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About a month ago I did a SEO audit for this business owner: [Business name and link removed by Linda due to legal concerns.]
And yes, I'm purposely calling this crook out because my experience with him still sticks in my craw
I spent close to 3 hours on this audit and put together about an hour's worth of videos for him and sent him a written report. Of course before I started all this work he paid me upfront via PayPal - which used to be my standard procedure. Within about 10 minutes of sending him the audit, he replied that the audit was "very very light" on specifics...lol. I about dropped my iPad when I read that. I sent the guy an hour of videos AND a written report of everything he needs to do and it's "very very light" on specifics. He then added the fact that he wasn't happy at all with what I provided.
I immediately responded to him via email that I would be more than happy to provide whatever specifics he thinks I missed. I told him my goal is to satisfy so whatever I need to do, just let me know. I also told him to call me so we could discuss it. He never responded.
The next morning I got a message from PayPal that this guy filed an "authorized payment" claim against me. I immediately called this guy and of course he wouldn't take my call. I called him a few times and every time it went to his voice mail. I told him in the voice mails I would be more than happy to refund his money but I would at least like to talk to him. He never called me back. I also tried reaching him via email a couple times and he ignored them. He clearly just scammed me.
Long story short...PayPal held the money he sent me for about 10 days. I spent at least 3 hours on the phone with PayPal trying to get answers. In the end, PayPal refunded the money back to the buyer. It turns out, PayPal offers ZERO seller protection on digital goods or services. What this guy claimed was that he didn't get what he paid for. And because it was a digital good (i.e. something I didn't mail to him) and it was a service, PayPal automatically sides with the buyer. I sent PayPal the trail of emails I had with this guy as well as the SEO audit I sent him. PayPal didn't care. They ruled in the buyer's favor. PayPal told me that as long as I'm selling a digital good or providing a service, I will never win when these claims are filed.
Needless to say, I no longer accept money via PayPal. I am looking at alternatives (Google Wallet and MerchantInc.com) and am only accepting payments now via check.
I don't know who I was more upset with...the guy that stole 3 hours of my life...or PayPal that ruled against me despite the evidence I provided. Either way, I'm done dealing with PayPal so I'm just passing this along as a warning.
Travis Van Slooten
P.S. My former business partner sold a website on Flippa and made the mistake of accepting money via PayPal. The buyer sent him the money ($4,000) and he handed over the domain and the website. The next day the buyer filed the same claim against him. Guess what happened? My partner lost the $4,000 as PayPal returned every dime to the buyer because it was a digital good. Needless to say, he doesn't use PayPal either anymore. PayPal is truly the biggest scam going. You'll read all kinds of horror stories about PayPal. How they can get away with this stuff is beyond me.
And yes, I'm purposely calling this crook out because my experience with him still sticks in my craw
I spent close to 3 hours on this audit and put together about an hour's worth of videos for him and sent him a written report. Of course before I started all this work he paid me upfront via PayPal - which used to be my standard procedure. Within about 10 minutes of sending him the audit, he replied that the audit was "very very light" on specifics...lol. I about dropped my iPad when I read that. I sent the guy an hour of videos AND a written report of everything he needs to do and it's "very very light" on specifics. He then added the fact that he wasn't happy at all with what I provided.
I immediately responded to him via email that I would be more than happy to provide whatever specifics he thinks I missed. I told him my goal is to satisfy so whatever I need to do, just let me know. I also told him to call me so we could discuss it. He never responded.
The next morning I got a message from PayPal that this guy filed an "authorized payment" claim against me. I immediately called this guy and of course he wouldn't take my call. I called him a few times and every time it went to his voice mail. I told him in the voice mails I would be more than happy to refund his money but I would at least like to talk to him. He never called me back. I also tried reaching him via email a couple times and he ignored them. He clearly just scammed me.
Long story short...PayPal held the money he sent me for about 10 days. I spent at least 3 hours on the phone with PayPal trying to get answers. In the end, PayPal refunded the money back to the buyer. It turns out, PayPal offers ZERO seller protection on digital goods or services. What this guy claimed was that he didn't get what he paid for. And because it was a digital good (i.e. something I didn't mail to him) and it was a service, PayPal automatically sides with the buyer. I sent PayPal the trail of emails I had with this guy as well as the SEO audit I sent him. PayPal didn't care. They ruled in the buyer's favor. PayPal told me that as long as I'm selling a digital good or providing a service, I will never win when these claims are filed.
Needless to say, I no longer accept money via PayPal. I am looking at alternatives (Google Wallet and MerchantInc.com) and am only accepting payments now via check.
I don't know who I was more upset with...the guy that stole 3 hours of my life...or PayPal that ruled against me despite the evidence I provided. Either way, I'm done dealing with PayPal so I'm just passing this along as a warning.
Travis Van Slooten
P.S. My former business partner sold a website on Flippa and made the mistake of accepting money via PayPal. The buyer sent him the money ($4,000) and he handed over the domain and the website. The next day the buyer filed the same claim against him. Guess what happened? My partner lost the $4,000 as PayPal returned every dime to the buyer because it was a digital good. Needless to say, he doesn't use PayPal either anymore. PayPal is truly the biggest scam going. You'll read all kinds of horror stories about PayPal. How they can get away with this stuff is beyond me.
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