Dealing With Virtual Item PayPal Charge-backs?

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PandaDomo

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A few hours ago I was just charged-back a small amount for a YouTube service.

Just wondering, but how do you resolve virtual items or services charge-backs? Everything in the "resolve now" thing only mentions physical shipping so I have no idea what to do about this. I sent the person an invoice which explicitly stated that it was for a YouTube views service (amount, current amount, and YouTube URL) and that paying for it would waive all rights to a cancellation, refund, and charge-back.

The order hasn't been fully delivered yet but I was charged-back midway. Since I didn't fully deliver it I can't exactly claim I delivered everything, but I was just wondering for future reference what would be the best way to resolve a charge-back that doesn't revolve around physical shipping. It's not really a big deal for the amount lost, but I would just like to be secure for any future transactions regarding this.

Does anybody have any experience with PayPal charge-backs like this? What would/should you do in these types of situations?

Edit: Just found out that I could send a message to PayPal explaining this, but is there any simpler or more efficient way to clear these types of things up?
 
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I've had a similar experience in the past but even calling paypal made no difference since I was selling a service.

However, I was lucky one time where I was able to recover my money doing the above.

So it really depends on who you talk to in paypal...
 
I've had a similar experience in the past but even calling paypal made no difference since I was selling a service.

However, I was lucky one time where I was able to recover my money doing the above.

So it really depends on who you talk to in paypal...

So basically, regardless of the terms and conditions of the invoice, you're still screwed if you supply a service...
 
If you are a seller of virtual items and a buyer does a chargeback pretty much Paypal will always side with the buyer.

It is better just to issue the refund than try to fight a battle that you will inevitably lose anyway.
 
If it is a small amount, just accept liability and move on. If however you wish, you may give paypal a call and ask them how you could provide tracking details as what you sell is not tangible. If you are lucky, they might just side with you. Again, a charge back is a little more complicated than a paypal dispute which you could easily win.
 
So I suppose there's really no way to go around this aside from refunding...

Well, thanks for the answers anyway guys!
 
PayPal doesn't offer buyer protection on intangible services & sales so you'll be fine. Simply escalate it to a claim and let PayPal know that this was a sale that didn't involve a tangible good/product and they'll immediately close this dispute in your favor with the funds returned to your account.

Veyron
 
PayPal doesn't offer buyer protection on intangible services & sales so you'll be fine. Simply escalate it to a claim and let PayPal know that this was a sale that didn't involve a tangible good/product and they'll immediately close this dispute in your favor with the funds returned to your account.

Veyron


That might be how it works in wonderland, but here on planet earth it's the complete opposite. You paid for an electronic good/service and open a dispute on the item? You'll win 95% of the time.
 
I have dealt with multiple paypal virtual services disputes and won all of them. All I did was each time right paypal in my dispute a full "book" about why I am such a great customer, how the person charging back is out to scam me, and how I have very few chargebacks out of many successful payments.
 
Please read

You can still win as a seller with a service/virtual product if it is a dispute done by the buyer from his paypal and not if it was initiated though the buyer's bank. Paypal originally doesn't want to handle refunds for non-tangible goods but they get forced to do this if the buyer initiates a charge back through his bank and paypal usually bans the buyer's paypal account for doing this as they hate being forced. And if you are selling a tangible good and the buyer does a charge back through his bank paypal will refund him and you still keep your money but only if you have tracking code provided by premium shipping services like DHL/Aramex/Fedex.

Also if you have a terms page or terms at the invoice where the buyer agreed not to receive any refund or whatever your refund policy that the buyer broke was, let Paypal know that and I'm 100% sure they will honor the terms as it happened with me several times.

Don't give up even if it is a small amount because every charge-back dispute you lose is counted to your account negatively and makes you look bad in paypal's point of view.
 
If you are a seller of virtual items and a buyer does a chargeback pretty much Paypal will always side with the buyer.

It is better just to issue the refund than try to fight a battle that you will inevitably lose anyway.

What about if the service you offer requires shipping also and provide tracking numbers. Thanks in advance
 
What about if the service you offer requires shipping also and provide tracking numbers. Thanks in advance

That would most definitely be a tangible good which a buyer has buyer protection through PayPal.
We need a little more details to help you out though and if you have questions I would suggest opening a new thread for it
so we can help you personally.

Cheers,
Unclemike
 
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