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Business Set Back - Warriors please help!

by BabyMama
17 replies
Hi,
I am new on the forum and was recommended here by a friend after I had a mini crisis!
I have been building and flipping websites on Flippa for a couple of years now and a few months back I sold one for $800. It was a site that was bringing in a fair bit of cash every month. The sale was legit. I had a few bids and eventually it sold for $800. I was very happy with the sale and once all the usernames had been swapped etc and I gave the full training package to the buyer I thought everything was settled.

Last month the buyer claimed a credit card chargeback for the site and said it was unauthorized. I sold the site to him through paypal but of course its 3 months on so Flippa wont do anything to dispute the sale.

Anyway I have sent all the emails that we exchanged, the flippa messages, and the links to the auction etc through to paypal but they have put a hold on my account and its now in - $800 because they ahve put the funds on hold. They say they are disputing it now but it could take 75 days and I could still loose.

I have had to put my entire business on hold as all my bills come out of that account like my hosting godaddy etc. Its a complete nightmare. Just to make matters worse i´m pregnant and am stopping my part time job in the next few weeks as cannot continue once my bump starts to show.

I would really appreciate some advice from the forum. I am new here but do have experience in internet marketing and my friend really recommended it over here to help me get back on my business feet.

Thanks in advance
#back #business #set #warriors
  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    If it is a credit card chargeback, it is out of PayPal's hands. It will be completely up to the card issuing bank. All you can you is to provide proof of the transaction. You should also tell PayPal to check that the WHOIS info has changed to the new buyer on that date. I would also contact the buyer as it could be a genuine mistake. Things will be much faster if you could call off the chargeback request himself.

    If the site was paid by a stolen or hacked credit card, then I am afraid that there is nothing you can do about it. This may sound unfair but the seller is completely liable for products/services paid by a stolen credit card. These buyer scams had been reported from time to time on Digital Point and also Flippa. For expensive sites, you really should use escrow to receive your funds. Good luck.

    Derek
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    • Profile picture of the author BabyMama
      Originally Posted by derekwong28 View Post

      If it is a credit card chargeback, it is out of PayPal's hands. It will be completely up to the card issuing bank. All you can you is to provide proof of the transaction. You should also tell PayPal to check that the WHOIS info has changed to the new buyer on that date. I would also contact the buyer as it could be a genuine mistake. Things will be much faster if you could call off the chargeback request himself.

      If the site was paid by a stolen or hacked credit card, then I am afraid that there is nothing you can do about it. This may sound unfair but the seller is completely liable for products/services paid by a stolen credit card. These buyer scams had been reported from time to time on Digital Point and also Flippa. For expensive sites, you really should use escrow to receive your funds. Good luck.

      Derek
      I tried to contact the user by email and through Flippa. He responded saying that his business partner who he is no longer with purchased the site without his knowledge.
      He won´t call off the chargeback. Its not fair because he has had the site for 3 months and all the links etc have been changed to his name so he has even been making money off the site for 3 months! I also had to pay the fee to flippa and won´t be able to get that back either.
      I know I should have used escrow but thats the most I have ever sold a site for normally they are in the $100-$200 region so never thought about it.
      Paypal now just says they are dealing with it but I have no idea what my chances of winning are. Whether it counts as a digital purchase? or if that doesnt even make a difference now.

      Thanks for your help
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  • Profile picture of the author highrank
    That is really terrible.

    Firstly, if you are -$800 I would just ditch that Paypal account and create another 'temporary' account until this is resolved. At least that will allow you take send and recieve payments in the mean time.

    Here is a list of everything I would do:

    - Ask Paypal which credit card company handled the chargeback.

    - Contact the credit card company directly and provide as many details about the buyer and the transaction. Request as much information as possible and ask them what steps they would suggest you take.

    - Try to contact the buyer via the telephone (either listed on paypal or flippa)

    - Send a letter to the buyers home address requesting more information from them. If your letter is ignored, send another informaing them that you will be filing a police report as you believe fraud has been commited.

    - If none of that works you should contact the police in the buyers area. Provide all the details you have. They should investigate and allow you to take legal action against the buyer.

