A CHARGEBACK IS THE TEMPORARY RETURN OF FUNDS, BASED UPON A DISPUTE, TO A CONSUMER'S ISSUING BANK.

All chargebacks must be responded to in a timely manner. If you fail to respond before the deadline, you will lose, regardless of the merits of your response. For this reason, we send all chargeback notifications to you via email and also by mail.

In the event of a chargeback, it's up to you to prove that the transaction was valid and that the customer received the goods and/or services. Consider what would happen if you went to court or arbitration. You must have tangible proof. Using documents, online forms, and/or digital signatures will substantially increase your odds of winning a chargeback.

Have the customer sign your terms of service, including your refund policy, warranty policy, delivery policy, and cancellation policy. Most companies today place all of this information online and have the customer click a check box.

When appropriate, take pictures or video. This can be used when packing merchandise, affixing a shipping label, or delivering a product.

Exchanging emails with a customer keeps a history of your conversation and your agreement. If there's ever a question, you can reference the email, even if it simply confirmed a call and outlined the bullet points.

The card associations look for key terms when evaluating a chargeback. One of the most important terms is "100% satisfied". By using this term when communicating with your customer about a product and/or service, you can protect yourself if they decide to change their story at a later point in time.

Every business has the right to create their own terms and conditions. With documentation or an electronic capture from your website, being able to show that your customer agreed to your terms and conditions defines the steps in the event of a problem. Use the terms and conditions to specify as many details as possible.

Defining a refund policy and having your customer acknowledge the policy will assist in the event of a desired refund. By defining the refund policy, the customer will know the exact circumstances of an acceptable refund (i.e., timeframe, restocking fee, verification of items returned, etc).

Sometimes a product has an issue and the manufacturer will provide assistance. Because customers look for the path of least resistance, they may issue a chargeback instead of reaching out to the manufacturer. Help the customer understand the warranty policy and define the difference between the product warranty issued by your company and the warranty guaranteed by the manufacturer.