PayPal/EBay unbelievable buyer, please help

Jun 4, 2013
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Hello Everyone,

I am having a weird case with a buyer, and I am scared I am being scammed. I sold an item last month, the buyer paid and I shipped the item with tracking. The item arrived and I assumed the seller was happy. Now, I find out the buyer has opened a case with PayPal (not eBay) and says that was an unauthorized transaction on her end. I contacted eBay, and they say there's nothing they can do but wait for PayPal. I answered the PayPal case with the tracking, but this is so weird. The seller didn't even contact me, she just opened a case with PayPal.
What can I do? Am I being scammed?
Thanks
 
This happened to me recently.
If you have tracking (and you do) then you are covered by Paypal. After entering the tracking number into the case (which you already did), call Paypal. They should tell you that you are covered and "close" the case in your favor. It will not actually close (that can take a couple of months) but your funds will be released. Plus, you buyer will never be able to use that card on Paypal again (this is something they told me, but I hope it is true).

I also contacted my buyer through Ebay to see what was going on and she said that she wanted to return the item, hence the unauthorized case (no, I don't get it, either). This is not something you need to do though.
 
Go to your paypal transaction for the sale and look at the "seller protection." Does it say "eligible?" If so, that means you're protected against "unauthorized" chargebacks and PP should remove the hold on your funds.

They may remove the hold and reinstate it several times before it's finally permanently removed. You may have to call them each time but again, as long as it shows "eligible" for seller protection, you're fine.
 
IF (and it's a big IF to me) she was recently the victim of credit card fraud, the credit card company may have done a blanket sweep of all transactions from such and such date to another such and such date. We went through that last year. My husband's card was hit with 20 transactions at different gas stations all totaling $99 and change in an area hundreds of miles from us. Within 3 days of each other. We called the CC and explained which charges were fraudulent, basically the gas station ones, and the credit card company wiped out a bunch of legitimate transactions in their sweep. We had to call them back and go over the charges that were legit, such as to the post office, and certain utility companies. It was painfully time consuming, IIRC it took us close to 3 hours on various holding times with the credit card company (AmEx btw), so many people, I imagine would just let it go. Have you contacted the buyer directly to ask her what is up?
 
This happened to me recently.
If you have tracking (and you do) then you are covered by Paypal. After entering the tracking number into the case (which you already did), call Paypal. They should tell you that you are covered and "close" the case in your favor. It will not actually close (that can take a couple of months) but your funds will be released. Plus, you buyer will never be able to use that card on Paypal again (this is something they told me, but I hope it is true).

I also contacted my buyer through Ebay to see what was going on and she said that she wanted to return the item, hence the unauthorized case (no, I don't get it, either). This is not something you need to do though.
My credit card number was stolen, and my credit card company discovered it before I did. Someone had booked travel with my card. My credit card company, Chase, cancelled my card and issued me a new number. Before they cancelled it, they asked me if I had any automatic transactions they should let through. I told them no, although I realized later that I should have said yes, because my ebay fees were charged to that card. Surprisingly, they let the ebay fees go through. Then a few weeks later, I got an email from paypal about a purchase I supposedly made on ebay. The shipping address was in Morocco. I called paypal and told them I hadn't authorized the purchase. After some research, I realized that the buyer hadn't used my paypal account or ebay account, but if a card you have associated with a paypal account gets used for any other paypal transaction, Paypal lets you know. So the buyer may have checked out as a guest but just happened to use a card that was already associated with Paypal. If it had been another card of mine that I hadn't put on Paypal, I wouldn't have noticed until I viewed the bill, at which time the seller would have already shipped the package. What really upset me about this was that the card had been cancelled weeks earlier but Chase decided to let it through because they recognized the merchant - Paypal - as one that was in my history.

OP, I have had a few unauthorized transaction claims against me as a seller. All I had to do was upload the tracking. It took months but the cases were closed in my favor.
 
Thank you everyone, you have helped me a lot!
I contacted Paypal and they told me to wait until next week, but they assure me I was protected by paypal seller protection. I hope this works, otherwise I will end up without the money and the item (what a nightmare!).
I have not contact the buyer, she did not left feedback so I am worried she might get mad and leave me a negative feedback on ebay. Another thing I learned while looking online is that paypal allows buyers to change their mind (item not as described) until 160 days. Even worst, I learn that some buyers abuse and file an unauthorized change or item not received after the 160 days, or just when the USPS or UPS website doesn't show "item delivered" anymore, thus a seller cannot prove they delivered the item. What a nightmare! For safety, I guess I will start taking screenshots of USPS.
 
Even worst, I learn that some buyers abuse and file an unauthorized change or item not received after the 160 days, or just when the USPS or UPS website doesn't show "item delivered" anymore, thus a seller cannot prove they delivered the item. What a nightmare! For safety, I guess I will start taking screenshots of USPS.

I always take screenshots, just in case. It's a good idea that you're doing it as well, to protect yourself.
 
Thank you everyone, you have helped me a lot!
I contacted Paypal and they told me to wait until next week, but they assure me I was protected by paypal seller protection. I hope this works, otherwise I will end up without the money and the item (what a nightmare!).
I have not contact the buyer, she did not left feedback so I am worried she might get mad and leave me a negative feedback on ebay. Another thing I learned while looking online is that paypal allows buyers to change their mind (item not as described) until 160 days. Even worst, I learn that some buyers abuse and file an unauthorized change or item not received after the 160 days, or just when the USPS or UPS website doesn't show "item delivered" anymore, thus a seller cannot prove they delivered the item. What a nightmare! For safety, I guess I will start taking screenshots of USPS.

Yikes! Surely this gaping scam-magnet "loophole" should be looked at by PayPal's security department. Unless they have some way of getting USPS and UPS to pull up tracking records from that far back.
 
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