NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

Well hello fellas!
Long time no chat my fellow V peeps. Since I'm out of the V game and into the Vette and cobra now, I've been spending my time on corvette forum and svtperformance more than anywhere else. I miss a lot of you guys though and I also miss my V!

Anyway, I recently had an issue with PayPal. I received a notification that my paypal account was sitting at a -$810 balance. I called Paypal to find out what was going on and to report some sort of fraudulent activity as I had no clue what the charge was for. Well... Come to find out, a payment made by a "Chanel Hitchcock" for something I sold back in early July of 2012 had a claim/dispute filed on it as of last week where she was claiming someone used her credit card without her permission and it was not an authorized payment. Keep in mind this dispute was filed over a YEAR after the fact. I could understand if someone really did make an unauthorized payment and the card owner noticed the charge on their bill within the next month or two but over a year later... yeah... someones just taking advantage of a loop hole and trying to scam their money back. So... PayPal did no investigation, didnt contact me before hand to tell me what was going on or give me a chance to dispute the claim, nothing. The credit card company according to paypal took their money back from PayPal and PayPal automatically pulled the money back from my Paypal account.

After many phone calls and talking to many different Paypal reps, managers and supervisors... I'm basically having to bite this bullet and eat the negative balance now and here's why...

When I sell things, I always give the buyer the option to either pay the 3% PayPal fee with the purchase or send payment as a "gift" which charges no fee. My understanding was that by gifting the funds, the buyer was basically forefitting his/her protection not realizing I as a seller would also be unprotected. So... Because the money was sent as a gift instead of a payment for goods/service, when a complaint is filed, PayPal apparently automatically honors the person making the claim! Crazy!! I've been dealing with people on eBay, forums, Craigslist, etc and I've always given the options to the buyers to either pay the 3% fee or gift the funds thinking its their call if they want to pay the few for the protection or save a little money. I've never had a single issue doing business this way and I've also paid some sellers the same way.

So... For those of you out there that do the same thing with gifting payments, be aware that funds can apparently be taken back at any time without warning if someone wants to try to scam their money back. The Paypal rep didnt like it too much when I threatened to go make claims on all of my gifted payments to scam my money back too. I was just trying to prove a point that the way they handled this issue was unfair and not right.

Like I said, if the claim would have been made within a month or two of the purchase, I'd say ok... Maybe its a legit dispute. And... I'd also remember doing business with the person and what the item was that I was selling. Its been over a year!!! With the amount of items I buy and sell, I can't remember what it was this person even bought from me but I'm trying to track back now to figure it out.

So... Anyone else here accept a payment from a Chanel Hitchcock?

I know this is a long shot but I know it was someone here on the forum that bought whatever it was I was selling at the time for $810 and paid using Chanel Hitchcocks PayPal account. I'm thinking it was a set of stock V wheels but I haven't confirmed that yet. Still tracking back.

At this point, the buyer has had the item for over a year, still has it and now also has their money back.

Thanks for reading fellas! Sorry for the long *** post. Just frustrated and trying to explain the situation in detail.

meatyCTS-V

Paypal burned me for $2k. Guy never sent me anything, but conveniently they could only give me back $150. I hate paypal.

They always come out on top, and the person in the right gets fucked.

I'd close the account, and start a new one. **** 'em. If they try to take anything from accounts or cards, file a unauthorized charge on THEM.

02ls1gun

Sorry to hear it! People really suck these days. Thanks for the heads up

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

Look, just send me $500 and ill cancel my claim.

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

Meaty... Damn that sucks!! And you're right about them coming out on top. I was less than nice when I spoke with them and rightfully so. The thing that makes me so mad is that there was no real investigation of any kind. Someone made the decision and I'm left helpless having to pay the bill. I even told the guy... Look... PayPal is a huge company that makes millions off of people who use their service. Writing off an $810 balance for them is chump change. For me... Its a pretty hefty unexpected expense. Thank god it didnt dig into my checking account but I don't think Paypal has the right to touch your personal account. I was going to just close my account and leave the balance negative but they told me if its stays negative too long, it would go to collections and would affect my credit. Its not worth the risk of that as much as it sucks. I'm **** about keeping my credit in good standing so I refuse to let it affect that as much as it sucks to shell out cash when I've done nothing wrong.

02LS1... You're right about that! I just wanted to spread the word because I know I'm not the only one dealing with gifted payments. Seems like everyone I've dealt with know that's an option but like me, they probably don't realize the lack of protection in dealing that way.

Allen... U got a deal! $500 is better than $810. Lol how's the cobra running? I picked up a comp orange 04 a couple months ago.

itsslow98

iTrader: (18)

You would know if you didnt delete your facebook lol. Blew it up in october and just got the motor back in last week. lol

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

Lol! Hey man... I was tired of the drama with the females over fb. It was always "why's she liking your pic" or "why u accepting her friend request?" Lol FB gets u burned with the ladies. Its been MUCH smoother since I deleted it and just handle my business over text/call. Lol but... I do miss seeing what's going on with everyone.

That sucks u blew it up but good to hear its fixed! I'm about to twin screw mine. Ill be happy with 750-800 rear wheel on e85.

