My case began when a customer paid for product and services via credit card and processed a false chargeback. I as a sole proprietor (fully personally responsible for the business as a sole proprietor) had been using Quickbooks Merchant services to process my credit card transactions, however thought I’d give Paypal’s “Merchant†processing a try. I had used Paypal before several times for Ebay transactions and hadn’t had any issues. The original customer’s charge was November. Also, the customer was/is also a bank employee of the card issuer. Before you tell me the statutes are up, my new 2008 findings should well cover that area, In August/September 08 I found out that the card issuer/bank DID NOT approve the card carrier’s chargeback, and the bank notified Paypal of this, however in turn, Paypal literally lied to them and told them in writing that I did not wish to pursue fighting the chargeback. Paypal gave the card carrier his money back at the time of the initial complaint, and Paypal basically told the card issuer/bank to keep the money. I wrote Paypal and fought the chargeback, to be told by Paypal on numerous occasions that the CARD ISSUER decided in the card carrier’s favor for the chargeback, not in mine, and that there was nothing Paypal could or would do. I sued the customer, won, presented that to Paypal to no avail. Customer filed BK, during which I obtained a signed affidavit where he admitted value vs. Amount paid were equal. Total for chargeback $6100.00. PAYPAL gave the customer back money while performing their “investigation“, debited, overdrew, and froze my PAYPAL account, prevented me access to my account and processing of cards, took a few hundred dollars I had, and charged me fees. PAYPAL attempted to withdraw the charges from my checking account. I lost over $10,000 in revenue that. PAYPAL sent me to collections.
All my actions up to this point, December were before I found out that the card issuer actually DISAGREED with the chargeback and did not approve their customer’s/card carrier’s complaint.
In PAYPAL’S response to my complaint via the Attorney General that, Paypal stated in writing: “Despite our best efforts, the buyer’s card issuer decided in the buyer’s favor. As outlined in the terms of our service, to which you agreed when you created your account, the buyer’s credit card company, not PAYPAL, determines who wins the Chargebackâ€. So my question to this is: WTH do I do when the card issuer agreed with me and PAYPAL does not abide by the card issuer’s decision? PAYPAL IS LYING.
They also stated: “Due to the chargebacks received, your PAYPAL balance is currently negative $6102.46. As the account’s balance remained unresolved for an extended period of time, the account was locked from further use and the negative amount was sent to collections. As outlined in the Privacy Policy, if you go into a negative balance and owe us money, we may share information with processing companies including collection agenciesâ€.
OK, I DO NOT OWE THIS MONEY PER THE CARD ISSUER. PAYPAL is pursuing me for a fictitious debt! Extortion! But again, I did not know PAYPAL was lying to me outright until approximately September.
I sued the bank based on Paypal’s relentless insistence it was the bank’s decision.in the deposition I found out the bank had actually notified PAYPAL IN WRITING they did not agree with the chargeback and did not honor it. PAYPAL decided I did not want the chargeback reversed, told the card issuer I didn’t want to pursue fighting it, lied to them, even after I disputed it every time, and sent another communication in writing to the card issuer/bank stating I did not want to dispute it and to let it go through?
October received yet another collection letter from a different company than the last one, representing PAYPAL. The letter is addressed to Me, not the "company" SP, and sent to the personal home, the “Company/SP“ is not mentioned anywhere. I am located in California.
One facet of my claims, the FDCPA I question intently: In my particular circumstance, where a company is pursuing a debt fraudulently, literally, for a debt that is truly self created by the originating “Creditorâ€, how can this not fall under any Federal or California Debt Collection Laws or Acts, regardless of my status of being a Sole Proprietor? There have been cases where this was challenged in court and won under different circumstances. How can the law in Small Claims court give a sole proprietor rights as an individual to sue for damages, as far as monetary amounts allowed to pursue and etc. Other guidelines, Bankruptcy law consider Sole Proprietor’s individuals for purposes of liquidation or self preservation, and even the IRS views Sole Proprietor’s as individuals, yet in federal court a sole proprietor is deemed as being a business and held to different standards? As a sole proprietor, I am personally responsible for any debt and income for the “businessâ€. I have no umbrella, no protection, it’s all on me! In addition, within laws, and the FDCPA, I found reference to “natural person†as the law refers to? Then that would make the Federal and other Laws/Statutes/Acts contradictory when referencing to Sole Proprietor‘s and Natural Person‘s or Individuals…..
Wikipedia definition: "A sole proprietorship, or simply proprietorship (British English: sole trader) is a type of business entity which legally has no separate existence from its owner. Hence, the limitations of liability enjoyed by a corporation and limited liability partnerships do not apply to sole proprietors. All debts of the business are debts of the owner. The person who sets up the company has sole responsibility for the company's debts. It is a "sole" proprietorship in the sense that the owner has no partners. A sole proprietorship essentially refers to a natural person (individual) doing business in his or her own name and in which there is only one owner."
I cannot tell you how much I have suffered from this, as there is anything that I can compare this to, it has been a nightmare.
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