So frustrated with a dispute and incompetant help from Paypal!

[feralsun]

I was a big supporter of Paypal. Today, I'm about to join the 'Paypal Sucks' crowd.

Here's what just happened to me. I am a 'starving' artist who is living sculpture-to-sculpture at this time. I don't sell on Ebay much anymore; their fees were breaking my back. Instead, I hold private auctions, and my winning bidder pays through Paypal. I print my labels through my USPS account, because my computer was having trouble printing labels through Paypal (Paypal would take the money for the label, and then my computer would refuse to print the label for the world; I've been shy since, and haven't tried printing a label through Paypal for over a year. Instead, I use the USPS site.)

Anyhow, usually my transactions are drama free. I'm fortunate enough to have a pleasant bunch of bidders.

Until now.

First of all, to set the scene, I live far out on the range in Wyoming, and was just now able to get fixed satellite internet installed. So I've been going to the public library in a nearby town to auction off my art.

Anyhow, this one lady, whom I now strongly suspect is bipolar, bid high against my other bidders, on two of my sculptures in early December. After she paid $600 for them, she asked if I'd change a past work she'd bought from me the other month. Like most artists, I work super hard for the money, and more than $8 an hour is rare for me. I said, "Nope, sorry. Other people bid very close to your amount, and like the piece exactly how it is." I shut my laptop, SHIPPED THE ART, and went home. Got snowed in for nearly two weeks, and couldn't make it to town due to huge drifts.

Unbeknownst to me, this lady was having a bizzare meltdown/tantrum thingy while I was away, and she ultimately did a Paypal chargeback, claiming 'the item wasn't recieved'. I was shocked to come to town to sell a little art and buy groceries, only find my account over $500 in the negative.

I emailed her and tried resolving the situation between us. Haven't heard from her. I could see no place to enter the tracking for the package on the website, so I called Paypal last week. Told them about the situation. I gave the lady helping me the tracking number, and she's like, "Oh yeah, I can see the item arrived on December 10th. This should be resolved in your favor in 72 hours at the most, probably tomorrow."

The website shows no update of any kind. I'd think it would show the newly-entered tracking number, but it doesn't. My account is still deep into the negative. My health ain't good, and there's doctors I need to pay. Not to mention rent, and all that. I'm afraid to put any new money into my account; I can't afford to have it swallowed up by the negative balance. So I'm having customers pay a family member instead.

This sucks. I'm out $600. This lady has my gorgeous art, which other bidders also desparately wanted. Worse? This art is Christmas themed, so if by some miracle she ships it back, it will be out of season. And I won't get nearly that much for it if I relist it. My sell pages clearly state all art is sold 'as is'.

I tried calling Paypal again, and the system keeps hanging up on me. I don't know if it's the phone I'm using, or Paypal.

I don't know that anyone here can help. The best I can do is publicaly post here that Paypal isn't protecting this seller good enough, and hope someone who works there reaches out to me. Because, **bleep**, Paypal's customer service SUCKS. My faith in Paypal is shaken after this ordeal, and I'm already looking into alternatives to Paypal.

I'm not a department store, to whom a $600 dispute is a small deal. Every day this goes on like this is a major hardship to me.

Someone, please help.

[DPCreations]

First, you are a business and need to follow good business practices.

Second, you need to follow all of PayPal policies for seller protection.

It's difficult to determine what specifically happened as your story doesn't state the facts of the matter.

It seems you sold some artword and shipped without tracking so a buyer can claim non-delivery and win.

Is that what happened?

[Whac-A-Mole]

He gave the tracking number to Paypal over the phone,the rep saw it was delivered and entered the tracking number for him.

So,you cant see it in your case?

What is the status of the case now.under Paypal review,waiting for you to enter tracking?

If it is being reviewed by Paypal,neither party can upload any new data to be fair to both parties,so your best way is to keep calling and remind Paypal you have spoken to a rep and she did enter your tracking number.

I dont know how speedy it is to get a response by contacting them on FB or TWITTER,but keep calling,there is an option to speak to a live person.

[Whac-A-Mole]

Is this a credit card chargeback or a PAYPAL dispute,go to your account/resolution and look for the case?

ask your family member t o call Paypal and see if they can reach them.

Paypal usually keeps records of phone conversation and emails pertained to the case,so if someone said she saw the tracking and entered it for you,it should show in the records?

if you can find the buyer phone number,you can call her and see what she has to say?

[feralsun]

sumiko, no, I can't see the updated tracking with the case. It just says Paypal is reviewing the dispute. The reason I'm worried is the Paypal representative I talked to on the phone supposedly added the tracking number to the case. She was like, "Yeah, I see the package arrived to it's destination on the 10th." She said now that tracking has been added to the case, it should be resolved quickly in my favor. Several days have passed, and nothing has changed. This is worrying me. Like, did she even put the tracking number into the case?

