Chargebacks from Xmas period

Cheek of these people

[Essex_boy]

I hate customers! GRRRRR

Just went through my credit card account and noticed that some so and so placed a complaint late on the 23rd for non receipt.

He has had a chargeback, as i didnt notice this due to Xmas break. Crafty lil devil good bye $132.

Ive another customer complaining about 2 deliverys one of non receipt and the other as 'goods not as described'. Doh! Not once did she mention this in any previous email. Its a board game how far from the truth can I be? As both of these complaints were for transactions over 30 days old paypal has refused to consider them.

What I want to know is whats her next move likly to be?

[Dpeper]

if it was on a credit card she will go to her credit card company, I know american express (when speaking about paypal.com) automatically gives the money to the card holder. Kind of weird but true...

Donny

[sun818]

> Not once did she mention this in any previous email

The situation could be resolved with a phone call.

[theskunk]

It seems that whatever deal you strike with the banks re credit cards thay have no interest in appeasing merchant complaints.

I run a small UK based online retail operation, and I can honestly say that with margins as they are, the only people making the real money are the banks themselves.

They claw back an avg of 500UKP per month from me, which is clean off the profit.

All a customer has to do is say goods not received 2 months down the line and you get an instant chargeback.

The situation needs to change. Always follow your instincts, and ensure you have registered landline for contact, and always call them for any order over 50UKP.

Just my thoughts, be vigilant and if you are not sure dont ship it.

There are plenty more honest customers out there.

[Essex_boy]

Oh well so it looks like im out of pocket.

[hannamyluv]

You will always run into this sort of thing. 50% of the time, it's some idiot who will go to the card before they go to you, the other 50%, it's someone trying to get something for free.

Yes, the CC will automatically reverse the charges. They don't care, they just make you pay for it.

We now have a policy of automaticaly canceling the orders of anyone who has done a chargeback twice. For a small business, I wouldn't see an issue with doing that to someone who has charged back once.

[sun818]

> canceling the orders of anyone who has done a chargeback twice

hanna, how do you know if a customer performed a chargeback previously? Do you have access to their credit/purchase history on a summary level?

[fabfurs]

<Dream>
Now that's an idea, some kind of code returned by the card processor similar to the AVS or CVC.
0 = No chargeback
1 = 1 chargeback
2 = ...
clean record for a year and it resets.

or ebay style feedback provide by online merchants

</Dream>

[Essex_boy]

Great idea - but youd have all those dippy hippy civil rights bods complaining followed close behind by those vile no win no fee lawyers sueing for defamation.

Nice idea.

[Dreamquick]

Great idea - but youd have all those dippy hippy civil rights bods complaining followed close behind by those vile no win no fee lawyers sueing for defamation.

Actually that's an interesting point ...

While browsing around a couple of DIY stores and a few other places I noticed that they use a credit checking facility as part of their CC acceptance procedure - would number of CC chargebacks show up on that?

I've seen the amount of information people like Equifax have on credit data and its a little disturbing at times - it might/might not extend to chargebacks but if they are that much of a bain in your life it could be worth a look.

- Tony

[fabfurs]

While browsing around a couple of DIY stores and a few other places I noticed that they use a credit checking facility as part of their CC acceptance procedure - would number of CC chargebacks show up on that?

Actually using a credit checking facility as part of the acceptance process is a great idea even without CC chargeback information being available. Wouldn't it stand to reason that a person making a habit of acquiring free stuff by chargebacks also have a less than exemplary credit history.

[hannamyluv]

Programming wise, I don't know how we do it, but basically, we store the CC# in relation to the customer (in encrypted files of course). We then get a report back from the processor which is matched up to our files and noted.

We started doing it b/c we had so many people doing chargebacks. It seems among the older generation, they don't really think of it as stealing.

I will bet that CC processors track such things, but you wouldn't have access to it. Unfortunate, b/c if it is done in excess, it is a crime.

[Essex_boy]

No chargebacks dont show on any UK based credit search system - I used to work in the industry.

It does show the balance on some UK current accounts though!

If you check it without a SIGNED authority you are commiting a criminal offence - it also cost around £7.50 per person per search.....

[customdy]

I had a customer purchase $300 worth of items. They returned $100 and I credited their card. They turned around and said it was an unauthorized charge and I got a chargeback for $300. I sent in the rebutal, the proof of delivery, the fact they returned $100 of merchandise, the fact that I already credited back $100. In the end, I lost. Absolutely insane. So I lost the $300 chargeback and the $100 that I refuned. Nice scam they have going.
I wish someone would file a class action law suite againist Visa/Mastercard for this type of action.

[Dreamquick]

If it's for a worthwhile amount and you have proof of delivery, signiture etc couldn't you take it legal against the card holder to recover your losses?

<added>
Wouldn't people be less likely to try this if you stated openly that this is your policy - surely using a chargeback to get something for free is a completely different game if they know they are risking getting their credit rating tarnished (CCJ etc) because of a fraudulent chargeback...
</added>

- Tony

[edited by: Dreamquick at 6:57 pm (utc) on Jan. 6, 2004]

[customdy]

I agree, but for items in the few hundred dollar range and that are out of state it is not worth it. The credit card companies need to start investigating this stuff before they chargeback but then again it would be taking away from their profits. I am writing DateLine in hopes that someone will investigate this and do a story - long shot but I feel that stongly about it.

[Essex_boy]

UK CCJ are a waste of time - almost impossible to enforce unless your lucky. Tip: The big UK credit card firms wont take you to court for nonpayment ;> Unless its massive i.e 10's of thousands.