Unauthorized Transaction

[sunflowers652016]

Hi all, just looking for some advice, or even opinions on this. I sold an item, and shipped the same day. The next day I get a notice from ebay that the transaction was unauthorized and it has been cancelled.  I was told not to complete the transaction and if I shipped the item already to try to stop shipment. I attempted to and was charged $14 to do that. I still do not have my item and not only did my buyer send me an angry message telling me she wants her item, but she also opened a case against me.

I just refunded her.

I am now out of the item (not sure where it is, tracking shows nothing), I'm out the money For the item, I'm out $14 for the intercept (usps charged my card), I spent an hour of my time on the phone with ebay to get No answers, and I'm told that the angry buyer will be able to leave me bad feedback.

What just happened here and what did I do wrong? 

[deech21]

did you go to the post office and fill out a form to intercept the package or did you go online to USPS.COM to do so.
You can either go back to the post office with the receipt or call 1-800-usps -xxxx and talk to someone.
What instruction did you give in the intercept request?
They should contact the buyer post office and find out what is going on

[sunflowers652016]

My instruction was return to sender. I filed online.

I guess my main question is why did ebay cancel the transaction and tell me not to complete, only for the buyer to be able to turn around and open a case against me?? A buyer can call and tell ebay that the order was unauthorized and then in the next breath complain that they didn't get their item????

Somebody explain that to me please?

[mam98031]

Ebay really needs to do a better job with these emails.  Chances are the transaction would have been fine.  I get notifications like this a handful of times a year.  Every single transaction has processed just fine.

When Ebay notified you that the transaction had been cancelled, the did NOT pull your money from you, so how did you lose the payment?  Did you voluntarily refund it?  If so, why?

I don't know who told you the buyer could leave FB.  If the transaction was cancelled by Ebay, you nor the buyer can leave FB.

Sorry about that intercept fee.  That was probably a waste of your money.

You just didn't know and over reacted to the notification.  There was no way for you to know that without experience with how these things work.  Most times there isn't really a problem.  Ebay goes with the best information they have at the time and if they suspect a problem, they will error on the side of caution and cancel the transaction.  Upon further investigation they often find out that things were actually fine.

[dhbookds]

Agree with Mam..........

Usually what happens is the cc is hacked.  The holder notifies the cc co and they freeze everything and notify merchants....even tho some of the charges may be legitimately made by the holder.  At some point (if you've ever been thru a hack), the holder tells the cc which charges are legit and as long as you've mailed to the approved PP address, there probably won't be a problem, at least I've never had one.

On the ebay notification, I've got a theory (no facts) that if they don't notify you, they could be somehow legally liable. 

[slati_2013]

Why did you refund the buyer? You should have waited. If eBay says it was an unauthorized transaction, then I don't see how she could open a case against you. I think you got bad advice from CS. If she leaves negative feedback, I think you should be able to easily get it removed. 

[sunflowers652016]

I've actually been selling here for almost 20 years, and this is maybe the 2'nd time that I've been notified about an 'unauthorized transaction'. The first time was through Paypal and it was a month after the transaction was complete and all I could do was wait. Paypal did protect me and I didn't lose money. This time it was through ebay messages and I had Just shipped the day before. The took the auction right down, it was gone. I just followed ebay's instructions saying if I already shipped to try and stop the shipment. They made it sound like the buyer alreadsy got their money back!

I should have checked before I did the mail intercept but I think I would have done the intercept anyway, because I totally expected a chargeback. When I realized they didn't take the money yet I just figured I would refund once I had the item back in my hands. I was still thinking the owner of the account did not place the order. Almost a week goes by, I'm watching the shipment, and the tracking states 'problem with delivery'. That's it.

Then yesterday I get an angry email from buyer asking for her order, p'd off she didn't get it and saying I have her money and did I cancel the order?? I messaged back that I was told not to complete transaction and I Still do not have my item back. She turns around and opens a case against me, and I have nothing to show for tracking as it just says 'problem with delivery, it's NOT delivered. I already have an angry customer and all I could do to be done with it now was to refund, which I did.

