Buyer Reversing Payment at Bank by Claiming "Unauthorized Withdrawl"

[Machelle]

A gentleman contacted me to purchase a vehicle I had for sale on Auto Trader. He made an initial payment via Paypal of $500.00 for me to hold the vehicle for him until he could get to me to pay the balance in cash. (Keep in mind, he was coming to finialize a sale, not "look" at a vehicle....the intent to purchase was there and I have a ton of email documentation to demonstrate that as well as email documentation to show it was him who sent the initial payment od $500.00) Long story short, he got cold feet and backed out of the deal, wanted his $$ back, I was not happy and refused a refund. (I was stupidly advertising the truck as sold to potential buyers.) He filed a claim with Paypal and was denied, so he went to his bank and claimed to money was taken from his account fraudulently. Now the bank pulled money from my Paypal account and has left me with a megative balance I need to resolve.

Questions:

Is he allowed to claim "unathorized withdrawl" when it is so easily shown he was the one making the withdrawl not me?

Since the withdrawls went from his bank account to his Paypal account then to my Paypal account....how do I get caught up in the idea that I somehow took money unauthorized from his bank account?

Am I even allowed to retain the initial payment in a situation like this? (He was definitly coming to "pay the balance owed", in his own words, he just got cold feet. I have documentation to show all his initial claims of "Item Different Than Advertised" are false and it was just a case of cold feet.

Thank you for your time and input. I am a little unsure of what to do next.

Machelle

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Why don't you contact his bank to report his likely fraudulent representation to them? He was the one who willingly transferred the money.

With regard to damages, I don't know what it might be if you can resell the car again without any damages. Until that point though, the above still remains and the amount to return should be determined by you.

 

[Machelle]

I was thinking the same thing and asked Paypal for the contact information. The guy said the bank was acting as an agent for the buyer and refuse to give me any. I still don't see where Paypal can manipulate my account in this case. I will call and talk to someone else, maybe I can get better information.

Thank you for your reply.

Machelle

 

[tpajet]

This is a huge problem with paypal. You might want to check out www.paypalsucks.com

The problem is Paypal has such a long user agreement that allows them to do pretty much anything they want. I know someone that had sold an item on eBay, stating it was not in working condition. Two years later the buyer came back and said that the item was not as advertised because it didn't work (we think there was a language barrier deal.) Anyway, Paypal deducted the money from the sellers bank account.

Your only hope with Paypal is to open a separate acount at another bank, and keep a low balance. When yo get money, get it out of that account.

 

[Machelle]

Really?

(Machelle jumps up on her soapbox.......Why can't people just be accountable for their actions. I am a single mom of four, a preschool teacher, trying to sell a darn truck. I have had so many people calling me trying to get one over on me with this deal in a variety of different ways. One would think I have IDIOT painted on my forhead. I know times are hard and everyone is scrounging for a buck but goodness!...............jumps off soapbox and goes back to being quiet.)

Thankyou for the input professor and tpajet. As a matter of principal I want to at least put up a fight on this but it may be far easier to just give this guy his money back. I hate it when it is cheaper and easier to let people get away with being less than honest.

Machelle

 

[Michael Wechsler]

tpajet's story is amazing to me but, unfortunately, I've heard it all and with long terms of use policies, it makes it next to impossible to determine all the ways they can reverse your payments and reasons.

What I would do is obtain the name of the bank that reversed the payment. You should have a right to know this, especially if the buyer is claiming that they are acting as the buyer's authorized agent. If the bank has branches in your area, I'd consider a small claims suit against the bank. For a small amount of money, it could be worth the investment. However, you probably wouldn't win much and would need to show some damages. I'll give this more thought on this...

Don't worry about the soapbox rant, you're amongst understanding company. Considering the state of our country today, it's not surprising that people don't have high hopes about the human race in general. But it's people like you that make me happy to have sites like this since I'd like to believe most people are innately good but harsh elements may bring out the dark sides.