Unfair and careless dispute resolutions

[Madnoos]

It is mind blowing how PayPal reviews disputes for software. We sell subscription based software and there was a buyer who purchased 5 subscriptions over 4 months ago. The subscriptions were all weekly and the buyer kept renewing them and decided to try to scam us by disputing them all over 3 months later. I replied to disputes with over 6 screenshots and lots of detailed logs and proof showing that they took full advantage of our software and basically stated that if they truly had issues with the software they wouldn't have kept renewing subscriptions just to chargeback months after they've all been expired and how they aren't eligible to a refund according to our ToS as well as logically.

Today PayPal "reviewed" the disputes and closed them all in the buyers favor. On top of that they charged me $40 "Dispute fee" for all 4 disputes. I was extremely frustrated and called PayPal and spoke to a lovely lady who really wanted to help me but basically said that the decision was made based on the "dispute history on my account" and that because there was disputes previously last year they decided the outcome based on my accounts history. I was very frustrated and even the agent could see that the outcome was unfair, so I was transferred to a supervisor. The supervisor turned out very unhelpful and basically admitted that none of my evidence was taken into account and that the decision was based solely on past disputes unrelated to those I called about. Basically told me that I'm out of luck and they won't be bothering to look into it.

So there you have it, I lost over $300 thanks to an unfair outcome and my evidence was completely ignored and dismissed. They told me there is no way I can appeal those decisions and that they won't do anything about the dispute fees...

It is sad how much worse PayPal has become over the years, particularly the dispute system. I pay thousands of dollars in transaction fees yearly and they wouldn't even bother to read my supporting evidence and made no efforts to help me apart from the first lady who simply didn't have the authority to do anything...

Looks like the "seller protection" which I'm covered by offers zero protection after all since they will let scammers take your money back months later with zero evidence supporting their case and overwhelming evidence in your favor.

Thanks for hearing me out, I just wanted to vent about how unfair and careless PayPal has become.

[sharpiemarker]

@Madnoos 

Are you at least able to block the services to this customer?

And PayPal has sole discretion on deciding outcome:

“PayPal determines, in its sole discretion, whether your claim is eligible for PayPal’s Seller Protection program based on the eligibility requirements, any information or documentation provided during the resolution process, or any other information PayPal deems relevant and appropriate under the circumstances.”

[Madnoos]

Of course I banned the user from the website but their subscriptions have expired months ago so all the ban does is to make sure they can't purchase it again. I was indeed told on the phone that PayPal decides the outcome but the fact that they removed the appeal option and didn't take any of my evidence in consideration is what frustrated me the most.

I remember years ago I was able to call PayPal and express my concern, whether it is regarding an unfair outcome or a dispute fee related to a credit card chargeback and they would almost always reverse the outcome and waive the fees. 

Now they don't care what you have to say and apparently don't even have the authority to waive those atrocious fees which are caused by customers like the one who's caused me a headache in the first place. It's fine that PayPal should have the final decision but they should consider the evidence provided by the seller rather than just dismissing everything and closing it in buyer's favor solely due to the "history of disputes", or at the very least provide the option to appeal the outcome if whoever "reviewed" the case decided not to look at or disregard all supporting evidence...

[shashkum78]

I had very similar issue in which buyer paid subscription charges at the end of 6 months of usage and then disputed it 3 months later and PayPal still refunded the amount. They didn't bother to even look at the proof of delivery email I shared and rejected my appeal within 2 hours of opening.

In addition to that, PayPal even refunded entire code development charges  after buyer claimed the code I wrote for her on her cloud application got accidentally  deleted !? that too under "Item not received " category .  I lost over $2700 due to their wrong judgement, months of my effort went down drain . I feel I was more wronged by the back office than the buyer who was a fraudster anyways . Link to my case here :    https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/Security-and-Fraud/This-Proof-of-delivery-case-will-blow-your-mi...

[Madnoos]

Wow what a shame! I'm sorry to hear that, it's exactly how I feel too... PayPal literally admitted to me on the phone that none of the evidence I provided was taken into consideration, so it's no surprise you lost the case to a scammer. Check if maybe you could appeal the outcome of the case, although I wasn't able to sometimes the option would be there and it might help.

It's so sad to see how PayPal doesn't care about seller anymore, before when I used to call them I would get actual help and they would review the evidence I provide over the phone and make the decision on the spot. Now even the supervisor that I spoke to on 2 different occasions was completely careless and condescending, talking in an extremely monotone and fed-up tone both time that I talked to her.

If even the management doesn't seem to care at all about the sellers (which is how PayPal earns money), it's no surprise that whoever does the dispute reviews doesn't bother to look at any evidence either.

[shashkum78]

Thank You for your kindness. I was able to open an appeal after pleading my case to customer support agent. However my appeal was rejected within hours with following message 'proof of delivery invalid '. I had given an email confirmation received from company's operations head stating that 'she has checked her account and confirms that she has received admin access to the entire code' . So I was very surprised when PayPal marked my proof of delivery invalid. After spending many hours with support agents I was told that  PayPal rejected the proof because her email id didn't match with email on their PayPal account which was 'hello(at)companyname' ! When I tried to explain that she is a senior employee of the same company, customer care agent said I understand you lost over USD 2700; but they never really looked at any of your evidence once your claim was rejected the first time. PayPal is surely not what it used to be..