create a debt beyond PP pulling a sum from your account. Going by the normal advice on the debt free wannabe section of the forums, I think you should raise a dispute with PP and ask them to prove that the money is owed. Unfortunately PP may be bone headed, so you may end up facing DCA's over this, which is why I suggest raising a dispute ASAP. DCA's are in some difficulty with disputed debt, because they have to prove it.

tbs152

I don't know if this makes a difference, but I just got this instant message from the claimant:

You were very mean and supposedly "busy" to finish up the work, leaving us jeopardised. In addition you brought up some responsibility theories and much more, hoping you were so cool and unbeatable. As a result, we decided to go the same path as you did and teach you the lesson of a lifetime. As you can see it does not feel very good. So fair games does not really apply here, nor does human feelings.

Last message received on 26/05 at 00:41

This comes after I appealed to their human side. He refers to my discontinuing our working relationship because of lack of payment (I actually gave them half the articles free!).

Interesting "professional" attitude, right?!

RadoJo

Wow - no wonder they needed you to write for them, as they clearly can't string a coherent sentence together! What an odd thing to say in a supposedly 'professional' context! Hope you manage to get it sorted - make sure you take screen shots of your work on their website so that they can't remove them later and claim that the work you did was not used.

tbs152

Hello again

I spoke with the claimant directly via IM and he said he would "sort out" some of the charges. I have now woken up to an email from PP that states "The buyer's credit card company reversed the charges for a payment you received". It also says:

Using the information you sent us, we are disputing the buyer's request to
reverse the payment.

The buyer's card company has reversed the charges for this payment. We have
placed a temporary hold on the disputed funds until this matter is
resolved. If the card company decides the case in your favour, the funds
will be available in your PayPal account.

The credit card company has charged PayPal a settlement fee for this
chargeback. According to the terms of the PayPal User Agreement, we debited
your PayPal account to cover this fee.

My account is now even more in the red. But does this mean that the guy has ask to cancel the chargeback, or am I still liable?

I'm so confused!

Ta

stevenhp1987

Sounds like he's done a chargeback using his/her debit/credit card.

Nothing you can do, they have their money. I would hope that you have no funds inside your PayPal account or they are lost.

If you had none, then it would show as a "negative" balance.

You have no need to pay this balance off. Ignore any letters or phone calls, they will never sue you over it. Their "debt recovery company" is owned by PayPal and cannot do any of the threatening things they say (e.g. send round bailiffs before court etc.) I would just ignore it. It's PayPal's problem, not yours.

tbs152

Steven, that's exactly what has happened. Including "settlement fees" my PayPal balance now stands at -£409. The way I see it is, I did the work in good faith, and there's no way I'm fronting over £400 to bail out PayPal for exposing me to fraud.

I've been told that if the DCAs start calling, I need to dispute the debt and ask for proof of it in black and white. Which I will. I'll also tell them that I'm very much willing to take this to court, because I know for a FACT that I am in the right. According to my research, they will then return the debt to PayPal who will obviously block my account, but they won't take it as far as court. Confirmation on this would solidify my thoughts. Having said that, I assume that the negative balance > DCA process will take months (at least 60 days according to PayPal's policies), by which point I will have the funds behind me to pay the balance outright if it came down to it. I'd rather just stick to what I believe is right first.

I spoke to the claimant via IM last night who sounded like he would cancel at least some of the chargebacks, however I got the above email from PayPal this morning. Confusing.

I will keep this thread updated on developments.

pimento

I hate PayPal.

I don't suppose chat transcripts are admissible?

Name and shame I reckon.

tbs152

If it all comes to a head and I have to pay up, I will be naming and shaming all involved via sites like ripoffreport.com; however I'd rather just resolve it amicably. The claimant is very childish and aggresive, but almost seemed to see sense last night! There's only so long I can keep chatting to them, though, the chargeback is still being 'reviewed'.

forgotmyname

Bit late now but you should have posted a hard copy of the items using royal mail.

Like people buying stuff off ebay paying with paypal collecting the item then doing
a chargeback item not received.

cyberbob

You'll lose any chargebacks as digital goods are not covered