Hi there, I want some advice regarding a dispute.
I sold a low-value item to a buyer on eBay in July, 4 months ago. The item + P&P cost the buyer around £6 altogether. I found it strange when the buyer initiated chargeback for that amount for such an old transaction. The buyer kept me waiting a long time for payment and kept failing to meet their promises of payment, though I was eventually paid, posted the item, and it should have gotten to them within 2-3 days. I didn't hear back from them so assumed they had recieved their item.
The reason for the chargeback however was "unauthorized payment" which I have realised is common in these sorts of untrustworthy disputes. I had conversations with the buyer over the long period they took to pay me which more than once showed their agreement to pay for the item. I responded to the case with evidence very promptly.
Today I have been notified that the buyer is still pursuing the chargeback, and now PayPal have debited me for the chargeback fee of £14. As I understand the only way I can be covered for this is through Seller's Protection Act. But due to the age of the case my proof has vanished.
I understand that to be covered by the Seller's Protection Act, I need to provide proof of postage. I purchased the postage label for this particular item through eBay. It was printed off by me, put on to the item, and posted the following afternoon. All details regarding it were stored in my eBay account.
My issue is that since this happened back in July, this transaction/case is over 60 days old. eBay automatically cleans out details of anything I've sold/any transactions that are over 60 days old. This means that I can't do anything to retrieve any proof. I've had a lot of trouble recovering details to prove that this item was sent to the buyer's address specifically, and I cannot retrieve any tracking information anymore. The only things I have been able to provide as evidence is proof of my purchase of said postage label in my eBay's invoice and in my Paypal transactions.
I feel really victimised. Any amount of money is really important to me and I feel as if my situation here is unfairly grim. I just want to know what I can do.
