How To Dispute Chargebacks

Hello Merchants! We’re back at it again with the tips and tools you need to continue running your businesses successfully. In the past, we have talked about what chargebacks are and if you need a refresher click here to check out our blog on chargebacks. Today we’re here to tell you how you can dispute a chargeback.  While chargebacks aren’t entirely preventable there is a way to dispute them if you believe a chargeback is not warranted. 

How do chargebacks affect your business?

Chargebacks are a customer’s request to have their money refunded by their bank after a purchase. If a customer decides to dispute charges merchants are forced to refund the consumer’s money. The merchant is then charged a fee by the bank to investigate the situation. Even if the bank decides that the merchant has done nothing wrong, they are unlikely to get the fee back. In cases such as these proper record keeping can prevent the business from being taken advantage of. Customers have up to 18 months to dispute charges from their banking statements. In accordance with the Internal Revenue Service businesses should keep a record of all of their receipts for a minimum of 3 years. Having the receipts on hand to dispute chargebacks can make all the difference in saving the merchant and comes in handy during the chargeback dispute process. 

What is the chargeback dispute process?

The chargeback dispute process is the process that allows a merchant to present evidence to the issuing bank that a chargeback is not warranted. Now before calling your customer down to the courthouse, it is important to analyze the situation carefully, as no instance of chargebacks is quite like another. Credit card companies have individual codes for chargebacks so merchants will want to review their chargeback codes to ensure the dispute process is done correctly. The parameters for each credit card company will usually be provided on their website, at a minimum merchant’s can expect to be asked to provide the following information:

• A copy of their return policy.
• A signed copy of the customer’s receipt.
• Evidence the product was delivered to the correct address (if applicable).
• Practically anything that proves the customer and bank authorized the purchase.

Keep in mind, if the loss of the chargeback is less than $25 merchants should look into the cost of disputing, as it may cost more to go through the process than what will be returned once the evidence is presented. It is imperative that if merchants choose to go through the dispute process that they are selective in choosing the chargebacks to dispute. Merchants must whip up a chargeback rebuttal letter to serve as a summary of the evidence proving the transaction was authorized by the customer and their bank with absolutely no errors. 

More tips and tools.

It is imperative that you as a business owner understand the full process of the dispute process before engaging in the process if you plan on winning the case. Merchants must file their chargeback dispute paperwork ASAP before things get rocky. On average merchants only have up to 7 days to respond to the notification of a chargeback. Merchants should keep all of their records organized so they can easily find and submit records required for cases of suspected friendly fraud. The chargeback dispute process can be meticulous but it can save you from having to incur these extra fees. When filing dispute’s merchants should notify FlashBanc so they can retrieve a dispute notification. Dispute notifications include the required information merchants need for the chargeback dispute process. This includes detailed information such as:

• Date of transaction
• Transaction amount
• Credit card number
• Reference number

At FlashBanc we are dedicated to helping your business succeed. Though we don’t have much part in the chargeback dispute process, we hope that this blog helped steer you in the right direction. If you have any questions please contact our Client Support Department at clientsupport@flashbanc.com.