Advice from someone that has dealt with chargebacks. Which is probably all of you

[adroitfulone]

So, here's everything that has went down:

A buyer purchased an item from me back on August 11th. The label was printed directly through ebay and automatically uploaded to paypal. Package was picked up on August 13th for shipment as confirmed by my pickup request confirmation e-mail from USPS.  Fast forward all the way to December 10th. Now, the buyer has called his financial institution and filed this as an "Unauthorized transaction". So, of course Paypal hits me with the case. I immediately call up Paypal and everything is fine because I obviously qualify for seller protection. Now, come the middle of January, and the funds are missing out of my account again. So, once again, I call up Paypal. This time however, I am no longer eligible for seller protection because the tracking number is no longer valid. Going on 6 months later, that's really no surprise.. Now, there's basically nothing that I can do according to Paypal unless that tracking number magically becomes valid again. So, I guess what i'm saying is, be careful to everyone out there. There's people that really know what they're doing when it comes to scamming sellers. This wasn't a small ticket item either. I doubt there's any way i'm ever going to be able to pay the money back to Paypal plus their $20 fee for getting scammed. Definitely won't be selling anything on Ebay anymore either because of it. I don't think there's anything I can do at this point, so i've come to warn you all. 

[twnpopcards]

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@adroitfulone wrote:

Screw it. Here's the tracking number. Go ahead and go try to file a claim...

9405509699937837147496

You can't file a claim as the tracking information doesn't show a valid package anymore. You need a valid tracking number in order to file a claim. Already been there and tried to do that. 

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Sorry but only you or the buyer depending on the situation can deal with this, not me.  If you don't want to mess with it that is up to you.  All I did was give you some information that should help you but if you are done that is fine with me.  

I wish you the best paying Paypal back for a false claim.

[adroitfulone]

Be_4101, I have set this as the solution. I hadn't seen this until now. I will give it a shot and see what happens. Thank you very much for this.

[ghoulishgirls]

I've had this happen a couple of times. A scammer from eBay tried this a couple of months ago and won. 

eBay didn't have any trace of the sale on record, since the order was placed more than 180 days ago. USPS did absolutely nothing. PayPal just wanted to see "delivered" when they pulled up the tracking info, and I had no way of giving them that info.

The only suggestion PayPal offered was to take a screenshot of each tracking number/it's status, to avoid this issue in the future, but this isn't exactly feasible when you have hundreds of orders. 

I stopped using eBay and PayPal's shipping services, since they don't save any tracking info. I also don't list any new inventory on eBay because I would love to be out of here soon. I'm transitioning into selling only on my website, where I have things like fraud protection set up, and I don't have to deal with eBay's ridiculous policies.

With minimal effort, eBay and PayPal could protect sellers from these scams, but they refuse to. Credit card company chargeback teams also need to seriously reevaluate their efforts, because this kind of fraud seems to be gaining popularity.

I was able to get the PayPal chargeback fee refunded, so you might be able to get that back, if anything.

I will definitely keep that FOIA link handy for the next time this happens.

[jbsound8o2e]

One thing I have done with PayPal and it has worked 100% of the time is that I call them as soon as a chargeback is filed. Don't let the process work through the system as it takes months and your money is held up. Once I call, a representative will look at the case, verify I have seller protection, and then immediately release the money. Not once have they told me that I would have to wait for the case to process through.

I did have a chargeback once that was old enough that the tracking number had expired through the USPS system, but fortunately, somehow PayPal still had it. That experience made me decide to get paper receipts from the post office with tracking numbers. I only do this on big ticket items just due to the sheer trouble of it, but it makes me feel better on those big items. I just write on the top of the receipt what the item was and file it away. I will probably start trashing those at about a year old.

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

When I've had a chargeback I've noticed that even though they release my funds as I'm covered by "seller protection" the case still remains in the resolution center until the cc company closes it.

If I was the OP I'd be calling back to try to get someone higher than who they spoke with and insist as I was covered by "seller protection" at first that should be valid even when the case closes.

[penguins_dont_fly]

@adroitfulone 

Go to USPS.com or to your Local Post Office ... 

http://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2011/pb22311/html/info_007.htm

Event details for items more than 45 days old will be stored (archived) in offline files. In these cases, users may make a restoration request online. After a restoration request is made, all event details will be available for future inquiries. Restoration usually takes place within 2–4 hours; however, on rare occasions it may require up to 24 hours.

http://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2005/html/pb22160/d-i9_004.html

Customers and Postal ServiceTM personnel can restore archived information by accessing the Track & Confirm Web page at www.usps.com (click on Track & Confirm) or by calling Customer Service at 800-222-1811. (Postal Service personnel can also restore archived information by accessing the Track & Confirm Intranet Web page at http://blue.usps.gov; click on My Work; then, under "Moving the Mail Tools," click on Track and Confirm.) Following a restoration request, all event information is restored, usually within 2 to 4 hours (although on rare occasions the restoration process may take up to 24 hours).

[adroitfulone]

@penguins_dont_fly

This is really good information. Anyone happen to have a link to the page to do this? I can't seem to find it after searching for restoration request. Sometimes I wish this community had a sticky with information liket his. Thank you very much for this.

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@adroitfulone wrote:
@penguins_dont_fly

This is really good information. Anyone happen to have a link to the page to do this? I can't seem to find it after searching for restoration request. Sometimes I wish this community had a sticky with information liket his. Thank you very much for this.

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I couldn't find it on mobile (hubby is hogging the computer)  ... try following the "Contact Us" links on USPS.com ... it's there somewhere ... I've seen it, I swear LOL

[adroitfulone]

@penguins_dont_fly 

It's not there anymore. I'm currently still on hold with the 1-800 number. I'm sure i'll find out in another hour or so. It's not looking very good..

[adroitfulone]

I'm still on hold with USPS. I'm about to just hang up the call. It's been a couple hours now. Everything I see online says this service has been discontinued now anyways.  You would think someone @ebay would be responsible for this since I purchased the shipping information through them. But, I called them up on a seperate phone while being on hold with USPS and after explaining that I would like to speak with someone in the shipping department, he connected me to paypal which does me no good since my account has been sold to collections and we already know they won't help anyways. I can't get past "Debby" in the call center. She says she has no one above her and she's the highest person in paypal for me to speak to. I doubt that "Debby" in the call center is signing everyones checks. 

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

Forget USPS - Keep calling PP and ask why THEIR decision that this transaction had "seller protection" as per THEIR rules, was reversed when the cc company closed the case.

[adroitfulone]

I've done this already. They literally just put me on hold and say it's not their policy. They won't connect me with anyone higher up. Good luck to anyone that has this issue in the future.  Last night, the "manager" at the call center literally just put me on mute for 3 hours until I hung up the phone. I guess they're not allowed to hang up on you there lol.

The answer they give you to that question is "Seller protection is no longer valid if the tracking number isn't valid"

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

Contact the BBB

[adroitfulone]

Already did that. Doubt it's going to be much help. Haven't heard anything back from the BBB dispute yet. 

[adroitfulone]

Just got off the phone with USPS. He says they no longer do the archived tracking number thing. For future reference and to help anyone else that may be sitting on hold for over 2 hours.