In the Summer of 2009 we were approached by a client to build a website for their project.  The site was complete; approved and went live in the fall.  We invoiced via PayPal and were paid in November 2009 to our PayPal account.

Fast forward to March 2010.  We received notice from PayPal that a chargeback has been placed on our PayPal account. We contact the client.  They relay to us that they did not know what the charge was for and were thus advised by their credit card company to refute the charge.  Now that they know that the charge was for us they apologize profusely, and promise to reverse the chargeback straight away. Read the rest of this entry »

We just got the “follow up survey” from PayPal … Oh foolish PayPal, will you never learn …? Maybe we can help.
To the question of “Why would you not recommend PayPal”
The support received over the 107 day period that this issue lasted, consistently failed to be of the value and quality required for a business environment.

- PayPal’s chargeback team consistently focused on implementing incorrect policies and procedures of negative value to the situation.
- PayPal’s chargeback team gave incorrect and contradictory responses.
- PayPal’s chargeback team consistently referred us to online resources that were not applicable.
- PayPal’s chargeback team responses were often tardy and slow. The team had to apologize on multiple occasions for the tardiness of their responses.
- Some members of the PayPal’s charge-back team are notably inept and need to be scheduled for retraining immediately.
- PayPal’s chargeback team is inflexible, even in the light of overwhelming facts.
- PayPal’s chargeback team responses are often on the punitive side of helpful.

The charge-back process takes too long. The length of time is exaggerated by the poor performance of some members of the team.

Moving forward, we will be releasing a strong advisory to our customer base, actively warning them to migrate from PayPal immediately.

Overall I would describe the experience of PayPal’s merchant services as more onerous than our combined burden levied by government regulation.

PayPal hides behind barriers of bad policy and poor performance, and is therefore simply not a viable partner for small to medium businesses.

Well we did not have to wait long. A mere 37 minutes later comes the official response …

Chargeback dispute settled in your favor: Case #PP-xxx-xxx-xxx-079

Hello Beleaguered PayPal Victim,

We are pleased to inform you that we have successfully disputed chargeback case #PP-xxx-xxx-x-079. The buyer’s card issuer has decided in your favor and within seven days you will receive reimbursement for $xyz USD.

It is PayPal’s standard practice to dispute wrongful chargebacks. One of the benefits of using PayPal is that our team of chargeback specialists will gather the necessary information from you and work with the credit card company until the chargeback is resolved.

We appreciate your prompt response to our request for information about this transaction.

———————————–
What to Do Next
———————————–
This case is now closed. No further action is required of you.

Thank you for your patience and cooperation in helping us resolve this matter as quickly as possible. We appreciate your business and regret that you experienced a chargeback.

For an overview of how PayPal works with you to investigate chargebacks, log in to your account, click the Resolution Center tab, and then click the Resolution Center Tutorials link.

Thanks,
PayPal
Chargeback Department

Please do not reply to this email. This mailbox is not monitored and you will not receive a response. For assistance, log in to your PayPal account and click the Help link in the top right corner of any PayPal page.
PPID PP802

———————————–

Wow!.. I don’t know what to say. I’m all of a quiver. I need to go find out how to attach fireworks to a blog post….

Just got a quick note from the beloved minions of the PayPal Chargeback Division

Dear Beleaguered PayPal Victim,

We apologize for any inconvenience.
Your inquiry has been forwarded for further review. Please allow up to
72 business hours for our research to be complete. Your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Jean
PayPal Chargeback Division
PayPal, an eAreWeThereYet Company

Hmmmmm. How cryptic. Are we finally getting somewhere? Dare we dare to hope? Against all the odds…. Is an answer in sight?

Dear Gloria,

While speaking to our client (aka the Buyer) today, they pulled up an interesting piece of information that we wished to immediately pass on to you.

The person they spoke to at Citibank was Axxx Gxxx in South Dakota Security Operations, and then an Axxx. Axxx stated that Citibank would wire transfer the money to PayPal on April 20.

Axxx’s contact number at Citibank is 866-442-xxxx ext xxxxx.

You should give her a call. Imagine if one five minute phone call could sort all this. Imagine if this case could finally be wrapped up so simply. Imagine never having to hear from me again. Now isn’t that incentive enough?

Anyway. Let me know how you get on.

Sincerely
A Beleaguered PayPal Victim

Dear Gloria,

Thank you for your reply.

You don’t have to keep apologizing. We understand what you really meant

To reiterate, this case has been an ongoing dispute with the buyers credit card company, and even though said company has communicated to you, you have failed to acknowledge it.
Furthermore you have refused to investigate your failure to acknowledge it.

Even if your arguments to wait 75-80 days were compelling, some nasty little man down in “service@paypal.com” is threatening collection proceedings, so we simply cannot wait.
And besides, you yourself have stated that, if PayPal does not receive communication from Citibank at the end of 80 days, then PayPal will do absolutely nothing; so there is even less than no value in our waiting.