To top this off, Paypal is such a bee-otch to get a hold of. The help I did get was friendly, but barely spoke understandable English. Paypal's customer support has me feeling both scared and angry. That's why I came here to vent. I'd feel a lot better if I could just get better customer support from Paypal at this time.

[feralsun]

DP, I did use fairly good business practices.The only thing that could have helped is buying the label through PP instead of the USPS site (so PP automatically would have tracking). But I've had trouble buying labels from PP, where PP charged me for a label, but I couldn't print it for the life of me. The package has tracking, which I gave to the Paypal agent over the phone.

This lady who bought the art knew I am a country artist who had no internet at the time; I announced to my whole group that my contact with the outside world was limited at the time ... that if they had any issues, they needed to be patient. I've not had trouble with any of my other buyers, and have good friendships with them. They've all been wonderful and understanding. It's just this one lady. In the past, she bought an expensive sculpture, and asked me to change something. I stupidly agreed, and spent half a day changing something, which had a high risk of damaging the sculpture. Then she decided she didn't want it anymore. I had to resale the piece, and guess what? The new buyer said she liked the piece the way it was better.

This problem buyer did the dispute like only two days after she bought the item, (not giving any item time to ship across country) claiming to Paypal it was for 'item not recieved'. I have her emails, which state something else was clearly going on. That she was angry because I refused to artistically tweak a previous sculpture, and went back on the sale.

So Paypal offers absolutely no protection for artists? Is this true?

[DPCreations]

I used to  buy all labels from USPS.com unil they stopped giving discounts.  As soon as the item shipped, I added the trracking number to the PayPal transcation in same place that PayPal label purchase would done.  Then it is available to the PayPal robots for immediate resoltuion for non delivery.

Whether you are a country artist or not is irrelevant to this case.  You sold and item; you had a business transaction and responsbility to ship with tracking.  PayPal offers very good protection for sellers for item not delivery; you just need to stay in contact  with PayPal and follow their policies.  If you don't internet access when needed, then it's probably best to not do business deals on the internet.  Paying by check may be a better option for your business.

[feralsun]

In this case, me not having internet the other month wasn't really the problem (and it was only a temporary problem that lasted a couple of months; I just moved out here, and the ISP couldn't install for some time). See, I shipped the item before the customer demanded her money back. And the item absolutely does have tracking. I have it, they buyer has it. The only problem on my side is Paypal itself did having the tracking number from the get go.

I called Paypal, and gave them the tracking over the phone last week, to a rep who hardly speaks English. But nothing's happened. I keep trying to call to follow up, but somehow, I keep getting cut off. Usually right after spending two Jupiter decades on their automated system.

It's Paypal's lousy customer service that really has me upset today, more than anything. I want to talk to a rep who speaks English very clearly, and right now, it feels more probable I'll see a jackalope out the kitchen window.

[Whac-A-Mole]

You are not the only one who has problem printing shipping labels on Paypal,but it is important to upload tracking as soon as you print the label elsewhere,if it is an Ebay transaction,then it will show up on EBAY and PAYPAL,but you sold it on your website.

I always print my shipping labels on EBAY,rarely do I have a problem,but like you said Ebay fees are high,Top rated plus seller gets a 10% discount on item FVF,if that helps.

Your case is time sensitive,try again early morning tomorrow,US reps are probably taking a day off,if you do not act fast,Paypal robot will come in and close the case when it find tracking number absent,then you will need to appeal and then if you win the appeal,they will try to claw back the $$ from her and if she has empties her account,then they will tell you they will keep trying to get money from her,bla bla bla.

(The way they get money back is sneaky !).

Either the rep you talked to did not key in the tracking number or there is some technical glitch .

You can also ask to postpone the deadline of the case if you have to look for tracking,since you print the label on USPS website,make a copy as it may not stay up there forever.

you said she filed item not received 2 days after payment made,on Ebay,it goes by your estimated date of delivery you specifiy or based on your shipping method,she wuld not be able to open a case so early until it has past your deadline.

PAYPAL is based in CA,so it is pacific time.

I read that zero weather will be coming to some states soon,WY is one of them,and will inch forward to NE and the south,it may not be a bad idea to ask your friend or family  to check your emails for you.

I have DSL and it runs on landline phone,what does you local phone company have?  

[feralsun]

Thank you so much for you tips and kind demeanor during this stressful time! I kinda always knew I should be entering the USPS tracking into Paypal. I really never thought this kind of thing would actually happen, though I've heard horror stories. Now I will always enter the tracking no matter what.

Well, I finally just got a hold of someone in Paypal. She said the dispute may be open awhile, but she's keeping my account useable until then. So it's not in the negative anymore. Whew. It sucked being negative, because it put me in a place where if I sold something, and the money got paid to that account, I couldn't even afford to print a label. Plus my sister was getting cranky about me using her PP account.

Luckily, I have internet now. Got fixed satellite (dish to cell tower). The other day. It's 15mps, and data cap free, which is rare to find in antelope country. I'm still not looking forward to the cold though. It got to -20 the other week. Zero would be a heat wave I suppose, but still hard to cope with.