Buyer bought, requested to cancel, & started a chargeback all within 3 hours. Won't let me cancel...

[cleaning.the.attic]

I got home one night and had a bunch of messages about an item that sold. No messages from the buyer, just from eBay. Apparently the buyer bought item, decided to cancel 30 minutes later, then the cancellation was closed because they started (opened?) a chargeback with Paypal 2 hours after that. 

So... I just started with the 1st/earliest message, about buyer wanting to cancel. When I clicked on blue "See cancellation details", it said "We were notified that the buyer filed a chargeback with their payment institution", and "The cancellation couldn't be done". (Over on the right hand side it gives details of order, and under cancellation reason it says "order placed by mistake").

2nd message: "A payment dispute (#) has been filed. We need you to respond to this dispute"..."[buyer] has filed a payment dispute outside of eBay about an order that was placed on Dec 02, 2021. This means the buyer has disputed a charge directly with their payment provider. They are requesting $76.64 back and the reason for this dispute is that the buyer had an issue with the transaction. Please respond to this dispute by Dec 07, 2021."

So I clicked on blue button that said "Respond to dispute". There were two options, which I can't see exact wording of now, but it was something along the lines of either I accept the dispute or I disagree because it's been shipped. I had not shipped it, so I chose 1st option.

Now when I go to that page, it says "Status: Open. No action needed. You've accepted the dispute. It will be closed once the dispute process is complete." 

3rd message: "The cancellation for this order has been closed because we were notified that the buyer filed a chargeback."

4th message: "Your funds are on hold until this dispute is resolved. 

We'd previously contacted you about a payment dispute that [buyer] filed for an order placed on Dec 02, 2021. Until this dispute is resolved, the disputed amount will be withheld from future payouts."

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Then I actually heard from the buyer directly the next day. They said they requested a cancellation within 30 minutes of purchase, and when eBay told them it could take 3 days (the cancellation or their refund? not sure....), they contacted Paypal. And they told me I need to refund their money.

I told them since there is a chargeback the funds are withheld from me, so I can't refund them, and it won't let me cancel, so please be patient. Ebay or Paypal will refund them, I'm guessing. 

MY QUESTIONS:

How long does a payment dispute usually take? 

Am I going to be penalized for a chargeback, even though the buyer changed their mind? I'm not familiar with chargebacks.

Will I get eBay fees back/will they even be charged?

They don't want it, and I'm not going to ship it, but it's still showing up under my 'awaiting shipment' items, and says to ship by 12/6 (tomorrow). Is there anything else I need to do, other than wait?

[firejake2003]

I went through this too.  I communicated with ebay and they ensured I would not get a defect because we could document that the buyer cancelled through a chargeback.  Some buyers just don't know what they're doing when they try to get their money back that way instead of just properly cancelling.  Banks are always quick to take your money, but take forever to put it back, no matter which side of the dispute you're on!

[d-k_treasures]

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@dbfolks166mt wrote:

     It's not eBay that is re-opening anything it's the buyer going through PayPal. Once again you should be protected you accepted the first chargeback and refunded the buyer and that should be the information you put into the response back to eBay. You should be fully protected in this situation there was/is nothing for the buyer to recover, PayPal already has the funds you returned the first time. 

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But DID the buyer get refunded by the seller? He accepted it, but right away there was a chargeback that canceled that. Then the OP won the chargeback case.

I'm not sure the buyer was refunded because of all of that mess.

[cleaning.the.attic]

As far as I know, I've never had access to the money. When all this started, the funds were put on hold. When I look at my payments right now, it shows it as on hold. I got a message today from eBay that the funds are on hold (again). Were they ever NOT on hold? Not that I knew of. 

So I will (at some point) for a second time, pick one of two options: "Accept dispute and buyer receives refund".

Then what happens? Do they give me the buyer's money, only for me to refund it?! Or does eBay just refund them, since the money is on hold anyway? I assumed eBay (or Paypal, whoever) would refund them without my help...

I just don't want to refund them twice somehow--surely that's not possible? None of my eBay messages have said anything about ME sending them a refund. I thought that ship had sailed.

"mess" is a nice word for it 🙂

[cleaning.the.attic]

There is no place for a response to eBay. (And where would I start?! Ha!)

It just gives me two options to choose from:

"Challenge dispute and provide proof of delivery" (No)

or

"Accept dispute and buyer receives refund" (Yes, this one--that's what I picked the first go-round).

I never returned any funds--I never had them/ access to them since they have been on hold all this time. Paypal has the funds because they froze them right off the bat. Or they're in limbo, or purgatory or something.

I have just been reading eBay's messages, and doing what they say. Apparently it's a great system...

[ryoli_5132]

Well it seems like the scammer found a loop or glitch of sorts.

I would try to get in touch with like the developer of the code i.e  webmaster of eBay and present this situation to them as it could be problematic for other sellers and the health of eBay if many people start taking advantage of this.

Surely they have people who work on the website, to whom it may concern.

in the meantime, take screenshots and document it . If anything it seems like the HTML and the source code of eBay might not be as smooth  as it could be. Hence all the reports of scamming.  Do I even know what I'm talking about ? 

Good luck

[downunder-61]

I don't understand how we can pay shipping from pending, and yet eBay can not let us 'refund' from pending, certainly needs some tweaking

[downunder-61]

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@ryoli_5132 wrote:

Well it seems like the scammer found a loop or glitch of sorts.

I would try to get in touch with like the developer of the code i.e  webmaster of eBay and present this situation to them as it could be problematic for other sellers and the health of eBay if many people start taking advantage of this.

Surely they have people who work on the website, to whom it may concern.

in the meantime, take screenshots and document it . If anything it seems like the HTML and the source code of eBay might not be as smooth  as it could be. Hence all the reports of scamming.  Do I even know what I'm talking about ? 

Good luck

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You may know what you are talking about, but getting in touch with coders ?

That is not possible with any online platform - and not sure how this buyer is a scammer - annoying yes, but scammer no

[cleaning.the.attic]

The latest update:

I had until 12/21 to 'respond' to the all the previous ^^^, and decided I'd wait until exactly 12/21, in case the buyer changed their mind again. I was joking, for the most part. About them changing their mind.

On 12/20 I got an eBay message--the payment dispute had been updated. 

The buyer (again) updated the reason for the dispute. This time it is "The buyer hasn’t received their item yet". What?! Really? Do they really want the item now?

I don't think so, but they hadn't picked that option yet, so.... I wonder, how many options are there to choose from, does anyone know? How many more updates should I be expecting?

I guess every time they update the dispute, it extends the period I have to respond. I must now respond by 12/25. 

I need a subtitle for this: "The Neverending Payment Dispute".