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I helped a friend with some purchases, as they are a USAF service member, so has currently no UK bank accts or UK accepted methods of payment (only US accepted methods). As I queried the transactions through my bank, and they refunded the amounts barring 75% - all well and good. All the transactions were made through PayPal direct to the service provider’s account. The problem started when my bank initiated Chargebacks and Section 75 claims.
I received a msg from my friend, asking if I had heard from the service provider (seller). I checked my emails and found an email from the seller about a week earlier but it was in my junk folder so I had missed it. I replied to the email once I had reviewed my PayPal acct and found a number of Chargeback cases had been opened by my bank relating to the queried transactions.
In the seller’s email, they stated that they didn’t know what they related to and said there must be a mistake. However, this contradicted what they had said to my friend in the message to them, as they seemed to fully know what they were related to. Subsequently, I noticed on one of the PayPal cases, the seller had provided further information about the dispute at least a week before they contacted me.
In my reply to the seller’s email, I explained that the cases had been opened by my bank, and I hadn’t been informed that this was going to happen. So I continued and suggested that they challenged the disputes through PayPal’s Resolution Centre as per their help pages. I also included a screenshot of the message that appeared on the individual cases info pages explaining it was my financial institution who had raised them, as evidence.
I never heard back from the seller.
Instead, as the seller knew my friend and knew the items had been bought on their behalf. They contacted my friend’s employer - USAF at the base in the U.K., where they are stationed. So this lead to my friend having a hold put on their file in terms of permission to leave the base for holiday, until this ‘requested’ amount of money was paid. However, I helped sort the money for my friend, so that they could get the hold lifted and allowed to leave the base, to at least set up a UK bank account so that they could have a method of payment available in the UK. Unfortunately, the seller then went back to my friend the next day and demanded another amount and this occurred several more times. My friend arranged for the seller to meet the seller at the base (not my idea and I didn’t think it was wise). They handed over one of the last payments in cash and in person. The meeting ended up with my friend’s supervisor getting involved as the seller became difficult, as they wanted the remaining amounts there and then. This was despite my friend not having the cash. An agreement was brokered with the help of the supervisor, in that the next amount would be paid the next day, with the remaining amount to be repaid in the new year.
Less than 18 hours later, the seller has decided that they were not happy with the agreement and demanded the all the remaining money. So my friend started to try and source the money.
A week later, my friend told me that the seller had been speaking to their bank and they had decided to class 3 more transactions as dubious, despite them never being queried by myself or my bank, as they had been made on a different credit card and from a different issuer and bank.
Due to them (seller’s bank) doing this, they now wanted these amounts paid back. And again, they contacted my friend’s s employer direct stating they owed money to them. Once again, a hold was placed on my friend’s file. My friend and their friend tried to explain to the seller, that they needed to retract the complaint, so that the friend could get off the base to be able to sort the bank account and repay the seller directly. The seller refused.
While this was happening I did more research into the Chargebacks and Section 75s and knew that we had to let the processes play out. As my original transactions had the Chargeback Protection offered by PayPal and PayPal had confirmed my transactions would most likely be covered by it, once the banks had finished their processes.
I advised my friend to tell the seller this and that there was not much more we could do. I also explained to my friend that the seller shouldn’t be demanding the money from them, as they were technically a 3rd party to the all of it, as no money had come their account to mine for the original transactions, and as such, the ‘contract’ was between the seller and myself. So what the seller was doing could be seen as harassment, malicious communication (emails to employer) and with the second lot of amounts, could be seen as a form of blackmail due to the seller knowing what the employer would impose on my friend’s file. But the main issue was the demand for payments outside of the legitimate processes being followed by the banks, as this behaviour could be considered ‘obtaining money through deception’.
What I am wanting advice about, is what is the best way to proceed, apparently the employer is investigating whether my friend owes this money and how much:
So should I just let this play out and wait for their decision?
Or should I just let the Chargeback and Section 75 processes play out?
Alternatively, do I go to my banks about the seller?
