PayPal chargeback for online ad sale with nothing wrong

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By : surfin2u

Here’s the short version of this post:

If you sell advertising and get paid by using PayPal, you can be hit with a chargeback by the client for no reason at all, and PayPal will side with the client, regardless of whether there are any grounds to the client’s dispute or not.

Here’s the story:

I have a client, who has been buying online advertising from my website for a couple of years. The ad was paid for with a subscription on a credit card through PayPal. The card was billed to an employee of the company, who ended up leaving the company. He did not bother to cancel his subscription for his ad, so his credit card continued to be charged once each month.

He did not want to pay for the advertising after he left the company, so he disputed the charge, rather than seeking reimbursement from his former employer. Here’s what I got from PayPal

> We recently notified you of a chargeback stating that the merchandise
> received had one of the following problems:
> It was damaged or defective
> It was not as described, or
> Services were not rendered

I provided PayPal with proof that the ad was still running and the guy’s employer was happy with it. It didn’t matter. I appealed and that didn’t help. Here’s what PayPal sent me:

> This transaction was reversed for the following reasons(s):
>
> - This chargeback type is not covered under PayPal’s chargeback policies.
>

Is there anything that I can do to fight this? Has anyone had a similar experience?

Thanks in advance!

1 Comment »

  1. Admin said,

    March 1, 2006 @ 6:34 am

    it might be said :

    If the guy’s employer is happy with it, then get the money from the employer.
    By issuing a chargeback, PayPal has basically said that they are siding with the customer and not you. As has been pointed out in other threads, payment by credit card (or through PayPal) is only one method of payment.

    Assuming you had a valid contract with the guy, he is still legally liable for payment of services delivered according to the contract. If you’re in the U.S., send him a certified letter demanding payment within a specified amoutn of time, otherwise you will take him to small claims court to recover the amount due. (Different countries may have different recourse methods.)

    I just re-read your post and I think some more clarification is needed.
    1) Who was the client?- the employee or the employer?
    2) Was it a company credit card issued to the employee or personal credit card belonging to the employee?

    It seems that you should be trying to collect form the company instead of the ex-employee.

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