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Paypal Chargebacks... WWYD?

by TimS
15 replies
I'm no stranger to chargebacks. In fact, I could tell you a story or two about some of the chargebacks I dealt with when I had my own merchant account that could curl your hair.

What I'm dealing with now is my first Paypal Chargeback.

Perhaps it was someone that used a stolen credit card, perhaps it was a case of someone not "remembering" what the charge was. Regardless, it is now something that I need to deal with.

Personally, I'm all for just sucking it up and paying the fee. I always considered that part of doing business before. What I don't want to do is to lose my good standing with my paypal account in the process.

What do you do in these cases? Fighting it is probably going to be an exercise in futility and to be honest, the time involved is not worth the money that would be lost. On the other hand, will the lack of a fight look like complacency on my part with Paypal?

Thanks in advance for any advice.
Tim
#chargebacks #paypal #wwyd
  • Profile picture of the author TimS
    It was a $17 charge. I could provide some information as far as IP addresses are concerned but it was a digital product so there was no shipment involved.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimS
    Originally Posted by stevezenwa View Post

    Well, I have not experienced that.
    oh... ok. ...
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  • Profile picture of the author LB
    I've received quite a few Paypal chargebacks over the years and have never won when the buyer is claiming fraud. I've submitted the purchase email address, the IP address of the purchaser (which Paypal would also presumably have) and even in some cases, customer support mails from the customer.

    If it's truly someone trying to get your product for free then chances are they know Paypal will always side with the purchaser on a fraud issue.

    I've only won one chargeback with Paypal, and I did nothing different that time...seems random.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      I had one chargeback, even after refunding the purchase price. The buyer filed a complaint about the product to Paypal directly, so I issued a refund immediately, but Paypal honored the chargeback also even after the refund. I went back and forth with Paypal appeals for more than two months, but during this time my account was frozen because there was not enough in my account to pay the chargeback. Finally paid the chargeback - $17. Waste of time. Next time I'll just pay it because you can't win.
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  • Profile picture of the author Helloall
    Banned
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      I was losing so much business because of my frozen account, I just paid it. The time involved was not worth it. Its just the cost of doing business. Never did get an answer from Paypal once they made their "decision" - all appeals are off.
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  • Profile picture of the author najmiyusoff
    I also had a few chargebacks before, and I just paid it. It's such a hassle to get a new paypal account running and verified again.

    It thought me a lesson, at least, and encourage me to keep on improving.
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  • Profile picture of the author Amy Bass
    Last week I had someone do a PayPal charge back on me for a $7.95 charge! If this person would have just sent me an email I refund could have been sent and a lot of headaches avoided. The thing is he emailed me a few days later to ask me why his membership access had been stopped and how he could re-sign up.
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    • Profile picture of the author JamieBing
      Originally Posted by Amy Bass View Post

      Last week I had someone do a PayPal charge back on me for a $7.95 charge! If this person would have just sent me an email I refund could have been sent and a lot of headaches avoided. The thing is he emailed me a few days later to ask me why his membership access had been stopped and how he could re-sign up.
      I LOVE those kind of guys. I just won one over a couple hundred dollar charge because during the investigation time he emailed me questions about the product he supposedly never received. I then sent those messages to PayPal. They gave me my money back but they are still fighting with his CC company to get their money back.

      If it simply less than 50 bucks or so I usually don't fight it too much because it turns into such a time vampire. They still SUCK but some battles are sut not worth fighting.

      Good luck...
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  • Profile picture of the author Chris Lockwood
    One thing to realize is that these chargebacks are against PayPal, not you. In other words, PayPal is not saying you the seller did something wrong - the customer is telling their credit card company that something is wrong. So it is in PayPal's interest to fight these as much as it is yours.

    At least they try to fight these, rather than just bend over like Clickbank does. And $10 is probably the cheapest chargeback fee around- this is just PayPal passing on fees it was charged.

    I haven't kept stats, but I'd estimate I've won about half of these. I just respond to the PayPal inquiry with whatever info I have, but I suspect what makes the difference as to who wins is whatever the credit card company employee feels like doing that day.

    Assuming I had no contact with the customer before the chargeback, I usually just say they bought product X and have not reported any problems with it, so there is no valid reason for the chargeback.
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    • Profile picture of the author seasoned
      Originally Posted by Chris Lockwood View Post

      One thing to realize is that these chargebacks are against PayPal, not you. In other words, PayPal is not saying you the seller did something wrong - the customer is telling their credit card company that something is wrong. So it is in PayPal's interest to fight these as much as it is yours.

      At least they try to fight these, rather than just bend over like Clickbank does. And $10 is probably the cheapest chargeback fee around- this is just PayPal passing on fees it was charged.

      I haven't kept stats, but I'd estimate I've won about half of these. I just respond to the PayPal inquiry with whatever info I have, but I suspect what makes the difference as to who wins is whatever the credit card company employee feels like doing that day.

      Assuming I had no contact with the customer before the chargeback, I usually just say they bought product X and have not reported any problems with it, so there is no valid reason for the chargeback.

      MAN do you have that wrong! Chargebacks are almost ALWAYS against the SELLER!!!!!!!!!!!! PAYPAL wants to get rid of it, but they generally DON'T have the ammunition to fight it! THAT is why they ask for that info. They try to fight it for YOU! Clickbank just wants to protect itself, ESPECIALLY since IT, unlike paypal, portrays itself as THE vendor.

      STEVE
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      • Profile picture of the author Dixiebelle
        You will have a lot more positive results if you contact Paypal by phone. The toll-free number is 888-221-1161.

        You will be connected to a voice activated recorder. When it gets to where you are asked what kind of help you need, just say "AGENT". This will get you to a real person. If you don't do this, you will just be punching buttons all day.

        They are there to help you, and most do their jobs very well.

        Dixie
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  • Profile picture of the author Reverb
    I know this is an old thread, but... I had one chargeback with PayPal in ten years of using them. I did a couple of banners for a woman and she said she really liked them. Everything was approved and the transaction was complete. Then she later filed a chargeback. I knew she was trying to rip me off because her very poor email grammar gave her away. The person I communicated with when making the banners had the exact same type of unusual misspellings as the person claiming someone "hacked into her account" and paid me with PayPal for the service. In other words, the person I did the banners for and the person who claimed their account was hacked into was one in the same (I know, it sounds confusing). I called PayPal and told them what I knew, and they credited my account back right away.
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  • Profile picture of the author BlazingSwitch
    I've had a few, and the only way you typically win is with proof.

    Proof of shipment, proof they accessed their web hosting, or have a detailed log of conversation. You will need to have documentation that this person agreed to it, and provide all those docs to PP.
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  • Profile picture of the author tecHead
    Now that we're running a business it should be common practice to document everything; and I'm not just talking about eMail. Yet, if that's all you can manage at least do that. Make eMail folders for each Customer and/or business transaction.

    For those that have the funds to invest in their business; (and I'm not talking about thousands); you should check out the service that my Warrior buddy John Taylor introduced me to Action Method...

    Project Management, Productivity, and Task Application: Action Method

    This (very inexpensive) service will help you keep track of your business dealings from conception to completion. I think it should be an essential part of everyone's business.

    HTH
    PLP
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