Forum Moderators: buckworks
I just received a telephone call from a person stating that they had not order something from our site, and when verifying all of the information, their address and ABA code were correct, but the telephone and e-mail address was someone else’s. I had said that we would credit back here credit card, but she already called to credit card Company to close the card account and charge back the card. I am not worried about the charge, it was a few bucks, but I am worried about the charge back fee and the status of where we stand with our merchant account provider. This is our first charge back, so will this hurt us in the eyes of the merchant account provider? Also, since it was used by someone besides the card holder, will we be flagged? Never had one of these, so a little bit worried here.
Any ideas?
CompWorld
The order was placed on the internet with the same name and address as well as ABA verification number as the real owner of the card. The e-mail and telephone number was different than the actual owner's. The lady left a message and because she had called after hours, I wasn’t in the office. When I was paged to call this person back, I had done so within a few minutes I had called her back to discuss the situation. She had told me that she had already cancelled the card and requested a new card from her bank. The amount of the charge was nothing (about 10.00), that was why I was going to refund the money in order to avoid the chargeback fee and blemish. So, now that I cannot avoid the chargeback because it was used by a fraudulent user, what do I do? Also, this person had charged up a storm on this lady's card (basically it was an ID theft of some sort). When the papers regarding the chargeback arrive, what do I do? I have all of the records, so I can certainly forward that as a response, but as a merchant am I protected in any way from these types of charge backs?
Thanks,
CompWorld
-Corey
Here is what I would do:
Immediately do a credit. Do it right away, before you get the retrieveal notice. If you just got the retrieval notice, don't worry, still do the credit right away.
The when you get the retrieval notice, reply that you were cointacted directly by the card holder on such and such date and the specific time. Per your discussion with the credit card holder, you have already issued a refund against the credit card. Provide them details regarding the refund, i.e. time, date, amount and if your processing systems provides one, provide them with the transaction identification number.
Most often, they will not assess the chargeback fee if you acted to reverse the charge before you were notified by them of the potential chargeback.
Also, I assume you hadn't provided the goods yet. If you have already shipped, let us know and I can offer you a few suggestions. For example, If you shipped via UPS or FedEx and they haven't been delivered yet, you might be able to intercept and stop the delivery. If they have been delivered, see if you can get a signed delivery confirmation. This may possible help you fight the chargeback or at least get the goods returned.
You also didn't indicate whether the billing address and shipping address was the same or if they passed an address verification check. If yes, then I would say it isn't as much indentity theft as much as it's e-commerce fraud, an all to common occurance do to the credit card issuers unwillingness to take measures that protect merchants as well as card holders.
In short, since the cc issuers have no direct financial risk due to the fraud, they have no need to try to protect anybody but the consumer. Thank your politicians for that one.
I was going to issue a credit to the credit card, but the person said the cancelled and a new card will be issued. Any ideas on what to do? Yes, the address was verified by the AVS, and the billing and shipping address are the same.
Thanks,
CompWorld
It was a digital download of one of our software programs. The buyer did not choose for a physical copy to be sent to her.
CompWorld
