How do I prevent reversals

[vectorguy]

I offer a service in which my clients require a digital file sent to them and it is usually done overnight or within a few hours. They pay me and then I do the work for them. I just did work for someone and 5 days later, the payment was reversed. So now they have the "product" but I no longer have the money

I/they cannot wait 3-5 days for the money to clear as they want the product (a digital file) from me within 1 day. The buyer is a "verified buyer" according to the automated paypal email.

How do I prevent this from happening. I though verified buyer meant that I should get my money. Where is my protection?

[skier]

Unfortunately you cannot prevent requests for refunds or claims.  There simply is no fool proof system or service.

Regards,

skier

[vectorguy]

There was no dispute. There was no problem with what was sent to this individual. For whatever reason, there is a bank or funds problem and they chose not to take care of it. Maybe no funds in the account? I don't know since the reversal is not specific as to why

So are there any paypal payments I can be assured of guaranteed payment. I thought verified meant I was protected

[robertswww]

There is no way to prevent reversals.  You can try and gather feedback/reviews about the Buyer, before sending your digital files.  Also, adjust your company's Terms & Conditions regarding what customers should do if dissatisfied with the product.

In this case, you will have to initiate the Dispute.

Seller Protection:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing/securitycenter/sell/SellerProtection-outside

Resolution Center:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Customer/customerservice/GXOLogin-outside

[vectorguy]

I cannot look up the buyer's info. It is not an ebay item. Are you saying that anyone can for no reason whatsoever, just decide to reverse a payment? No dispute was made. They did not email me or give me a reason, paypal just sent me a reversal notice. The buyer was very happy and told me so in an email.

Is there a certain amount of time that they are limited to do this? I thought that if you reversed a payment you had to file a claim with paypal and there would be at least an opportunity to state my case but that did not happen. I should be able to DISPUTE THE REVERSAL. It is just a service but it is no different than if I had mailed him an actual product and he decided not to pay for it.

So, tomorrow I can just order a service from someone online and just decide a few days later I don't want to pay for it? I can just reverse a payment for no reason whatsoever and get that service for free? I am an honest person and would not do this but I am just questioning how this is possible.

[Wombat]

I would certainly activate a dispute, although even for charge backs PayPal does not have a very good record, certainly not like a decent Merchant Bank that would give you a week or two to reply sending them any documents / references you might wish to include.

Digital Downloads and Charge backs: Sadly that's the one area of ecommerce that  BADLY idles along way behind other advances made by the providers. But don't languish, always initiate a dispute and go over your user agreements and terms of use and clearly make them available for download links etc. That at least can be offered to the provider as some ammunition against the fraudsters who simply cause a return of funds.

You might find this PP video from innovate09 Panel Discussion: Digital Goods interesting (although perhaps depressing)

Regards,

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[vectorguy]

when i click on the dispute link at paypal and enter the reversal transaction ID, it refuses it. My guess is that this is not covered and I cannot open a dispute against it

[robertswww]

I would try and contact the customer to find out what happened.

Verified members are generally more trustworthy.  If the customer paid you, then they had funds in their account at the time payment was made.

Your customer possibly did a chargeback, as that is initiated through their credit card bank and not through PayPal.  If they initiate a dispute in PayPal, then you will be notified by PayPal.  Otherwise, you will need to initiate the Dispute process.

True, that a customer can request a refund from their credit card as often as they desire, but a pattern of chargebacks will then show up in their credit history, and their credit card company may drop them.


The below info is from this page...
Verification FAQ: http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/verification-faq-outside

How do I take advantage of PayPal's Verification process?

There are several ways to take advantage of PayPal's Verification process and decrease your fraud risks:

* When you receive a payment: Log in to your account, go to the My Account tab, and click the History subtab. Find the payment in question and choose the status link (for example, "Pending") in the Status column. This will take you to a payment details page. Next to the sender's name, you will find that person’s Verification status (Verified, Unverified).

NOTE:
Unfortunately, the Seller Protection policy does not cover the following:
"Services, intangible items, and digital goods"

[mycraigslist]

Paypal is being by many of us for transaction online not only for physical items but also digital service offer. I had a manual that help me earn some extra cash by utilizing Craigslist and I offer it anyone who interested for a small amount fee. When the buyer submit payment through Paypal button, he/she will be redirected to the download page when he/she has the option to download the item and many extra I give out. Recently, I notice that couple of the payments I received for this service/item got reverse without any dispute or complaints. It just show that reversal process completed. I have no chance to defend for myself - if Paypal's main goal is to protect buyer from fraud - what about seller? We get fraud too. It's always a TWO side story.

I try to open dispute but invalid transaction ID? How do I check to see when I'm actually got paid for my service? How do I prevent these NONSENSE reversal?