- Chargebacks
- Various Dispute Types
- General Evidence Types
- Suggested Evidence for Submission
- Frequently Asked Questions
Chargebacks
How will chargebacks be communicated to brands?
An email notification from the Reach Compliance and Risk team will be sent to the brand directly requesting specific evidence such as the invoice, tracking information, proof of shipping, proof of delivery, communication with the card holder (if any), among other documents needed based on the type of dispute.
How long does a brand have to respond to a chargeback?
Generally speaking, chargebacks and PayPal disputes are a little bit different in the way they are managed, as well as their timelines. With chargebacks, we are given a window of 5 days to reply with evidence before the evidence submission window expires. PayPal Disputes allow 20 days to respond to the customer directly, and PayPal Claims allow 10 days to supply evidence for PayPal’s review.
Once evidence is submitted, who does the ruling?
The evidence is submitted back to the issuing bank of the card holder as they are the ones who make the call on who wins the dispute. Chargeback Officers within each bank have an average of 4 minutes to review a dispute from beginning to end. To get a better chance of disputing the chargeback, the brand should make sure the evidence submitted is concise with exactly what you want to show them due to the short amount of time there is to review. Outcomes can take up to 90-days to be finalized by the issuing bank from the evidence submission date.
Various Dispute Types
Request for Information RFI
A Request for Information RFI is a payment inquiry initiated by the cardholder's bank to obtain additional information about a transaction. RFI's cannot be "won" or "lost", however, if an RFI response is not submitted the liable party will automatically lose any future chargeback filed on that transaction. Transactions with an RFI can be refunded normally.
Chargeback
A chargeback is a dispute a customer files with their bank to reclaim funds back from the merchant. The issuing bank places a hold on the funds pending their investigation.
Consumer Complaints
- Cardholder Canceled Merchandise/Services
- Canceled Recurring Transaction
- Counterfeit Merchandise
- Credit not Processed
- Defective / Not as Described
- Goods/Services Not Received
- Goods/Services Returned or Refused
- Misrepresentation
- RFI Not Responded to
- RFI Response Insufficient
Fraud
- Card Absent Fraud
- Card Absent Fraud Dispute Not Allowed
- Cardholder Does Not Recognise
- Cardholder Does Not Recognize RFI Response
- Counterfeit card
- Full Recourse
- Goods Not Shipped to Billing Address
- No Cardholder Authorization
- No description of mail order, telephone order, or internet Charge
- Used a card that was declared as lost/stolen by the cardholder
PayPal Dispute
Similar to an RFI, a PayPal dispute is a payment inquiry that cannot be won or lost. PayPal facilitates a chat forum for the seller and buyer to work out a resolution, and all information entered at this stage is visible to the buyer. If the buyer chooses, they can escalate the dispute at any time to a PayPal claim. A dispute remains open for 20 days, and closes automatically if it is not escalated to a claim by the buyer.
PayPal Claim
A PayPal claim is similar to a chargeback dispute and can be won or lost. PayPal Claim responses are presented to PayPal for mediation. PayPal allows 10 days to respond to a Claim.
General Evidence Types
Invoice
Should clearly denote all items ordered, and customer information like full name and billing/shipping address.
Delivery Documentation
Must include a partial address like a postal code or city/street name that matches the enclosed invoice. Documentation should also include the shipping provider, tracking number, and delivery status to allow the issuing bank to verify.
- Proof of delivery
- Documentation of customer’s signature upon delivery
- Tracking logs
- Shipping label
- Photo evidence from carrier
Customer Communication
Should be a screenshot showing the header of the email with the customer email (matching the invoice) and your customer service email address including the part of the message where the customer acknowledges and is ok with the solution presented by the merchant.
Previous Undisputed Order Information
Can be an invoice or log of previous undisputed orders matching the customer information of the disputed order including visible matching shipping/billing address, name, email, and payment method.
