How to Do a Chargeback Over PayPal

By eHow Personal Finance Editor

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A chargeback takes place when a buyer tells her credit card company to negate the charges on a given purchase. The reasons for this can vary; legitimate reasons entail the receipt of a faulty or damaged product, or an unauthorized sale that takes place when the card number is stolen. Fraudsters will often use chargebacks to gain goods and services without paying for them. PayPal, which helps facilitate sales between people over the Internet, is well-versed in how to handle a chargeback. If you conducted your sale through them, you can use their resources to help with the chargeback.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Step1

Determine the exact reason why you want to do a chargeback. You must be able to explain exactly why you are disputing the charges and exactly how PayPal's services enter into the equation. You'll need to explain them to both PayPal and to your credit card company to do a proper chargeback.

Step2

File a transaction dispute and/or an unauthorized charge report on PayPal. While this is not strictly a chargeback, it will start to lay the groundwork and will provide you with additional documentation for your chargeback.

Step3

Notify your credit card company that you wish to instigate a chargeback. The process itself is conducted mainly through them and not through PayPal, though they are involved if the transaction took place over their service. Your company will notify PayPal's merchant bank, which will speak to PayPal concerning the chargeback.

Step4

Inform PayPal about the website where you made the purchase and the specific issue you have with the product. PayPal will allow you to report a possibly phony website, which will help make your chargeback go over more readily (see Resources below).

Step5

Check the name, credit card number and shipping address in the order to make sure that it matches the details on PayPal. That will help clear up any possible dispute over any chargeback you do and make sure that the issue (such as product being sent to the wrong address) doesn't repeat itself.

Tips & Warnings

Always provide thorough documentation of the reasons for your chargeback. This should include a copy of the receipt of sale and any ancillary documentation you have to prove your case: shipping receipts, emails from the seller, photographs of damaged or defective merchandise and evidence of credit card theft or unauthorized use.