I opened my email this morning to find this wonderful message: We have received indication that the payment for this order is being disputed via a chargeback with the buyer’s credit card vendor.
It seems that one of my customers wants to cancel her custom order because…are you ready for this…she didn’t know she couldn’t bathe the baby.
Don’t you think that if bathing a doll was an important thing to you, that you would ask about it BEFORE you pay $600 to have it made? This is a baby that is already in progress…expensive sculpt, expensive mohair, expensive clothes, etc., etc., etc. My custom order/cancellation/refund is clearly stated in several places. It is in the listing, in my shop announcement, on the receipt, and you can’t complete a transaction without seeing it. It says: CUSTOM ORDER SALES AT THIS SHOP ARE FINAL AND NON-REFUNDABLE AFTER 24 HOURS. How much more clear can it be???
So now, I have to stop working on dolls so I can get together all documentation concerning this order and submit it for review. Can you imagine what the dealership would say if you custom ordered a car, and in the middle of production you changed your mind? It’s just so frustrating!!! Thanks for letting me vent. It remains to be seen what happens.
REALLY??! Grrrrrrrrrr… 
What the heck is wrong with people???
Oh and p.s. – hope you remembered to slit the mouth open in case she has baby bottles on her list. Just sayin’ 
I just got a dispute too – my first ever – due to no fault of mine (that I know of). The buyer says I didn’t send a head, but I never sold her one! I hope it was just a miscommunication because I’ve never dealt with a dispute before and have absolutely no idea how it works.
Oh, darn…I just forgot all about doing that…LOL 
That’s good info to have. I will check into that. If that is the case, I may have to go to PayPal only for sales.
It’s a pain, but all you have to do is provide documentation from your end. If she says you sold her something that you did not sell her, she will have to provide a receipt for the sale. I have had a handful of disputes, but all were decided in my favor. It was just a PITA to have to stop and dig up info. And it was a bit stressful waiting to find out what the decision was. I had one that tied up my PayPal account for a little over $1,000, and it stayed that way until I provided the documentation they needed and they made their decision. In that case, the woman had changed her mind and asked for a refund and since I had not ordered the materials for her dolls, I refunded her money, even though it is against my shop policy. About a week later, she filed a complaint with PayPal trying to get another refund for the same thing. It was a nightmare. Once they got it straightened out they unfroze my account, but it was a huge hassle to have to change my payment method while it was being decided. It took about a week, and the entire time I could look at my PayPal account and see that the refund had already been processed, and could look at my bank account and see that the money had already been deducted through PayPal, so the whole thing was unnecessary. That is the only time anything like that has ever happened and hopefully it never will again.
Sorry you have to go through this. I hope it’s an easy road.
So if your paypal account is frozen, you can’t use it? I just paid an invoice today…I hope it went through. I’m just upset that she didn’t PM me on the forum first. It would have been easier to sort it out.
Just the funds associated with that sale have been frozen. You can still use your account. However, if you have a negative balance because of the hold, you will be asked to add those funds into your account when you make a purchase.
You can put money in but you can’t take it out.
You are right in that it would be so much easier if people would talk directly to you. I’m sure you will get it worked out. The whole frozen account thing was just once and I have had the account for years.
Wow, so sorry that this is happening to you. I hope that it will resolve quickly for you without any more hassle.
So very sorry to hear. I just don’t get how people have no conscience when it comes to making a deal. I certainly have a few choice words but will keep it at bay. 
Lol that made me laugh. People these days.
Love it!
@heartstringsnursery I’m so sorry you’re going through this, Bette! You, too, @izzy! Please keep us up to date. I hope it turns out well for both of you.
im going through the same thing right now also had a buyer that was in contact with me continuously
i received her payment and got the doll shipped out once i did she cancled her order, changed her mind
i accepted that siad i had no problame refunding her money once i got the doll back
she opened a case with paypal
i spooke to them they told her once i got the doll back her money would be refunded she kept calling them got a new representative that refunded her money accidently and she hasnt sent the doll back yet
ignores emails from me etc now she has both the doll and her money
because it was paypals mistake they are working on it right now for me but are saying they refunded my money back to me because of thier mistake only its not showing in my accound or my statments
hopefully it doesnt take too long for them to figure this out
issues like these really are frustrating
When I’ve done customs, I let them know before I send them an invoice through PayPal that I collect 50% of the total price as a deposit, which they have to agree to before I send the invoice. When I send the invoice for the 50% deposit, I describe in detail my requirements, what I am making as a custom order, and that the deposit is NOT refundable, so there is a record. If the customer pays that deposit invoice, they are agreeing to what I stipulated. I haven’t had anyone renege yet and want their deposit back. Not sure what PayPal would do if they tried.
There are just a lot of bad apples out there these days, though.
The trouble is that if the customer pays with their CC they can make a charge back, and PP has no control over that, although they will protect you if it was eBay sale. I do not do commissions, but when somebody pesters long enough, I say the only way I would do it if they pay me by transfer directly into my bank account. As far as I know that cannot be reversed. So far nobody took up that offer.
Oh my goodness. That is rich!!! Just when I think I’ve heard everything. 
I just got the word from Etsy that they will be refunding this woman’s money tomorrow.
First, I was shocked. Now, I’m just mad!
So, I changed my shop to accept PayPal only and have deactivated most of my listings until I can figure out a way to keep this crap from happening again. I have had nothing but good experiences with Etsy up to this point, but this is over the line and I need a new place to sell.