We are dealing with a company that marks Faxes it received in March, with a Status of “Waiting For Fax”; a company that still has this supposedly “Open” Case marked as “Case Closed”, so please do not expect us to have any confidence that PayPal will pro-actively provide any notifications, or you will shake my last hope that any humanity exists within the PayPal complex. Until such time, as PayPal’s actions inspire more confidence; and the level of service that you are allowed to proffer rises above mediocre, we have no choice, but to continue to micro-manage you.

We are not frustrated at the issue. How PayPal deals with the issue, and how PayPal treats its customers, could be frustrating, but rest assured, it takes more than the stubborn ineptitude of your managers to wear us down. We are stoic and resilient. We are excited by the new phase we are about to enter and the plans we have made this past week.

Sincerely
A Beleaguered PayPal Victim

P.S. Thanks for the address.

More Rhetoric. The same old Party line from Gloria in this reply. One positive thing to note is that we are getting the same PayPal Chargeback Division rep each time. Maybe they listened to our suggestion of improving the quality of their customer service, by assigning cases to individual reps.

PaypPal …. listen to its customers … what am I saying …. I must have been at this too long.

———————————–

Dear Beleaguered PayPal Victim,

Thank you for contacting PayPal.

Mr. Beleaguered PayPal Victim, I understand your frustration and concern over this issue.
Please allow me to clarify a few things in regards to this issue. As my previous email reply stated, I did not in any way advise or suggest that you file a complaint against PayPal. I would advise that perhaps you read through my original email again if you need further clarification.

To reiterate, this case has been in an ongoing dispute with the buyer’s credit card company with the latest dispute on April 15, 2010. We must allow the buyer’s credit card company 75-80 days from April 15, 2010 to respond.

At this time, we have not received a cancellation notification from the buyer’s credit card company.

Even though a credit card company may inform their customer that the chargeback has been cancelled, a credit card company can take up to 80 days before they will contact PayPal with the final ruling. This process cannot be sped up by the buyer by contacting their credit card company.
This is a time frame set by all credit card companies, and their dispute departments will not release the funds until this time frame has been met.

We will contact you when we receive a reply. Your repeated contacts will not result in an expedited outcome.

Sincerely,
Gloria
PayPal Chargeback Division
PayPal, an eSensitive Company

Of course our reply to service@paypal.com, bounces right back to us. Yes, they complain that we have not contacted them, and yet hide behind paper walls. Never mind, a quick note to Gloria will get our email heading in the right direction…

———————————–

Dear Gloria,
You’ll love this one. It’s so funny.

To paraphrase, its an email from service@paypal.com.
In their first paragraph, they complain that “although we’ve tried to reach you several times, we never heard back from you.”
How little do they know. And here you are complaining that we have contacted you too much.

Anyway, I set them straight in my reply. Be a dear would you, and forward it over to them. We would not want them to think they are being ignored.

Sincerely
A Beleaguered PayPal Victim

<… The rest of the email we sent, was my post from yesterday – Day 101 – PayPal threatens collection – ….>

Dear Gloria,
Thank you for your note. We regret the delay in responding to your email, as we have been busy preparing the documentation you suggested.

Please understand that we do appreciate your suggestion, and fully understand why you are being made to recant it.

To address the points your supervisor requested you to make.

1. COMMUNICATION LOAD
As part of our preparation, we have had a chance to fully review and document the communication thread of this incident. We have requested status updates on three occasions. As PayPal has failed to reconcile this issue in the last 100 days, that is a status request of less than once a month. A number that is perfectly reasonable. Unfortunately as a regrettably large proportion of responses from the reps of your divisions have been contradictory, or duplicates in nature; and as a number of their replies have referred us to materials in the Online Help, that simply did not exist; there have been a higher number of communiqués than would have been necessary had we been dealing with a better organized division.
Frequently, the reps did not properly familiarize themselves with the case notes, resulting in unnecessary traffic. You may wish to consider assigning cases to individuals, as it would improve the quality of your service offering.
Imagine if your bank ‘took’ a large sum of money from your account, and then sulked if you asked them for updates more than once a month. Would you understand?

2. 80 DAY TIMEFRAME
You have requested that we wait 80 days until a timer expires in your department. However, the Buyers Credit Card Company have debited the Buyers account for the re-bill, and informed the Buyer that they have reimbursed you, before this 80 day window. I believe the Credit Card company taking monies from their customer and giving it to you is ample communication.
Furthermore you have quite succinctly stated that after this 80 day window, you will do absolutely nothing. Therefore there is ZERO benefit in us abiding to any artificial timers you create.

3. LEGAL ADDRESS
You have been asked two days ago for a physical address where legal documents can be served. This is a simple question. It would be extremely inappropriate for you to avoid this any longer. If you are so understaffed that you cannot reply to this simple question within two days, then give me your managers number and I will be happy to explain to them how their poor budgeting decisions are impacting your desire to provide excellent customer service.