    - If none of that works. We will form a Warrior Mob and kick his head in.

    I hope you can get it sorted out soon and congrats on the bump!
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    • Profile picture of the author BabyMama
      Originally Posted by highrank View Post

      That is really terrible.

      Firstly, if you are -$800 I would just ditch that Paypal account and create another 'temporary' account until this is resolved. At least that will allow you take send and recieve payments in the mean time.

      Here is a list of everything I would do:

      - Ask Paypal which credit card company handled the chargeback.

      - Contact the credit card company directly and provide as many details about the buyer and the transaction. Request as much information as possible and ask them what steps they would suggest you take.

      - Try to contact the buyer via the telephone (either listed on paypal or flippa)

      - Send a letter to the buyers home address requesting more information from them. If your letter is ignored, send another informaing them that you will be filing a police report as you believe fraud has been commited.

      - If none of that works you should contact the police in the buyers area. Provide all the details you have. They should investigate and allow you to take legal action against the buyer.

      - If none of that works. We will form a Warrior Mob and kick his head in.

      I hope you can get it sorted out soon and congrats on the bump!
      Thanks for your support!
      I am opening a paypal account now and hoping that I can use that instead but its a nightmare as I had the other one upgraded to business account and had all my merchant links etc there.
      I have spoken to the seller as I mentioned in the post above and he claims it was his business partner that purchased it.

      Will it make any difference contacting the credit card company? Will paypal even give those details out? I think they are doing everything they can do I guess its just a waiting game but wondering what my chances are of getting the money back.
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  • Profile picture of the author TolyZ
    Hopefully the card wasn't stolen.
    I honestly think it just one of those raged people that wanted to "invest" his money in online business and make money instantly without any work. After he bought it, probably spent 0 time on it, didn't make any money and now wants his money back. There are seems to be a lot of "investors" that are looking to purchase "auto money making machine" now days.
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    • Profile picture of the author BabyMama
      Originally Posted by TolyZ View Post

      Hopefully the card wasn't stolen.
      I honestly think it just one of those raged people that wanted to "invest" his money in online business and make money instantly without any work. After he bought it, probably spent 0 time on it, didn't make any money and now wants his money back. There are seems to be a lot of "investors" that are looking to purchase "auto money making machine" now days.
      Yeah thats the feeling I get too. Its actually a really easy site to earn money with an just involves a few daily tasks all of which can be outsourced. I even included access to my video training which shows exactly how to do everything and how it runs.
      Even if I manage to get access to the site again I won´t be able to sell it for as much as $800 again as its had 3 months with no earning proof now. What a disappointment. All my hard work gone to nothing.
      I am hoping and praying the chargeback dispute will come out in my favour
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    I am opening a paypal account now and hoping that I can use that instead
    Make sure you read their TOS before doing it... and making things even worse!

    As far as I know you may have one personal account and one business account per person. No more. And with personal you cannot receive business payments.
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    • Profile picture of the author BabyMama
      Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

      Make sure you read their TOS before doing it... and making things even worse!

      As far as I know you may have one personal account and one business account per person. No more. And with personal you cannot receive business payments.
      Oh ok
      Thanks for the heads up. Thats really annoying though but maybe it will be handy just so I can keep my bills up to date like my hosting and keep buying domains etc but annoying as it means I wont be able to sell any more sites for a while and that still puts everything on hold DOH!
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    • Profile picture of the author Kay King
      Do not try to open another account. It will make you look suspect.

      He responded saying that his business partner who he is no longer with purchased the site without his knowledge.
      This information should go to the cc company or paypal immediately if it hasn't already. He is saying an authorized partner made the buy - and that alone could be enough to block a chargeback.

      When someone files a chargeback they can't just say "I changed my mind" - they have to have a reason such as fraud, unauthorized charge or say they did not make the purchase. You can fight chargebacks and win and I've known paypal to fight them if you can give them documentation that shows the buyer intended to purchase and no fraud was involved.

      kay
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      • Profile picture of the author BabyMama
        Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

        Do not try to open another account. It will make you look suspect.



