Reducing Chargebacks—Update Your Chargeback Management Tactics

Tuesday, April 24th, 2018

Chargebacks can be a nuisance, but they can also cause you severe problems and slow down your business.  Too many chargebacks can push processors to take adverse actions against your merchant account. While you cannot entirely put a stop to chargebacks, there are a few measures you can proactively take to reduce their occurrence considerably.

Here’s a guide to preventing chargeback disputes:

1. Make yourself available 

A long wait and tiresome fruitless efforts to reach you may piss off a well-intentioned buyer willing to contact your business to discuss an issue. And if they get the feeling you’re not interested, the next thing they’ll do is file a chargeback.

That’s why you should be easy to get to. Provide contact information; prominently display the details on your company’s website. They’ll call. And no business owner can ignore a desperate a customer who reaches out for help— and will file a chargeback if not assisted.

2. Use a descriptor that matches your website name

The descriptor refers to the name of the business that remits from a customer’s credit card— it usually appears on card statements. So if you’re the descriptor and the name that appears on the card statement does not go with the one on the site, some customers may not recognize that the purchase was made from your business.

It’s advisable to use a name that a buyer can quickly identify when he/she receives the cardholder’s statement— preferably, your websites name. Check your descriptor and make a tweak if you feel it may mislead some of your buyers.

3. Offer the service or deliver the product ASAP!

Prompt shipping of ordered and paid for merchandise or quick service delivery is a smart way to avoid potential problems. Delays may push a client to lose confidence in your company and file a chargeback.

For physical products, be sure to provide customers with tracking information as soon as you ship their items.

4. Give refunds where due

If a customer isn’t satisfied with your product or service for whatever reason, then the best you can do is to instruct the credit card company to give a refund. Failure to do give back the money means signing up for another dispute.

So the best way to do away with chargebacks is to offer your customers quick and easy refunds. It will also help you avoid negative customer reviews.