Phonograph Item Issue - What Do You Think?

[FellowCollector]

Hi Folks, Per Rocky's recent suggestion after I shared this with him privately I thought I might share something here on the Forum that happened to me (phono related) and, hopefully, solicit some input, advice or rotten tomatoes . First, please recognize that I rarely sell any of the phonograph or music box items in my collection. But back in March of this year I guess I must have been bored and decided to put a rather unusual phonograph item for auction on eBay. It was in nice original condition and brought what I felt was a decent price. The winning bidder was from South America. I informed the buyer that I was very sorry but I had indicated in my description for the item that I did not want to ship it internationally. He replied indicating that there was no problem and he provided an address in Florida to ship the item. I had never used PayPal before but recognizing that eBay required a PayPal account to sell after January (I think?) of this year I opened an account. Within a few days, presto, there's the money in my PayPal account. So far so good, right? I shipped out the item to the buyer. The buyer received the item with no problem and left me nice positive feedback. Then...are you ready? In June (3 months later), surprise surprise! I received a nice little Email message from PayPal indicating that the buyer's credit card company had opened a claim that the payment was invalid and would be seeking a chargeback for the full amount. That's just great...ohhh boy. So, then followed a series of phone calls from me to PayPal. I provided as much info as I had available (including faxes) to support my case and also indicated that my feedback remains at 100% positive since opening an eBay account back in 1999. Three days later another PayPal message was sent to me that stated the credit card company claim was being honored and my PayPal account would be charged to the tune of the amount of the item (plus shipping) AND it also included a charge from the credit card company to file the claim! SUPER wonderful... I contacted the buyer and he confirmed again that he had received the item and had no clue what was going on with the credit card company. He is trying his best to get the issue resolved from his end but here I am all these weeks later without my item and with the nice charge still in my PayPal account. Has this ever happened to any of you? Thanks for listening and hope you will forgive the looooooong winded post!

[Neophone]

Doug,

I've never heard anything like that. I to only joined PayPal when it was required, since then I have used E-Bay very infrequently. Hopefully someone here will have suggestions. Let us know how things proceed.

Regards,
John

[Valecnik]

Fellowcollector,

I just learned a short time ago about this "security" that paypal provides to purchaser for a period of time, (could be 3 months) to get money refunded in case of a seller's fraud. I'm not totally sure we are talking about the same thing.

In my case the purchaser, (a member of this forum) wanted me to use paypal because it afforded him this protection. I agreed even though there was no requirement because the sale was for something posted on this forum, not an eBAY sale. The purchaser was/is totally reputable and there was no problem.

However knowing what I've just learned from you, I'd be very cautious about again shipping an item before the end of the "security" period, which many purchasers may not like but still, I would be afraid that an unscrupulous purchaser could use this scheme to the disadvantage of an honest seller.

[Phonofolks]

Fellow Collector:

Your situation sounds very strange and maybe part of a scam?! I thought that paypal only allowed 45 days following the end of an auction to file a claim unless this has changed recently. I wonder if someone picked up your payment/auction information and is using it for their gain. Did you receive an email from ebay or paypal during the past three months that prompted you to click on a link to connect to ebay or paypal and requested your user id and password?

[martinola]

Hi Fellow Collector.
I had a somewhat similar situation occur on an eBay/PayPal transaction. I was able to prove that the item was sent and received and after much talking with PayPal customer service, they finally closed the dispute in my favor. (The other fellow's account closed right after my auction closed and looked pretty suspicious.) I really feel your pain, as it's an uphill battle for a seller to combat fraud in situations like this. My only advice is to call PayPal's customer service back and refer them to this thread and show how they're going to lose your business. If that doesn't work, try contacting their Public Relations department. Sometimes the only way to get justice is to publicly shame them. I hope you don't have to go that far, but I urge you to if necessary. That's the only way to keep big companies like PayPal from steam-rollering us little guys. Good luck.
Martin

[FellowCollector]

Thanks so much, everyone, for your input. This is my 3rd attempt at posting a reply...hope this time my reply posts successfully. I guess what irks me most is that 3 months went by before the chargeback claim was opened and I really felt there was no pushback from PayPal in spite of my providing good evidence of a successsful transaction (including the buyer stating via email that it was all a big mistake). Anyway, thanks again, and sorry for the sort of off-topic thread.

[bostonmike1]

Maybe you should contact Zeppy (a fellow member on this forum) and ask if a small claims complaint can be initiated and what that would entail. Michael

[Neophone]

Doug,

It's not off-topic at all really. If you have a letter from the buyer stating they did receive the item and are pleased with it, then it seems to me the issue is a technical one with PayPal itself-a mix up of accounts or some such. Next time you telephone them try asking for a supervisor and have all paper pertaining to the transfer handy. Hopefully that might help things along.

Regards,
John

[Valecnik]

Doug,

I agree that this is not off-topic given that many of us use eBAY/Paypal and as buyers or sellers have experienced a situation where we got burned and eBAY and/or Paypal were not helpful in resolving the issue.

Good luck in getting this resolved. I for one would like to hear of the eventual outcome good or bad.

[FellowCollector]

I sincerely appreciate all of your input and support, everyone! I've once again contacted the buyer who has, thusfar, been cooperative with any updates on their end. I next plan on contacting PayPal (again) to see if this matter is still moving along at a snail's pace or if it's stuck somewhere in a folder hoping I will forget about it. I've had primarily good experiences on eBay for the last 10 years but this first (and only) PayPal issue really has me disillusioned. Wouldn't you think that after 3 months that the payment you received for an item is actually yours? Yeah, me too... Thanks again for all of your support and I'll let you know how things go.