$45 chargeback plus $20 fee, total process took 3 days and I as a seller had no time to respond

[bmwolgas]

I own a small tech repair shop.  Just over a month ago, I performed a repair on a local customer's laptop.  He paid via credit card.  I took payment using Paypal Here.

Then just 3 days ago, I see a negative balance in my Paypal account.  I went to the Resolution Center and see a chargeback had been initiated by the buyer for the alleged reason of an unauthorized transaction.  Now today I see that it has been resolved in favor of the buyer, PLUS I was hit with an additional $20 fee.

What upsets me about this is that per Paypal's own Customer Dispute FAQ:

"How will a chargeback be processed?
Once a chargeback has been filed, you’ll have 10 days to respond to it."

I wasn't given 10 days to respond.  I was barely given 3.  Paypal didn't contact me seeking any information.  Basically no due process here whatsoever.

Do I have any further recourse?

[sharpiemarker]

@bmwolgas 

The reason it was so quick probably was because you were using PayPal Here to accept this payment and...

Ineligible items and transactions:

Your sale is not eligible for coverage under PayPal’s Seller Protection program if:

• It involves intangible, non-physical, items, including digital goods, and services. Digital goods are delivered and used in an electronic format, like a song delivered online or through a mobile application.
• The buyer claims (either with us or their card issuer) that the item you sent isn’t what was ordered (referred to as a “Significantly Not as Described” claim).
• It involves an item that PayPal determines, in its sole discretion, is a counterfeit item.
• It involves an item that you deliver in person, including in connection with a payment made in your physical store.
• It involves sales that are not processed either through a buyer’s PayPal account or a PayPal guest checkout transaction. For example, if the sale was made using the PayPal Payments Pro/VT product, PayPal business payments or using PayPal Here, then it is not eligible for coverage. 
• It involves items equivalent to cash including gift cards.
• It involves a donation.
• It relates to the purchase of a financial product or investment of any kind.
• It involves a payment sent using PayPal’s friends and family functionality.
• It involves a payment made using PayPal Payouts and Mass Pay.
• The item is a vehicle, including, but not limited to a motor vehicle, motorcycle, recreational vehicle, aircraft or boat.

Seller Protection Program terms

Does it let you appeal the case even?

https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/how-to-prevent-fraudulent-transactions-when-using-paypal...

[bmwolgas]

No, I have no appeal options anywhere.

I understand that it's not covered by Seller Protection, but does that mean it is a one-sided dispute?  When I looked  yesterday, the case was "under review."  So it wasn't instant.  The exact closure is worded as follows:

"The case was closed in favor of the buyer, based on the info they provided. The disputed amount has been withdrawn from your PayPal balance."

So if it is based on info provided by the buyer, does that mean that I, as a seller, don't even have the right to respond?  In a normal chargeback process (ie, if paypal wasn't involved), the merchant has the right to contest the chargeback.  Here, I wasn't provided an opportunity by anybody to contest anything.

[sharpiemarker]

@bmwolgas 

You'll need to consult a dispute specialist on why you were not offered the full ten days to gather information to submit to the credit card company.

To contact customer service:

Log on, click HELP on top menu, scroll down to click CONTACT US, and then scroll down to click CALL US or other contact options.

Call early, during business hours, west coast time to try to get a US rep. 

Or contact via social media:

Facebook (US): https://www.facebook.com/paypal

Twitter (US): @AskPayPal 

If needed, I'd suggest opening a case with bbb.org under PayPal San Jose CA to get PayPal Office of Executive Escalations to answer to that. Sometimes PayPal is quick draw McGraw and cut people off at the knees by bots plowing through cases and some times they are slooooow as molasses.

[bmwolgas]

Yeah I'm going to contact them tomorrow, and I may even contact my customer first and see if he has any info for me on this.  Without going into details here, I'm fairly confident that the person who used the credit card was indeed who he said he was, so I was a bit surprised to see a chargeback based on the reason of unauthorized transaction.

While $65 isn't all that big of a deal, my bigger concern is that I do sell much larger money items (like, $400 laptops) and if I have literally zero rights as a merchant using Paypal as my credit card processor, I may have to use somebody else to process credit card payments for me.  I can't take that kind of risk given some of what I do sell.

[sharpiemarker]

@bmwolgas 

I can dig it. If you're going to go the cc merchant account route, look into chargeback insurance. 😉 That's my tip.

[bmwolgas]

I got a hold of paypal today.  They did reverse the $20 fee as a courtesy but basically said I'm out of luck on the remainder.  They said that if it was an item/service significantly not as described or not received as the reason for the chargeback then I would absolutely have been able to dispute it.  But in the case of an unauthorized transaction, those types of chargeback cases are apparently virtually unwinnable by Paypal, so the decision was rendered.  They said I did receive an email from them seeking information but it was bounced back (my mailbox was full), so that apparently expedited the process.  Bottom line was basically that if somebody does a chargeback with their bank with unauthorized transaction as the reason given, the merchant is almost always out of luck.