Chargeback question

[michellel]

Hello Everyone,

 

Got a problem on my hand and I need some help. I've been corresponding with a customer from Canada about products that they would like to order from my website.

 

I finally get an order from the customer yesterday, and processed the payment. She called me up today and told me that she wanted to cancel the order.

 

The order was for over $3000 with the shipping from NY. The problem is that the payment was processed by Authorize.net and I was charged a 3.15% fee. I know that when I return the money I will also be charged that same fee of 3.15%.

 

Do I have any options here besides losing $200 because a customer just woke up and cancelled the order because they wanted to cancel the order.

 

I do have a return policy, which states that cancellations will be charged a 15% restocking/administration fee.

 

Am I just out some money here, or do I have a case against this customer if she decides to proceed with the chargeback?

[kburch1030]

Hello Everyone,

 

Got a problem on my hand and I need some help. I've been corresponding with a customer from Canada about products that they would like to order from my website.

 

I finally get an order from the customer yesterday, and processed the payment. She called me up today and told me that she wanted to cancel the order.

 

The order was for over $3000 with the shipping from NY. The problem is that the payment was processed by Authorize.net and I was charged a 3.15% fee. I know that when I return the money I will also be charged that same fee of 3.15%.

 

Do I have any options here besides losing $200 because a customer just woke up and cancelled the order because they wanted to cancel the order.

 

I do have a return policy, which states that cancellations will be charged a 15% restocking/administration fee.

 

Am I just out some money here, or do I have a case against this customer if she decides to proceed with the chargeback?

 

If you have a posted 15% restocking fee, then the charge company should stand behind you. We have had this situation occur a few times in the 20+ years we've been doing business, and I have yet to have a charge company that will not stand behind the merchant's posted policy. The problem is that you have to document and describe the situation in full to them with plenty of backup (copies of your policy and any emails, etc.). It's a hassle but it's worth it in the long run. What I did was credit the person the amount they paid less the restocking charges and actual cc fees. Then I sent all this documentation along with my policy to the credit card company indicating that the credit had been paid less the published fees. They did honor our policy. Hopefully your company will as well.

 

Kathy

;)

[michellel]

I do have an email from the customer requesting a quote, and then a reply back from me stating the total for her order. She paid via the phone and I did get an AVS match.

 

I spoke to her about this charge and she demands her money back in full. We also had a truck reserved for her shipment, and have lost a $200 deposit on the trucking fees.

 

Is there a website where I can find how to protect myself from customers who do chargebacks and different scenarios.

[kburch1030]

I do have an email from the customer requesting a quote, and then a reply back from me stating the total for her order. She paid via the phone and I did get an AVS match.

 

I spoke to her about this charge and she demands her money back in full. We also had a truck reserved for her shipment, and have lost a $200 deposit on the trucking fees.

 

Is there a website where I can find how to protect myself from customers who do chargebacks and different scenarios.

 

I'm not aware of a website where you can find out how to protect yourself from customers like this but you might start with your processing company, authorize.net. If you have incurred other nonrefundable expenses, you should be permitted to deduct these from your credit to the customer.

 

Kathy

[michellel]

I've spoken to authorize.net about other chargebacks and they claim that it's up to the issuing bank to resolve the matter. If the bank feels justified then they will refund the money no questions asked.

 

basically I was told that you can have whatever statements you want on your website, but the bank will do whatever it wants to do.

[michellel]

If anyone has more input, then I would appreciate it.

 

Thanks,

 

Michelle

[michellel]

Hello,

 

I spoke with my risk assessment company, which processes my Visa/MC payments about this issue.

 

They notified me that online sellers are not really protected by restocking fees, return policies or any other polices that are posted on the website.

 

They stated that the only way to really protect yourself is to have an agreement box on the check out screen that the cutomer must check, or to have the customer sign a contract with the terms written on it.

 

They stated that the CC companies work for the buyer and not the seller. This is really awful knowing that a customer can come back and return the order and can expect a full refund including the shipping and handling.

 

I was able to convince the customer that she will be responsible for 15% cancellation fee which is stated on my website. We agreed to reduce the fee to 7% (that's what I was charged for accepting and returning the purchase amount).

[dittones]

michelle,

That is the nature of the situation...restocking fee...credit card processing fees...Import thing is to have supporting documentation to support you business policy to customers...One thing I would do is when customers set up an acount is to force them to read the return policy and have an accept button set up...

I hope this helps

dittone.com

Roman