Paypal dispute over supposedly fraudulent ebay purchase

[buddyrocket]

Hi, I have had a buyer say that the ebay purchase was fraudulent and that someone used her ebay account and also payed with her paypal account. I have not heard a word from her at all not even once since the item was purchased. She is disputing the purchase and paypal has withdrawn from my paypal. I have all tracking details, as well as 2 messages I sent to the buyer with no response at the time of purchase. I see it as a police and bank issue and that the item was picked up from her nominated address. I think in a situation like this there's a possibility that a family member or someone she knew must've bought it and she's trying to get the money back and has used me as a scape goat. Anyway my issue is I have sent all supporting documentation including my messages to her, to paypal dispute as requested but paypal is not registering my responce I've done it twice already. I'm out of pocket twice, I've lost what I sold and I've lost my money, does anyone have any good stories to tell in a similar situation. The case is open till end of Nov.Thanks for any support

[lyndal1838]

The buyer is claiming that her account was hacked and used fraudulently....not that you did not send the item.

If paypal has already refunded the buyer why is the case still open....it is usually closed when the refund is done?

[buddyrocket]

Thank you for your resonse, paypal is giving me the opportunity to dispute the fact that to reimberse the buyer, they have taken the money back from me, which I see as unfair, I guess now it's about me getting my money and how does the buyer also get compensated. There is a deficit for the amount in my account but they are withholding giving it to the buyer until thay have my input I guess

[lyndal1838]

Paypal puts the money on hold as soon as a dispute is opened.....no surprises there.

However, you have a fight on your hands as it is impossible for a seller to prove that the buyer's account was hacked....it is just the buyer's word.

Your best hope is whether you have seller protection through paypal....the buyer is certainly covered so aim to prove that you are covered too and paypal will have to fork out their own funds for the buyer and not yours.

[digital*ghost]

There are two ways someone can claim a purchase is fraudulent after a PayPal payment - that someone used their credit card without authorisation, or that someone used their PayPal account without authorisation (this one can involve the use of a credit / debit card, bank transfer, or funds held in the PayPal account).

The first type, having valid proof of post is about the only thing that can help, as the bank makes the decision to either uphold or deny the cardholder's claim and evidence that the cardholder is falsely claiming an unathorised purchase needs to be overwhelming, however it's almost impossible for a seller to obtain that kind of evidence, so qualifying for seller protection should all but guarantee you keep the money even if the bank decides in the buyer's favour.

The second type is a little more difficult for a buyer to succeed with, for multiple reasons, and they can be unsuccessful even if you don't have valid proof of post - I've experienced this type of dispute twice as a seller, one with proof of post and one without, and I won both cases. It did take a little while for PayPal to make a decision, but ultimately they found no evidence of the buyer's PayPal account being hacked and decided in my favour, which meant my funds were then released back to me. 

It's practically impossible to communicate directly with PayPal at the moment, unfortunately, due to the closure of the call centre, but you can try going through the chat function to see if you can make sure your evidence (proof of post) has been received. 

[buddyrocket]

Thank you, I have gone through the message chat. The dispute had a repsonse page for me to put my argument. I did this twice and did not receive any confirmation from paypal that they received it, so I got onto the message chat and an actual person..after several hours... said that neither of my attempts had worked.

So at their request all my supporting evidence was then submitted via this chat line. The person has said all files and messages will be handed onto the dispute team, I took a screen shot of this as my request for a confirmation email still hasn't been addressed.

I did contact the buyer twice after the purchase which is my normal to contact buyers once to congratulate them on the purchase but I also contacted them to confirm the address in this case, something I dont normally do, as the address was odd, but when I checked google maps it was legitimate. Anyway thanks again, fingers crossed, I'm glad you won both times it gives me hope!