I keep reading conflicting information about this. A buyer ($5 order) initiated a chargeback for "unauthorized use" of the credit card, and I need to respond via the resolution centre. The buyer never contacted me first through eBay or Paypal, and hasn't responded to either an email or an eBay message where I offered to refund the order and explained I will have to pay the fee because of what they did (appeal to compassion!). Obviously I'm happy to refund the $5 but I want to avoid the chargeback fee.
I don't believe I'm covered by Seller Protection because I didn't send with tracking. Is there any way I can appeal to Paypal's compassion (?!!) and avoid the chargeback fee? Any magical phrases to use? The buyer never tried to resolve the issue with me, which both eBay and Paypal say is the first step in a dispute - is there a way to use that? I realize it's the bank charging the fee and not Paypal, so do I have no hope? (Last time this happened, years ago for the same reason, the buyer even left +ve feedback on the item and I still lost the dispute and had to pay the fee.)