Fraud Reports/Data
- CVC/CVV Match: Can indicate the card was present at checkout
- AVS Match: Billing address matches cardholder address
- IP Address matches billing and shipping address
Terms of Use
Can be used to prove the customer is not entitled to a refund should be cropped or highlighted to display only the relevant information to the case at hand. The customer should have the terms of use displayed at checkout as the issuing bank will require proof the customer agreed to the terms prior to placing the order.
Suggested Evidence for Submission
Consumer Complaints
Consumer complaint chargebacks usually require the merchant to prove the goods/service were delivered as described on the merchant’s website. With this chargeback type the merchant is required to prove the customer is not entitled to a refund.
Evidence can include:
- Invoice
- Proof of Delivery
- Documentation of customer’s signature upon delivery
- Tracking logs
- Shipping label
- Photo evidence from carrier
- Customer Communication
- Terms of Use
- Return Policy
- Cancellation Policy
- Tax/VAT/Customs Policy
- Policy regarding damaged or defective merchandise
- Policy regarding lost or stolen merchandise
Fraud
Fraud chargebacks require the merchant to provide compelling evidence that proves the cardholder authorized the transaction.
Evidence can include:
- Invoice
- Proof of Delivery
- Proof of delivery
- Documentation of customer’s signature upon delivery
- Tracking logs
- Shipping label
- Photo evidence from carrier
- Customer communication evidence originating from the customer acknowledging that they placed the order
- Previous Undisputed Order Information
- Fraud Reports/Data
Processing Disputes
Processing dispute chargebacks usually require the merchant to prove the correct order amount was displayed at checkout, or that the order is not a duplicate by proving a significant difference between previous orders.
Evidence can include:
- Invoice
- Proof of Delivery
- Documentation of customer’s signature upon delivery
- Tracking logs
- Shipping label
- Photo evidence from carrier
- Payment log information
- Proof of the amount charged and displayed at checkout
- Proof the transaction is not a duplicate order
- Terms of Use
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I know if a chargeback is disputable?
Generally, the minimum required evidence to dispute a chargeback is an invoice and proof of delivery/service. This may vary on a case-by-case basis depending on the chargeback reason code included in the chargeback notification email, and it is recommended to tailor each response to the reason code. If an order has not been shipped, there is a very low chance of winning the dispute, and the default for these cases should be to accept and refund the cardholder.
Consumer Complaints
Goods must be provided to the address entered at checkout as described on the merchant’s website.
Fraud
Concise evidence that proves cardholder authorization through documentation like fraud reports/data, customer communication acknowledging the order, and previous undisputed order history that indicates the customer has a long-standing relationship with the merchant. Fraud disputes submitted without fraud data, customer communication and previous undisputed order history have a low chance of success.
Are chargeback outcomes guaranteed?
Chargeback outcomes are not guaranteed, and are the sole discretion of the issuing bank. The issuing bank will consider evidence from both parties (buyer and seller) to determine the chargeback outcome. Despite providing the outlined evidence, the issuing bank may still decide the chargeback in favour of the cardholder.
I want to refund the customer but there is a chargeback dispute associated with the transaction, how can I process a refund?
Reach blocks any attempted refunds from being issued pending the chargeback process to avoid the risk of refunding the customer twice if the case is decided in favour of the customer. For this reason, we invite the merchant to inform Reach’s chargeback team that they would like to “refund” or “accept” the dispute by responding directly to the chargeback notification. The customer would be refunded through the chargeback process by their bank, which can take 1490 days depending on the bank.
Can I ask the customer to withdraw a chargeback in order to submit a normal refund and avoid a chargeback fee?
Chargeback fees are charged when the issuing bank first files the chargeback, and are not reversed upon the customer withdrawing the chargeback. The most streamlined way to refund a customer when there is a pending chargeback is to accept the chargeback. Requesting a withdrawal can take several weeks or months to process and can delay the refund even further.