        This information should go to the cc company or paypal immediately if it hasn't already. He is saying an authorized partner made the buy - and that alone could be enough to block a chargeback.

        When someone files a chargeback they can't just say "I changed my mind" - they have to have a reason such as fraud, unauthorized charge or say they did not make the purchase. You can fight chargebacks and win and I've known paypal to fight them if you can give them documentation that shows the buyer intended to purchase and no fraud was involved.

        kay

        This was the email he sent me
        "Sorry about that - it's my partner who bought the site using our joint paypal account and had it charged on my card. We have since broken up. When we were last together, he hadn't changed the pw's of anything so they should be all the same as you gave them to him.
        You can try get him through legal avenues although he has since moved and I do not know where he lives. I heard through friends he went bankrupt though, but nevertheless i would definitely recommend legal avenues.
        You can try his email ............... He might use my account .................. because he chanaged the password and now I can't access it.
        I wasn't the one who initiated the sale and agreed to the purchasing agreement.
        I hope you resolve this
        Cheers"
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        • Profile picture of the author Kay King
          Sounds like a crock to me. He clearly gave his "partner" access to his paypal account...or they had a partnership account. Either way - both should be in trouble with paypal at this point.

          This guy apparently had no problem with the partner having access to everything - until after the partner was gone. I would urge paypal (nicely) to fight this chargeback for you.

          Good luck. You might open an alertpay or other account to use in the meanwhile.

          kay
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          • Profile picture of the author BabyMama
            Originally Posted by Kay King View Post

            Sounds like a crock to me. He clearly gave his "partner" access to his paypal account...or they had a partnership account. Either way - both should be in trouble with paypal at this point.

            This guy apparently had no problem with the partner having access to everything - until after the partner was gone. I would urge paypal (nicely) to fight this chargeback for you.

            Good luck. You might open an alertpay or other account to use in the meanwhile.

            kay
            Thanks for your support Kay. Yes Paypal is now fighting it for me. I have sent them all the emails etc but they said it can take up to 75 days which is AGES! Lol
            I have an alert pay account I just never ever use it. I think I have about $5 in there and thats it. But I will look into accepting alert pay for selling my websites.
            In the mean time I am busy checking out the WF there is so much information here this place is awesome I can´t wait to get stuck in.
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        • Profile picture of the author chumpschimps
          Originally Posted by BabyMama View Post

          This was the email he sent me
          "Sorry about that - it's my partner who bought the site using our joint paypal account and had it charged on my card. We have since broken up. When we were last together, he hadn't changed the pw's of anything so they should be all the same as you gave them to him.
          You can try get him through legal avenues although he has since moved and I do note lives. I heard through friends he went bankrupt though, but nevertheless i would definitely recommend legal avenues.
          You can try his email ............... He might use my account .................. because he chanaged the password and now I can't access it.
          I wasn't the one who initiated the sale and agreed to the purchasing agreement.
          I hope you resolve this
          Cheers"
          If he hadn't authorised the purchase and the other person had done it without his consent, how would he know whether or not he'd changed the passwords????

          I would presume from that statement alone that he knew all about the transaction.
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          • Profile picture of the author BabyMama
            Originally Posted by chumpschimps View Post

            If he hadn't authorised the purchase and the other person had done it without his consent, how would he know whether or not he'd changed the passwords????

            I would presume from that statement alone that he knew all about the transaction.
            Yes he must have known about the transaction. He sent me this email through Flippa where the site was purchased, which he obviously still has access to. He also hasn´t changed his email adress details in his Flippa account either.
            Do sellers often win credit card chargebacks on Paypal?
            Also does a website count as a digital purchase? or a physical purchase?
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  • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
    You may also want to take a look at these alternatives:
    http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ernatives.html
    (+search for similar threads)
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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Colson
    It sounds like the guy shared his account with his business partner which means it is illegal for him to chargeback. If he is sharing his card, then it is his responsibility to oversee his friend's spending, not yours.

    Sue the one you had contact with since it's a joint account. Neither of them can legally chargeback. Either can be held responsible. The legal term here is jointly and severally liable.
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