Worried about paypal Chargebacks?

[Drakonmanthefox]

 

Out of our agreement, it was said that a 50% deposit would be placed and if work was started then it was non-refundable, and they could cancel the project at any time but I would keep the deposit. We both agreed.

There was no designated time to complete the project but I have sent periodic updates on a weekly basis. They also told me I could take my time on the project. It has been about two weeks now. (This is a Custom Character model for CGI and Video games).

Periodically through this project they have now asked me to cancel it and then later change their mind after I had accepted another commission. They had asked me to cancel the project but it seemed they were in mental distress. I did a bit of digging and found some of their close friends to see if they could help them (It seemed rather serious)  I'll make it a point here to say I don’t know this person very well and we met in vrchat maybe a month ago.

I’m not obligated to continue given our agreement but I told them I'll continue to work on it but it would be at a slower pace because I had accepted another person after their cancellation.

I spent 9 hours yesterday working on this project.  It’s nearing the final phases and they had approved what I have been working on. It’s in a final polish stage before I begin importing it into the Unity game engine.

Today they had told me to pause again since they did not have the funds to pay the final yet. I told them It was okay and I understood the remaining amount to ask is a decent chunk of change and that I can continue. They can pay me when they are ready.

They asked me if I was busy today. I have personal things to take care of today but it's nothing major. They wanted me to drop everything I was doing to jump into a game with them. I told them the truth I need groceries today and take care of some minor personal issues.

They blocked me.



The question: So this particular client I did not send an invoice to them through PayPal. They asked me for my email then sent the first payment. What can I do in case of a charge back? Or am I out of luck? How do I handle this if pay pal does a charge back? Was I wrong to try and reach out to the clients friends? Should i have just accepted that they cancelled it to begin with?

[Eden]

Edited your post to fix the text.  It was unreadable on the dark theme.

[Vexstacy]

- a wish washy customer is never a good one. I personally would've cancelled the first time they asked

 

-unfortunately the likelihood of you winning a case with PayPal against the buyer for digital good is low. Especially with the way the payment was taken. You can try to fight it, and I encourage you to try, but I think I can count on one hand how many people I've heard have success. 

 

-in the future for projects that are big. Absolutely always invoice someone.  four things under $50 I will generally allow them to just send it to my email. But the moment things get above $100 I am typically more inclined to send an invoice. 

 

- I also don't know if this client was a friend before being a client or what the situation is here. But I would highly recommend limiting outside of work interactions with clients. Because of exactly these reasons. I've had similar happen where if things didn't go well outside of the business transaction, they then would take it out on the business transaction one way or another. 

if you're the type that likes to make friends to via business. you can always explain that if at the end of the transaction, they would like to keep in touch they're welcome to do so but during the transaction you would like to keep things professional. 

[Drakonmanthefox]

18 minutes ago, Vexstacy said:

- a wish washy customer is never a good one. I personally would've cancelled the first time they asked

 

-unfortunately the likelihood of you winning a case with PayPal against the buyer for digital good is low. Especially with the way the payment was taken. You can try to fight it, and I encourage you to try, but I think I can count on one hand how many people I've heard have success. 

 

-in the future for projects that are big. Absolutely always invoice someone.  four things under $50 I will generally allow them to just send it to my email. But the moment things get above $100 I am typically more inclined to send an invoice. 

 

- I also don't know if this client was a friend before being a client or what the situation is here. But I would highly recommend limiting outside of work interactions with clients. Because of exactly these reasons. I've had similar happen where if things didn't go well outside of the business transaction, they then would take it out on the business transaction one way or another. 

if you're the type that likes to make friends to via business. you can always explain that if at the end of the transaction, they would like to keep in touch they're welcome to do so but during the transaction you would like to keep things professional. 

I don't know this personal at all beyond a few short interactions and the agreement. I guess ill have to cut my losses here then eh?

[Rendrassa]

Gather all your information via screenshots. It's your best chance to convince PayPal. Since you've finished most of the work, you could take the loss and email the file of the character to their PayPal email, so that you can prove to PayPal that you upheld your end of the bargain. Ideally with words like, "Due to the communication difficulties after blocking me, I am sending over the agreed on file despite it clear that you will not be honoring the rest of my payment. This ends our transaction and I will be declining further business from you. Have a good day."

[Drakonmanthefox]

Iv also exported the telegram Chatlogs. They have actually deleted a telegram account and made a new one at the start of all this. (though they informed of the new telegram)

[Leongon]

I'd take the loss and refund them and salvage whatever possible of the work for something else, and never work with that person again even if you still want to be friends. That's a person you shouldn't bother with if you're trying to be serious about your craft.

[theodor]

You can lose a chargeback on invoices (my only chargebacks have been on invoices and I lost every one despite providing proof I did the work). Your best best to NOT get a charge back is let it drag on past the 180 days, which isnt very... good, and not something you really should do.

I would honestly drop the client the first time they canceled. Its a huge red flag for someone to flop back and fourth. Especially if they are blocking you for not playing a game with them. Blacklist immediately, repurpose the work if you can.

[Drakonmanthefox]

Just posting an update. This entire situation was so predictable that they did in fact try to charge back on the 27th of July after they said I could keep the money and cancelled twice on me.

If anyone would like information on how a charge-back is handled I have spoken to a representative from paypal who guided me through the whole thing.

Typically paypal dislikes buyers remorse. They don't favour digital good so describe your business as a service rather than a digital art.

Edited July 30, 2020 by Drakonmanthefox

[VosurAekira]

I would recommend posting the portion of the transcript where they mentioned you could keep the money/cancelled the commission in the option where you have room for putting evidence. 

Also, of note, there is an option to block the person not only on the media (FA/DA/twitter, ect.) but also on paypal. If you go to the main page, look for where it says "Send Again". There's a bubble with three dots that gives you some options, click on it and choose "Manage Contacts". If you have their email address, you can filter your contacts with the search-bar. Once you find them, click on their name/profile and see what shows. You should find two links that say "Remove Contact" or "Block Contact". If you're intending on preventing them from sending you anything (and thus preventing them from starting this again), choose "Block Contact".

[Drakonmanthefox]

One more update on my situation.

Thank you all for the advice, I really appreciate it!

Edited August 20, 2020 by Drakonmanthefox