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"cancelled recurring billing" Chargebacks

chargebacks from people who say they cancel

         

mactac

3:46 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member




Due to a ton of security measusres & tools that we have implemented, we have cut fraudulent chargebacks down to pretty much nil (from 20%!).

BUT, we have a subscription-based product and we still have a major problem with client who claim to have cancelled, and then charging back.

Now, the clients have not cancelled at all - they just don't want to be paying anymore so they simply charge back instead of contacting us. of course this is hurting us in many different ways. We dispute some of these & win sometimes, but usually lose the dispute.

Has anyone come up with some good methods at avoiding these?

Our terms of service state "no refunds", we clearly tell people that they will be rebilled on the signup page, is there any thing that we can be doing that will ensure a winning dispute?

Any help?

thanks

TomJ

4:04 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



issue a ticket system for incoming cancelation requests.

if they cant provide the ticket number time and date of their instruction then tell them to ram it!

course, u then get the thick twats trying to forge them but hey.....works ;-)

just make sure you add into your t's and c's they need to cancel via this method or else any other request is invalid.

oh and add a "its up to you to keep up to date with our terms" paragraph so that they can't stitch you on that....

mactac

4:21 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



"issue a ticket system for incoming cancelation requests.
if they cant provide the ticket number time and date of their instruction then tell them to ram it!
"

who am i telling to 'ram it'? the customer? the merchant provider? telling the customer isn't going to help with a chargeback

have you successfully fought chargebacks with this?

mactac

4:24 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



Oh, and does anyone know under exactly what circumstances that a "cancelled recurring billing" chargeback is dispute-able?

I've sent proof that the service was being delivered, not good enough. sent them a statement that the client never cancelled, not good enough. set proof that the client was actually USING the system after the date they claimed to cancel, not good enough....

the merchant provider will not tell me what they are looking for, for some reason. does anyone know what documentation they are looking for to reverse a dispute?

TomJ

5:41 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



yes, it works...tho it depends which issuing bank is charging back as to what they will swallow or not.

I've actually called my merchant services provider and told them to tell the customer and the customers card issuer to ram it as if you look at it in plain light of day its theft.

what you need to prove is that the customer is bound by your terms when they sign up, show they have entered into an agreement and you "have " provided services.

also.....this is a biggun.....if your merchant services are not set up for "continious authority" on transactions then they have automatic chargeback rights over you....even if you have provided a service.....cos in the eyes of the card issuer...you didnt have permission to take money...again..and again etc etc

you may find you are only set up for "one time" ecommerce payments.

continiuos auth is cool too cos you dont need their expiry dates on cards so for subscription based services like magazines or bulletin boards you dont have to email punters when their cards expire and risk them going "oh yeah...forgot about that....CANCEL"

TomJ

5:44 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



in fact once we switched over to continous auth, i dont think we had any more charge back letters?

oh yes.....you must make punters aware in the terms and conditions that they will be authorising you to take money every month....without having to ask them for permission each time

choster

5:56 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



From a slightly different angle, how easy is it for your customers to cancel their subscriptions? Would simplifying the process improve the proportion of people using the correct unsubscription procedure? I do believe that most people in most industries want to use legitimate means, but are sometimes frustrated in doing so.

It's comparable to spam-- if your e-newsletter has a big blue unsubscribe now link and an 800 number, you're less likely to have people "unsubscribing" by reporting you as spam than someone who sends from donotreply@ with no contact information or instructions.

mactac

6:03 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



re: continuous authority

I just called our merchant provider (wells fargo) & they told me that this isn't something they deal with & that it gets handled by the payment processor (verisign in this case) & that they couldn't see how it could make any difference with chargebacks.

does this seem right, or have they led me astray?

it seems like it would have to be something set up by the merchant account provider for it to help with chargebacks, no?

thanks

mactac

6:05 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



it's very east for people to cancel.

they can email sales or customer service, and there is a link from their acct management section to cancel their account. they can also call us.

we make note of all of this when we dispute chargebacks, seems to be of no help

TomJ

6:11 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



sorry, my mistake....yes...your merchant processor.....in my case this was datacash

its to do with how the charge is processed. whether its flagged as a normal of re-occuring (cont auth) transaction.

the chargeback rules are made by visa and mastercard.

you can beat these off and yes...part of dealing with it in the first place is to make cancelling a subscription straight forward but not obvious.....ie, when they ask..say yes but dont wave a big flag at them

mactac

7:46 pm on May 12, 2004 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



"you can beat these off and yes...part of dealing with it in the first place is to make cancelling a subscription straight forward ..."

yes, that's whay i have done, but it always comes down to my argument against their lie, and i never win the dispute :(

it's such a one-sided system.

blaze

10:32 pm on May 13, 2004 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



With credit cards you have to provide refunds, pretty much. If you can't you may want to consider a different line of business.

You could also consider lowering your price. This will get you more sales and potentially fewer chargebacks because people are less likely to dispute the fee.

Or consider having a pricing structure such that potentially dissatisfied clients will start at the lower end.