Payment Went Overseas and Bank Reports Fraud

[sweetlilystudio]

Hi -

I'm curious to get some input on a sale from today.  The buyer contacted me and said she received a fraud alert from her bank after the transaction. Her bank said payment went through a bank in Ireland and, strangely, the item's price and tax went up significantly in the process of the sale. The time of the transaction was the same as the time her bank reported it, so it's got to be the same sale.

We exchanged a few messages, and I started to feel uncomfortable with what was going on and ended up cancelling the sale.  There were a couple red flags and my intuition was talking.

She said that her bank told her to contact Etsy about it.  Is this a bug or did something happen with Etsy's payment system today? Does anyone have any experience or input?  

[BootifulLabels]

Etsy's European offices are in Ireland,  it is not unusual to see Ireland on payment receipts.  If the buyer is worried explain this and reassure her that we sellers have no access to her payment details and fraud is unlikely, but if there is an issue with the payment, Etsy will let her know.  

[RamenSandwich]

This does sound very strange, I can't think of any routine happening that would explain it. I assume that your buyer has no connection to Ireland and the Irish banking system?

She says her bank told her to contact Etsy, so she should contact Etsy, not you. Does she understand that you didn't process her payment, Etsy did?

Have you shipped yet?

[sweetlilystudio]

Yes, she’s clear it was an Etsy issue, but got nowhere trying to get help from Etsy.  I began to think there might be a bug and wondered if anyone else was having the same experience.

[sweetlilystudio]

No, I cancelled the sale. She did try to get through to Etsy and understood this was a bank/Etsy thing.  I’m writing it off to a bug of some sort.

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

@sweetlilystudio 

I have no input about the payment issue. I just want to say your shop is stunning! I love the names of some of your sections too! 

[sweetlilystudio]

Thanks!

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@sweetlilystudio This information is provided at the bottom of every Etsy Email 

"If you live in North America or South America, this email is sent by Etsy, Inc., 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA; if you live elsewhere, this email is sent by Etsy Ireland UC, a subsidiary of Etsy, Inc., 66/67 Great Strand Street, Dublin 1, D01 RW84, Ireland having company registration number 495696 and VAT registration number IE9777587C"

Most transactions outside North and South America are processed by Etsy Ireland UC

https://www.etsy.com/legal/impressum/

[sweetlilystudio]

The customer is in Texas, so it’s odd.  Also, the increase in price was odd.  

I cancelled the sale and she seemed understanding of that.