Sincerely
A Beleaguered PayPal Victim

Another pithy exchange with the evil beast that is PayPal. If you have read along so far, not much new to offer here, (except the nastiness of PayPal’s email, along with yet another example of the obtuseness that is the essence of PayPal)

Of course, it’s a demand letter, we better not ignore it … PayPal might accuse us of ignoring them….

———————————–

Dear Service,

Thank you for your form letter, a copy of which is attached for your convenience.

1. To recap,
AS the buyer immediately realized their mistake and has reversed the chargeback that has caused this deficit.
AND the Buyer’s credit card company HAS SENT YOU the funds.
AND as you have been provided with ample evidence.
We will therefore will not be supplying you with these funds as the buyer’s credit card company has already done so.

2. You state in letter that “we’ve tried to reach you several times, we never heard back from you.”
THIS is an absolute falsehood. We have replied to your specific demands on at least:
5-3-2010
5-16-2010
5-27-2010
As well as other communications to your company.

3. You (PayPal) are preventing communication.
On 5-27-2010 you bounced back our replies to your email address service@paypal.com.
We have retained documented evidence of this, which can be provided on request

4. You (PayPal) have specifically requested that we do not contact you further on this matter, as per an email from the PayPal Chargeback Division rep – ‘Gloria’
We have retained documented evidence of this, which can be provided on request

It is now over 100 days since the Buyer’s Credit Card sent you the required funds. This ongoing deficit is a full reflection of PayPal’s inability to reconcile its own accounts and refusal to conduct the necessary internal investigation that would resolve your mistake.

We welcome any move your company makes of a legal matter, as we are confident that when we display the evidence of the case, an arbiter or judge will swiftly dismiss your ill-conceived demands.

As per the advice of your PayPal Chargeback Division re – ‘Gloria’, we are currently investigating our legal recourse and will contact you shortly.

Sincerely,
A Beleaguered PayPal Victim

—–Original Message—–
From: service@paypal.com [mailto:service@paypal.com]

Hello Beleaguered PayPal Victim,

Your account balance has been below zero for nearly 3 months, and although we’ve tried to reach you several times, we never heard back from you.

Unfortunately, that means if you don’t get this taken care of within 10 days, we’ll be forced to take further collections action. Please add enough money to bring your balance to zero or above within 10 days.

To transfer money from your bank account:

1. Log in to your PayPal account and click Add Funds at the top of the page.
2. Choose Add Funds from Bank Account.
3. Follow the instructions to transfer at least the amount you’re overdrawn.

Or you can mail us a check or money order payable to PayPal at:

PayPal, Inc.
P.O. Box 45950
Omaha, NE 68154-5950

Make sure you write the email address you use for your PayPal account in the memo area, and give us 10 business days for personal checks to clear.

Thanks,
PayPal Collections
PPID PP926

Dear A Beleaguered PayPal Victim ,

Thank you for contacting PayPal. We regret the delay in responding to your service request. [If you were more organized Gloria, you could spend less time apologizing, which also wastes time, as frankly, your apologies are starting to lack credibility]

I believe you have misunderstood my previous reply. Allow me to clarify. Your previous emailed inquired what happens if PayPal does not receive a cancellation notice from the buyer’s credit card company.

My reply advised that you would need to resolve the matter directly with the buyer using outside means. This would include the option of filing a police report or a complaint with the IFCC.

I did NOT advise or suggest that you consider filing a complaint against PayPal.
[...Oopsie. Looks like Gloria has been reprimanded by her supervisor. (I knew there had to be a supervisor in the Chargeback department somewhere)

We Salute you Gloria

We all know where Gloria's true heart was. She tried to sneak the truth through to us, even though the boss is making her backtrack now. Thanks Gloria, the truth will prevail....]

Lets get back to Gloria’s email… We will contact you when we receive a reply from the buyer’s credit card company. Even though a credit card company may inform their customer that the chargeback has been canceled, a credit card company can take up to 80 days before they will contact PayPal with the final ruling.
This process cannot be sped up by the buyer by contacting their credit card company. This is a time frame set by all credit card companies, and their dispute departments will not release the funds until this time frame has been met.

Please note, as you have been advised multiple times in regards to the status of this case, further emails may not receive a reply until we have new information to provide.

We appreciate your patience and understanding regarding this matter, and wish you continued success on PayPal.

———————————–

Imagine if the Bank you held your Business account in, one day froze the account. They had a good reason to do so, a Buyers chargeback, that was OK.

Then imagine that you provided that bank with the necessary evidence.
Imagine that the Buyer sent the Bank an affidavit, and the Buyers Credit Card contacted the Bank to release the funds.
Then imagine that the bank still locked the account after almost 100 days.
And imagine that the bank avoided your calls and refused to speak to you.
Imagine if that was how business was conducted.

Well imagine no more, because if you use PayPal, you have that bank. Isn’t it time you switched?