Avoid potential chargebacks by education and prevention

Reduce the chargebacks your business will receive by education and prevention.

It is important to keep chargebacks to an absolute minimum, the best way to deal with chargebacks is to prevent them from happening in the first place:

Consider these tips to avoid potential Retrieval Requests and Chargebacks: Duplicate transactions Ensure that transactions/orders are only made once. Entering the same transaction more than once (by customers pressing the back button or clicking on the CheckOut button more than once), can result in "duplicate transaction" Chargebacks. Refund policy Your refund policy should be clearly visible on your website. Make it a requirement that customers read the policy before their order can be processed. Refund in a timely manner Failure to process credits in a timely manner can result in Chargebacks for "credit not issued." Also inform your customer on how long it will take before the refund will hit their account. Cancelling a rebilling If a customer requests cancellation of a recurring transaction which is billed periodically (monthly, quarterly, annually), always respond to the request and cancel the transaction immediately or as specified by the customer. As a customer service, advise the customer in writing that the service, subscription, or membership has been cancelled and state the effective date of the cancellation. Failure to respond to customer cancellation requests almost always leads to Chargebacks. Contact information Your contact details should be clearly visible on your website. Including a physical address and a telephone number, so not just an email address or contact form. Shipping policy Your shipping details should be clearly visible on your website. If your customer knows when they will receive their product they will not issue a Chargeback because they feel 'it has been too long' and they 'should have received the product by now'. Order status update Keep customers informed on the status of their order. Delay in shipping If the merchandise or service to be provided to the cardholder will be delayed, advise the cardholder in writing of the delay and the new expected delivery or service date. Out of stock If the merchandise ordered by the cardholder is out of stock and delivery will be delayed or this item is no longer available, advise the cardholder in writing and offer the cardholder the option of purchasing a similar item or canceling the transaction. Do not substitute another item unless the customer agrees to accept it. By giving the customer notice and the option to cancel, you may help avoid a customer dispute regarding the merchandise and a possible Chargeback. DBA on customers' statement Use a clear DBA (Doing Business As) name that customers will recognize. Vague corporate names that do not accurately describe what your company might do or sell will only confuse customers when they review their billing statements. An unrecognized DBA name on billing statements is one of the most common causes of Chargebacks. Inform your customers on your website what the billing name on their statement will be: "Please note: Our billing name on your statement will be: ..." Phone number on customers' statement Put your phone number on your customers' statements. If they do not recognize your DBA, they can call you to find out who you are and why you charged them. Responding to a Retrieval Request Always respond to a Retrieval request as quickly as possible. A limited amount of time is available to resolve a dispute. If you miss the window of opportunity to respond, you forfeit your ability to fight the Chargeback. If your processing bank has any more questions or requests, your quick response will ensure that they have enough time to get the relevant information from you. Customer satisfaction Some disputes are not the result of unauthorized credit card use. Rather, they start because the customer disputes the quality of the goods or services purchased. The best way to avoid this type of Chargeback is to work closely with the customer to establish a mutually satisfactory solution. Contact suspicious orders Call, fax or email any large or suspicious orders to ensure the order is legit. If you are unable to reach the customer, you might have intentionally been given incorrect contact information. Issue a refund to prevent a Chargeback by the credit card holder. High-ticket sales/Fast delivery Be suspicious of high-ticket sales requested to be sent next-day air or if a runner will be in to pick up the purchase at a later time. Be wary of orders for which the customer is willing to pay more for faster delivery. Verify the customer's address It is possible to verify the customer's name, address and phone number with the card-issuing bank. By calling the Voice Authorization Center for address verification, you can verify the address and also provide proof that you verified the address. Always get signed proof of delivery Be able to provide a shipping tracer log that shows that the customer received the shipped goods. Product information on website Provide accurate descriptions and images of your products on your website. Foreign orders Be very cautious of any foreign orders. Generally, orders from Asia, the Middle East, and most parts of Africa are considered high-risk. Different billing and shipping address Be wary of orders with domestic billing addresses and foreign shipping addresses. They are usually fraudulent.