Ebay Cgargeback, urgent advice needed !

debtbusterman

Hi, I need some urgent advice on what to do regarding an Ebay problem.

I sold a phone on Ebay about a week ago for £260. The buyer paid by Paypal, the money has gone into my account ok. Today I checked my Paypal balance and found that the buyer has filed a chargeback, saying that someone had used his account without his knowledge. I stupidly sent the phone to an unconfirmed address by Special Delivery.

Due to the post strike still continuing in my area (Liverpool) I'm sure that the phone is still in the sorting office. The Royal Mail website says it hasnt been delivered yet.

I understand how stupid I was to send to an unconfirmed address, but is there anything I can do now ?

Is it possible to somehow prevent the phone from being delivered and to return it to me ?

I have called Paypal and they werent much use, simply advising to try to get the parcel stopped and maybe contact the police.

Can somebody with some experience of this problem please give me some advice ???

many thanks !!!

worried ebayer.

custardy

okay the problem you have is RM are not really going ot stop the item en route.
you could try contacting the delivery office local to your buyer and chancing your luck but i wouldnt return a special on the strength of a phonecall TBH

jarrod1

i post to uniconfirmed addresses all the tme, you are not at fault. hope everything works out ok

frivolous_fay

Don't know if this may help? From the ebay community forum's Nigerian scammers thread.

If you reckon it may still be in the sorting office, it might be worth a shot.

'IF YOU HAVE ALREADY POSTED THE ITEM

If you posted it within the last 24 hours go your local police with evidence of the transaction printed out. Ask them to complete a Regulatory Investigation Powers Act form and fax it to Royal Mail security. This gives Royal Mail the authority to return the item to you if it is still in the UK.'

On the face of it, you're dealing with a fraudulent transaction. (At least that's what the buyer is saying) so you have to treat it as such. It's immaterial whether the item is delivered or not, as the buyer is saying they didn't authorise the transaction.

It would be interesting to know whether the buyer's ebay details match up with the details you were given by paypal - if not, then you may have posted the phone to a hacker / hijacker.

goshdarnit

debtbusterman wrote: »

Today I checked my Paypal balance and found that the buyer has filed a chargeback, saying that someone had used his account without his knowledge.

My advice would be never to refund paypal. The guys done a credit card chargeback against paypal, not you. Paypal are trying to reduce there loses by passing this chargeback onto you.

Paypal have had to pay back the credit card company, and now want you to fund this.:rotfl: Tell them to go forth and multiply (or read up at www.paypalsucks.com )



If your only sentence had been "I sold a phone on Ebay about a week ago for £260." I could have predicted where this thread was going.

soolin

goshdarnit it isn't as easy as refusing to pay paypal back, they can use any further payments received to clear the debt just for starters.

As for your last paragraph..there are hundreds of phones sold every day with no incident,I sell them myself on occasions. Unfortunately you only need to take one un necessary risk, as OP admitted he did for there to be problems.

frivolous_fay

goshdarnit wrote: »

If your only sentence had been "I sold a phone on Ebay about a week ago for £260." I could have predicted where this thread was going.

So true

goshdarnit

soolin wrote: »

goshdarnit it isn't as easy as refusing to pay paypal back, they can use any further payments received to clear the debt just for starters.

I would assume the seller would never want to use paypal again, would you under these circumstances. Paypals only option then is to pass the 'debt' onto there 'debt' collection buddies, who'll breach all kinds of laws to harass you into payment (always a good idea to only use a PAYG sim when you sign up for paypal/ebay for this reason alone). After that fails (or you report them to the police for harassment) paypal can do nothing.

I have never heard of one case where paypal have taken a chargeback case to court.

soolin

goshdarnit I would agree in principle but I was assuming that the OP was rather more than a hobby seller for a couple of reasons. Firstly he is selling a phone which may or may not be his own upgraded phone but could indicate buying to sell at a profit. Secondly logging in to check his balance rather suggests that there was a balance there to check or that regular payments are going through it. If he is trading then any payments received for current auctions will go into this account as he can't close it while there is a dispute going on, so those funds will be lost. Obviously he could try and get hold of the winning bidders of any auctions before they make payment, but so many of us pay instantly and would make payment before we got an email, and secondly suddenly asking for a cheque instead looks very scammy.

Hmm..maybe I am in a half glass empty mood today? :eek:

goshdarnit

Only way we'll find out is if the buyer responds.

I take it you saw this http://www.ombudsmanandfsa.info/case_studies/wi_03.html on the FSA site. Its basically saying you won't automatically get a credit card refund on ebay faulty goods, so the following WON'T apply

Where section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 applies, a cardholder who has used their credit card to pay for goods or services has a claim against the card issuer for any breach of contract or misrepresentation by the supplier of the goods or services.

As thats been there for about 2 years, wonder if the credit card companies will ever act on it.

debtbusterman

Hi everybody, thanks for all the help.

Yes, I am just a hobby seller, I dont have any money in my Paypal account now, and I will definitely NEVER be using Paypal again in the future, its too much hassle.

Just a couple more questions though, my debit card is registered with Paypal so it is possible that Paypal will try to take out their money from my card ?

Should I advise my bank just in case ?

I've already cancelled the Paypal direct debit that I had with my bank.

Is there anything else I could/should do ?

cheers