Or if I went to my main bank (the one that has initiated the original group of Chargebacks/Section75s), would I land myself in trouble for trying to help my friend and been seen as trying to get double the reimbursements even though, I am only wanting to make the bank aware of the seller’s conduct since becoming aware of the Chargebacks?
Any advice would be gratefully received.
I received a msg from my friend, asking if I had heard from the service provider (seller). I checked my emails and found an email from the seller about a week earlier but it was in my junk folder so I had missed it. I replied to the email once I had reviewed my PayPal acct and found a number of Chargeback cases had been opened by my bank relating to the queried transactions.
In the seller’s email, they stated that they didn’t know what they related to and said there must be a mistake. However, this contradicted what they had said to my friend in the message to them, as they seemed to fully know what they were related to. Subsequently, I noticed on one of the PayPal cases, the seller had provided further information about the dispute at least a week before they contacted me.
In my reply to the seller’s email, I explained that the cases had been opened by my bank, and I hadn’t been informed that this was going to happen. So I continued and suggested that they challenged the disputes through PayPal’s Resolution Centre as per their help pages. I also included a screenshot of the message that appeared on the individual cases info pages explaining it was my financial institution who had raised them, as evidence.
I never heard back from the seller.
Instead, as the seller knew my friend and knew the items had been bought on their behalf. They contacted my friend’s employer - USAF at the base in the U.K., where they are stationed. So this lead to my friend having a hold put on their file in terms of permission to leave the base for holiday, until this ‘requested’ amount of money was paid. However, I helped sort the money for my friend, so that they could get the hold lifted and allowed to leave the base, to at least set up a UK bank account so that they could have a method of payment available in the UK. Unfortunately, the seller then went back to my friend the next day and demanded another amount and this occurred several more times. My friend arranged for the seller to meet the seller at the base (not my idea and I didn’t think it was wise). They handed over one of the last payments in cash and in person. The meeting ended up with my friend’s supervisor getting involved as the seller became difficult, as they wanted the remaining amounts there and then. This was despite my friend not having the cash. An agreement was brokered with the help of the supervisor, in that the next amount would be paid the next day, with the remaining amount to be repaid in the new year.
Less than 18 hours later, the seller has decided that they were not happy with the agreement and demanded the all the remaining money. So my friend started to try and source the money.
A week later, my friend told me that the seller had been speaking to their bank and they had decided to class 3 more transactions as dubious, despite them never being queried by myself or my bank, as they had been made on a different credit card and from a different issuer and bank.
Due to them (seller’s bank) doing this, they now wanted these amounts paid back. And again, they contacted my friend’s s employer direct stating they owed money to them. Once again, a hold was placed on my friend’s file. My friend and their friend tried to explain to the seller, that they needed to retract the complaint, so that the friend could get off the base to be able to sort the bank account and repay the seller directly. The seller refused.
While this was happening I did more research into the Chargebacks and Section 75s and knew that we had to let the processes play out. As my original transactions had the Chargeback Protection offered by PayPal and PayPal had confirmed my transactions would most likely be covered by it, once the banks had finished their processes.
I advised my friend to tell the seller this and that there was not much more we could do. I also explained to my friend that the seller shouldn’t be demanding the money from them, as they were technically a 3rd party to the all of it, as no money had come their account to mine for the original transactions, and as such, the ‘contract’ was between the seller and myself. So what the seller was doing could be seen as harassment, malicious communication (emails to employer) and with the second lot of amounts, could be seen as a form of blackmail due to the seller knowing what the employer would impose on my friend’s file. But the main issue was the demand for payments outside of the legitimate processes being followed by the banks, as this behaviour could be considered ‘obtaining money through deception’.
What I am wanting advice about, is what is the best way to proceed, apparently the employer is investigating whether my friend owes this money and how much:
So should I just let this play out and wait for their decision?
Or should I just let the Chargeback and Section 75 processes play out?
Alternatively, do I go to my banks about the seller?
Or if I went to my main bank (the one that has initiated the original group of Chargebacks/Section75s), would I land myself in trouble for trying to help my friend and been seen as trying to get double the reimbursements even though, I am only wanting to make the bank aware of the seller’s conduct since becoming aware of the Chargebacks?
Any advice would be gratefully received.
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