Chargeback unauthorized payment

[coracxh2000]

Hi All,

I am a seller on ebay. I had a $1000 item I put on sale for BIN. I had a buyer that purchased it and paid for it right away. But then ebay immediately canceled the transaction for a hacked buyer account.

The payment are already in my paypal and I received a unauthorized payment charge back through Paypal. I am more than happy to refund it. I just wanted to understand better on what the proper steps are.

When I go to the Paypal resolution center, there is a dispute case for this chargeback. When I click on resolve the dispute, it gave me 3 choices to choose from. 

Accept liability for this transaction. PayPal will reverse the charge.

Provide proof that the buyer has already been refunded.

Provide evidence to dispute the case. 

Obviously the last 2 options don't apply to me. It seems the first option is the most appropriate. I would like to understand what accepting the liability for this transaction mean. I've read from other people's post that by choosing this option I would have to pay the credit card charge back fee? I don't think I should have to pay this fee since I have done nothing wrong. Again I am more than happy to refund the buyer but I shouldn't have to pay this fee. The buyer did pay through credit card according to the dispute description.

Is there a way I can just refund without going through the dispute or chargeback?

Any help would be appreciate it!

[Whac-A-Mole]

chargeback is from the credit card issuer,the owner of the card files a chargeback with his cc issuer and claims this aint my transaction,I did not authorise it.

Then the cc issuer will send a notice to Paypal (not you) saying here is the chargeback,please respond.

Paypal will then notify you a chargeback has ben filed and please gather the essential documents to explain your side of the story and we will submit to the cc issuer along with whatever we have to support your case.

The reason why PAYPAL does this is because we are just mere subaccounts of Paypal,paypal holds the merchant account to accept credit card transactions ,not us.

All these credit card issuers do not know we exist,all they know is Paypal,there fore they notify Paypal. 

If the cc issuer rules in favor of its cardmember,then Paypal will make you pay a chargeback fee levied by the cc issuer for its time and efforts .

The chargeback fee you will pay is $20.

But from what you have described so far,it sounds like  a PAYPAL dispute,not a chargeback ,so all you have to do is refund in full and the case should close.

You can also ask to speak to Ebay -high value customer service dept,Ebay has a team of customer service rep which handles any item $1000 and up,they are better than the average EBAY.

customer rep and more courteous and better informed  .

I am surprised when Ebay cancelled the transaction ,it does not reverse the payment and your final value fee at the  same time,now it leaves you hanging to cope with Paypal.

Check your Ebay seller fee to see if you have been charged a final value fee for selling the item,it is usually 10-12%.

(in case if it is a credit card chargeback,yes,you should not haev to pay the $20,Ebay should pay ,allowing any **bleep** to sign up and buy )   

[Whac-A-Mole]

I just re read your post,it does sound like a Paypal dispute of unauthorise transaction,the owner of the Paypal account opens a case in Paypal.

It is not a chargeback.

If it is a chargeback,you will get an email from Paypal.

so refunding in full should take care of the case,it should close.

check your ebay seller account to make sure you dont end up paying FVF on item and shipping,unless you are a top rated seller,the fee is 12%  

[coracxh2000]

Hi sumkio, 

Thanks for the quick response!

I am in agreement that I shouldn't have to pay the $20 fee.

I did get a case open email from Paypal. Here's a copy and paste of the main message from that email.

"We are writing to let you know one of your buyers opened a case for this transaction. The buyer stated that they did not authorize this purchase."

The final value fee did get reversed in ebay but the refund didn't occur automatically through Paypal.

I actually cannot find the refund option any more through Paypal. Otherwise that would seem to be the quick fix.

Here's the dispute status detail through Paypal that the buyer provided. It's pretty plain and clear that it is not the seller's fault (me). I am just not sure what to do at this point since there isn't a refund option any where.

Status detail:
The buyer has filed a chargeback with his or her credit card company stating that the buyer did not authorize the payment.

The credit card company has reversed the payment, and we've placed a temporary hold on the funds while we review this case. If this transaction is covered by protection against unauthorized payments, we'll lift the temporary hold and restore the funds to your account. If the transaction is not eligible, we'll return the funds to the buyer or the rightful owner.

For this transaction to be covered by protection against unauthorized payments, please provide proof that you shipped the item through an approved shipper to the address on the Transaction Details page.

If the item is not a tangible good, this transaction is not eligible for protection against unauthorized payments. However, depending on the information you provide, we may be able to help you recover your funds by disputing the chargeback with the credit card company. Please provide us with information about your case. We'll let you know if we can dispute the chargeback with the credit card company. Please respond within 10 days. Click Resolve Claim Now to continue.

[Whac-A-Mole]

so it is a chargeback,PAYPAL SELLER PROTECTION does not apply here.

For unauthorised transaction and the seller has shipped the item,all he needs to do is to find the Paypal payment notice where it said you get cash,your transaction is eligible or partially eligible for seller protection and you shipped to the address on the payment notice,then Paypal will cover your loss,aka eat the loss !

all seller needs to do is to show he has shipped the item,not necessarily delivered and signed for.

But in your case,the order was cancelled and you have not shipped the item,so you incur no loss.

Your option of refund in the case has disappeared because Paypal is now reviewing the case,it is awaiting for you to upload some evidence that you have shipped the item.

if you do nothing,case will close after x number of days and the money which is withheld will be taken away from your account.

or you can just call Paypal now and tell them to close it ,I would call now instead of letting it expire on its own,it could make you look bad that you did not respond.

EBAY reversing the fee should show up in your seller account ,you would not find it in your Paypal account,as we pay Ebay once a month.

Ebay no longer owns Paypal,thats why you dont see the payment reversed when Ebay cancel the order. 

[Whac-A-Mole]

As for the chargeback fee,you can ask both PAYPAL and Ebay who should pay the fee.

Question-when Ebay cancelled the order immediately after it is placed,why did you not refund the $1000 then.if you do,then the owner of the ebay account and credit card would not be filing chargeback. 

[coracxh2000]

When ebay canceled the listing, I went on to ebay community for help as to what the proper next steps are.

The advisor on ebay community advised to not take any actions and let Paypal automatically refund the payment. Since the buyer claimed that it was an unauthroized payment, refunding the money back to a hacked account may cause additional problems as the hacker can move the refunded money to else where. Based on this logic and the advise from ebay community, I didn't refund the payment right away and waited for Paypal to initiate the refund process.

[sharpiemarker]

Accept liability (aka refund) and PayPal won't have to fight the chargeback thus not charge you the $20 fee.  At least to my knowledge that's what that means.  If PayPal still charge you, call them to reverse the chargeback fee since you accepted liability.

[sharpiemarker]

If you accepted liabilty, there is a chance that PayPal may cover you entirely, even the $20 fee if your transaction is eligible for unauthorized use protection.

[Whac-A-Mole]

@coracxh2000

The advisor on ebay community advised to not take any actions and let Paypal automatically refund the payment. Since the buyer claimed that it was an unauthroized payment, refunding the money back to a hacked account may cause additional problems as the hacker can move the refunded money to else where. Based on this

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when you refund,the payment does not stay in the PAYPAL account,it goes back to where it comes from,and in your case it is her credit card.

so if her Paypal account has been compromised,there is no $1000 PAYPAL in her account to skim. 

the advisor idea makes sense if the true owner just dispute with Paypal,but the cc owner dispute thru her cc card and it is a chargeback.