But I'm the one that was totally screwed here. I don't even get answers as to what happened. I was following instruction from ebay and now they leave me hanging, basically too bad so sad I'm on your own with it, and I was told that buyer could still leave feedback (happy she can't but I was told she could).

Total **bleep** if you ask me. I lost my money, no item back yet, lost shipping cost, paid an intercept fee, lost an hour just on the phone, never mind the time invested in the whole mess, and I have an unhappy buyer. The end.

WTH?

So, I should ignore these 'unauthorized transaction' messages from now on? 

[clearsphere]

Did the listing disappear? I've had unauthorized messages before, if the items were sent I uploaded the tracking and was covered. Once I was told not to ship on a 6 item order (big sale!) while it was "investigated". Ended up being able to cancel out a couple weeks later. Not sure why that happened-and if the buyer had answered my messages I would have sent the items-as they were completing transactions with others in the meantime.

[sunflowers652016]

Yes, the listing is gone, can't even pull it up. 

Not sure if I totally answered this question, Why did I refund?

I refunded because the buyer opened a INR case and I could not prove delivery (Because EBAY instructed me to stop shipment).

What else could I do? Nobody cares that I don't have the item back or that it cost me to intercept, the INR is to protect buyer, although same buyer filed an unauthorized transaction just a week earlier.

[clearsphere]

If the listing is gone, there shouldn't be ability to leave fb. I had a cc compromised where I had to let the bank know which transactions were mine and which were fraudulent, as they do put a hold on all recent transactions once it's reported.

As a seller, I've had unauthorized use come up a few times-and I either hadn't sent yet or have been covered if I did. I have never been told to intercept the package. With having short handling times encouraged/rewarded, most sellers send asap.

[slati_2013]

If you had waited for the listing to be removed that pretty much would have ended the INR case and any ability to leave feedback. This is one of those cases where you are in the right and no matter what happened, eBay would and will make it right in the end.

The $14 though, that is gone. Hopefully it was worth it to spend $14 to get it back. When you resell it, tack on $14. 

[dtexley3]

brian@ebay How does eBay expect sellers to handle an eBay message regarding a cancelled transaction when the item has already shipped?  In this case it appears the transaction may have been cancelled in error, as the buyer still expected their item (or this is another scam).

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

And shouldn't ebay make the seller whole seeing as how their loss was incurred due to advice given by ebay CSR?

[mam98031]

Then yesterday I get an angry email from buyer asking for her order, p'd off she didn't get it and saying I have her money and did I cancel the order?? I messaged back that I was told not to complete transaction and I Still do not have my item back. She turns around and opens a case against me, and I have nothing to show for tracking as it just says 'problem with delivery, it's NOT delivered. I already have an angry customer and all I could do to be done with it now was to refund, which I did.

That was a choice you made, not one that was required of you.  

Since the purchase was cancelled in Ebay, there should have been no way for them to file a claim in Ebay.  Did they file the claim in PP?

I would have just logged some comments into the claim in PP that the item was still in transit and you were awaiting the updated tracking on the package.  I may have even called PP to discuss the issues of this transaction, but I would not have voluntarily refunded at this point.  Your customer being angry is the least of the problems here.

I agree that Ebay has some ownership in the problems that happened to you and the loss of your money.  These emails they send are down right scary.

We really need some clarification on this issue from Ebay.  For us seasoned sellers, we are pretty versed on what to do when one of these emails arrive as we know it is typically OK to complete the transaction.  For for other less versed sellers, there is no way for them to know that from how the emails read.

tyler@ebay 

brian@ebay 

[mam98031]

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@sunflowers652016 wrote:

Yes, the listing is gone, can't even pull it up. 

Not sure if I totally answered this question, Why did I refund?

I refunded because the buyer opened a INR case and I could not prove delivery (Because EBAY instructed me to stop shipment).

What else could I do? Nobody cares that I don't have the item back or that it cost me to intercept, the INR is to protect buyer, although same buyer filed an unauthorized transaction just a week earlier.

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Was the INR filed in Ebay?

You said the tracking showed there was a problem with the delivery.  That doesn't mean that you would auto lose an INR.  It would depend on what the problem was that delivery was delayed or not possible.  And that info you could only get from the carrier.