DonO wrote:
Is Paypal something I signed up for on my website, or do they just serve
anyone who wants to buy over the net?
Can I block future customers from using Paypal to buy Fantasy Flies?
Can this last customer have his credit-card company block the transaction?
DonO,
This is the second time recently I have seen this particular e-commerce setup.
Mal's e-Commerce is acting as a kind of go-between from your site to the PayPal credit card transaction engine. All that really does is make the shopping cart look more attractive. Once you enter all your purchase information and click the button, you end up on the PayPal site where the actual purchase is made.
Because this is the structure your e-commerce vendor has set up, there is no way to block customers from using PayPal to make purchases from your online catalog. The only way to avoid PayPal would be to change e-commerce vendors. One of my clients has been happy with www.ccnow.com over a five-year period.
The customer can request what is called a chargeback from their credit card company. There is a small fee for this service. Who is charged the fee is determined by whatever agreement exists between you, your e-commerce vendor, PayPal and the credit card company. That's not to say that you or your customer will get charged for the chargeback, but it is possible.
In your case, I would think that the customer did purchase twice inadvertently. Some people get impatient that their purchase doesn't seem to be going through, and they click the purchase button twice, which will charge the card twice. Since all PayPal gets from the entire transaction is about 3% of the purchase price, it is understandable why they don't feel like they need to refund the entire purchase to the customer. That is between your customer and their credit card company to resolve with your assistance.
There is no excuse for a lack of civility on PayPal's part. They have had the reputation of being hard to work with, and hard to contact. Although the company was purchased by eBay many years ago, the eBay ethic doesn't seem to have percolated down through the PayPal management.
Wes Wada Bend, Oregon
