First, let me be clear, I am not a seller and have never sold anything through Paypal. I have an account to make purchases and ocaisionally send money to family. Back in May, I awoke to 10 paypal messages saying the same buyer had sent payments of roughly $187 each. They were immediately disputed, so I never had access to the money which was close to $2,000. I immediately contacted Paypal, and none of the drop down choices fit. I could not return an item (I never sold anything), nor return money (I did not control it, it was frozen). I sent a long and detailed message making it clear, the funds should be returned to the sender and did not belong to me. A short time later, Paypal sent another message stating the dispute had been resolved in my favor! Again, I sent a message explaining everything and stating the money was not mine. Suspecting a scam, I stopped using paypal, and removed any credit cards attached to my account. The high positive balance remained in my Paypal account. According to Paypal, the sender filed a dispute through her bank and the money was removed from my account, and returned. My problem, is I was also charged Paypal seller fees plus 10 chargeback fees in the amount of $20 each. Now I am getting emails from Paypal demanding I pay my negative balance of over $250. Each time, I respond with the same story, and get an automated reply about Seller responsibilities and options that don't apply to me. Now they are threatening to turn it over to collection. Is there anything I can do to avoid harming my credit, short of paying the negative balance that was charged at not fault of mine?
