Help! New to Chargebacks!

[mrwb89]

Okay, So heres what happened. I sold an item on ebay. They paid and everything was fine. Next thing I know the payment is suddenly held due to apparent Unauthorized activity on the account. I was a bit frightened and refunded the money via PayPal as I could not access the initial transaction. Will I get the money that is being held back or did I just give someone a double refund. Actually my guess is that the ebay account holder stole someone's credit card and used it to buy items as they have not responded to my emails pleading for information. So unless someone sheds some light on this my guess is that I will be out an item, and out double what it was sold for. Plus Paypal won't give any info because when I enter the transaction ID, it says it is incorrect everytime. SO what can I do here?

Please help.

[BigKahuna97]

If it were me, I would immediately login to PayPal and open a dispute on the money you sent her for a refund.  You would want to file this as an Item Not Received dispute then escalate it to a claim.  

When a chargeback is initiated, Paypal will hold the funds associated with it.  The merchant bank then holds the funds for 80-120 days until their investigation is over and they decide the outcome of the disputed amount.  When you refunded the buyer by sender her money directly, you only double paid her.  Following my advice you would at least cover the over payment.

On another note, I what carrier did you use to send this item?  If it was the USPS have you filed a complaint for mail fraud with them yet?  Trust me when I say that mail fraud is still taken seriously from them and often a simple letter from them is enough for a scammer to return your merchandise or cancel a chargeback.  If this did occur, remember that it will still take 80-120 days for you to receive your money back.

Hope this helps

[mrwb89]

Helps a little.

Heres some news. I can't get the refund I sent back, as it was not a purchase and not able to be disputed. I'll call Paypal and see if I have any luck there.

Second, how would I report this as mail fraud, having that as an option,(Yes I used USPS, I have tracking number and everything) is new to me. Like I said this has never happened to me, I haven't dealt with anyone like this on ebay yet. everyone else seems pretty nice. Still no reply for any messages from this guy. Is there anything I could say to grab his attention maybe?

Any help would be lovely.