Advice on processing - chargebacks
- Thread starter SteveBtm
- Start date
The most reliable fraud screening is to auth the card only, then hire a call centre to call and verify the purchase. You can get very low cost call centres that charge per minute. If the purchase was legit, then go ahead and process the card. You can hold pre-auth for at least 24h, which gives you enough time to reach the card holder.
That's really good idea actually... will require quite a bit of changes on our end... I've put some things in place and will be adding phone verification (pin code confirmation)... if still we're seeing fraud, I could see this as definitely a solution.. thanks!
Be careful with automatic phone verification. First of all it's not 100% reliable, and can be still bypassed with ease by getting cheap VOIP numbers. Also, more importantly, it might hurt your conversion rate. Just make sure to measure before/after.
The call center solutions are incredibly cheap compared to the peace of mind knowing your merchant account is safe and time savings for processing charge backs.
Definitely.. I can have our current support staff handle the calls, they have the time.. We'll just have to put together a dashboard for them for calling, no biggie.. Probably a much better solution... thanks!
Another tip is to somehow work into your script some assurance and credibility about your product to mitigate refunds. People tend to trust companies more with phone presence, so when you call out, make sure try not to be a "robotic verifier". Just be pleasant on the phone and assure customer that you are always there for help. They are less likely to refund. So its a win/win.
When a customer disputes a charge it goes into what is called "retrieval" and during this time you have a short amount of time to resolve the issue before it turns into a chargeback.
First try to contact the customer to resolve the dispute. If the customer is upset let them know you will refund their money and ask them to contact their bank and tell their bank you are going to refund the money.
You can't just click "Refund" at your processor and the chargeback/retrieval will be dropped. Once the retrieval is issued you can't refund them - it won't work.
If you can't contact the customer or they are extremely mad, unwilling to work with you, etc. you can look up the BIN of the card and locate the bank the card belongs to. Call the bank's 800 number and ask to speak to the dispute/fraud department. Tell the person on the phone who you are, the charge in question, and let them know you want to refund the money. They will work with you and sort things out.
Here is a decent application for looking up the BIN. It's not 100% complete but it will get you in the right direction.
Mars Software :: Mars Banks Base
Handling retrievals is a boring, frustrating, annoying task but you need to do it. Good luck!
Brian
First try to contact the customer to resolve the dispute. If the customer is upset let them know you will refund their money and ask them to contact their bank and tell their bank you are going to refund the money.
You can't just click "Refund" at your processor and the chargeback/retrieval will be dropped. Once the retrieval is issued you can't refund them - it won't work.
If you can't contact the customer or they are extremely mad, unwilling to work with you, etc. you can look up the BIN of the card and locate the bank the card belongs to. Call the bank's 800 number and ask to speak to the dispute/fraud department. Tell the person on the phone who you are, the charge in question, and let them know you want to refund the money. They will work with you and sort things out.
Here is a decent application for looking up the BIN. It's not 100% complete but it will get you in the right direction.
Mars Software :: Mars Banks Base
Handling retrievals is a boring, frustrating, annoying task but you need to do it. Good luck!
Brian
Brian,
Are you 100% sure?
When we receive a letter in the mail from merchant services that says "CHARGEBACK NOTIFICATION" - There is still an opportunity to correct?
Yes, I am 100% sure. Unless you are working with a high risk processor then your processor should provide let you know when a retrieval is issued on the transaction. All chargebacks go into what is called "retrieval" before turning into a chargeback - this is standard practice. It allows you ample time to resolve the issue before it turns to a CB.
Some high risk processors where you work off their MIDs (not your own MID) will flat out not tell you there is a retrieval because they bank off chargebacks. Some high risk will charge $100-150 per CB depending on the processor so obviously they don't want to let you know it's in retrieval status.
If your processor isn't emailing you or providing an interface letting you know when the transaction is in a retrieval state inquire with them about it. If they don't want to help you and/or tell you 'we don't give you info on when it's a retrieval it's time to pack up and find another processor - dead serious!
Brian
Brian,
Thanks for this info! Retrievals are available by our processors... this seems like a key component to prevention... thanks so much!