TeamSorad

iTrader: (2)

I know this doesn't help but there are plenty of complaints like this about paypal. Just google paypal sucks. That is why I never leave money in my paypal account. I'm pretty sure it is just a charge back which happens all the time with paypal

01_ram-air

iTrader: (3)

I'd bet it was this purchase... doesn't look like the buyer posted in the thread. More then likely just sent you PMs directly. Look back at your PM history around that timeframe.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/cadillac-...-v-wheels.html

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

I'm not surprised. Until now though, I haven't had an issue with them and ive used them for years but this is enough for me to find another source of payment from now on. I never leave money in my Paypal account either and I wasn't even aware that they could send me into the negative. As of this minute, it hasn't cost me any money out of pocket but as soon as I send or receive a payment with PayPal, they will soak up the funds to cover that negative balance. Closing the account is an option but they will still send it to collections and ruining my credit over $810 really isn't worth it even though its a bullshit situation. I'd boycott PayPal and let the balance sit if it wasn't for that. Its also extremely frustrating that so many people use and prefer Paypal as the method of payment. Hard to get around that and money orders/cashiers checks are a pain to deal with in comparison.

I just hope I can find whoever it was that sent me that payment so I can get things squared up. Although I doubt getting my money back will happen, I am pretty sure finding the person is possible.

Come on... Anyone else accept a payment from a "Chanel Hitchcock"? Its not like that's a super common name so hopefully someone else recognizes it.

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

It was right around that same exact time but it wasn't that transaction. That's the one I initially thought it was but being so far back, I couldn't remember 100%. It just so happens I had the number saved for the forum member I sold those to and him and I have already spoken. We actually worked a partial trade where he gave me his stock wheels and a little cash so the payment amount wasn't the $810. It was much less. The transaction was shown to have taken place on July 12 2012. So... That means its something I listed shortly before that. I just need to figure out what it was. I've dealt with so many people its hard to keep up with them all.

thefullmonty_07

iTrader: (1)

Lol the same reasons why I deleted my as well.

Quik Z06

iTrader: (5)

I deal with Paypal everyday being a vendor over on corvetteforum. The worst part of your situation is the whole "gift" thing. It's sorta their loophole. I really only use the gift thing when I know I won't have an issue otherwise I eat the 3%, make them pay or even split it with them. I'd rather eat $30-40 then an $800 loss. Also Paypal is like a bully, but they in turn get bullied by CC companies. When someone files a chargeback they almost always get it and Paypal cant stop it, so in turn they screw you. If you hadn't accepted it as a gift, I think you'd have a shot at getting your money back, but as is I think you're screwed

NeverSatisfied02

iTrader: (12)

That's exactly the case and that's what I argued with them about for hours on the phone. All he kept telling me was that the gifted payment was not a protected transaction because the fees were not paid. I understand the technicality of the deal but it still doesn't make it right. I was honestly under the impression that the Paypal fee was to protect the buyer as they are the one sending the funds. I thought the seller was always protected by PayPal. This situation she'd a whole new light on me though. If I would have fully understood how the gift thing worked, I would have eaten the fee every time.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

I had someone try something similar a couple months ago, although in my case it was only 3 months after the fact rather than a year, and it was a much smaller monetary amount ($35). The part I sold ended up getting broken in transit (as verified by pictures the buyer sent me), so I had already refunded the money. I was able to give that info to Paypal and they successfully disputed the chargeback in my favor.

The one lesson I took away from it was that they asked for proof of shipment, which I have never bothered to retain. Fortunately, the buyer had sent me pictures of the damaged part through Ebay, so I was able to upload those to Paypal to prove the part had been shipped. I don't sell a ton of parts, but next time I do I'll be sure to take pictures of the package going out, and scan the shipping receipt and retain it just in case.

Definitely a hard way to learn that lesson, but thanks for passing along that bit of info. In my case Paypal did contact me and gave me a couple weeks to respond.

As a periodic seller of stuff, I guess I'll have to pay attention to how a buyer sends me money - if they send it as a gift, I should reject it and have them send it as a purchase of goods. That may not be perfect, but it will (apparently) at least give me the chance to contest something before Paypal just yanks the money from my account.

I could be wrong on this, but I'm pretty sure if you send the money as a gift it just means the sender pays the ~3% fee rather than the recipient. So it really doesn't save the buyer any money.

I thought they could access the bank account you've got linked to the Paypal account? I know some folks create a separate bank account, and keep it at a minimal balance (transfer money to it immediately before a purchase, and transfer money out of it as soon as it is received) just so that Paypal couldn't snag their money.

Ballzee

iTrader: (5)

its either that or the "happy monday " posts or the "not feeeling well, heading to bed early" posts.. i just want to respond.. who cares...

Stone17

iTrader: (3)

This is funny.

ryridesmotox

WTF is wrong with people... The only consolation is that karma is a cold hearted bitch.

As my grandma says... What goes around comes around.

Chanel is probably a fake name anyways. Now you have me all worried cuz I've sold stuff on eBay and accepted PayPal as payment via gift. And having a bunch of money coming out of my account would be huge for me right now.

07CTS-V

iTrader: (6)

Oh man, ryridesmotox just sent me $50.

Fuzzy_Wuzzy

iTrader: (8)

Do you have their address where you shipped it to. You could try filing a police report. not sure it would go anywhere but it might not hurt.