If the merchant doesn't respond, the chargeback is typically granted and the merchant assumes the monetary loss. If the merchant does provide a response and has compelling evidence showing that the charge is valid, then the claim is back in the hands of the consumer's credit card issuer or bank.
Cardholder disputes may begin with an inquiry to the merchant, in which case the merchant has 20 days to respond. If the response to an inquiry doesn't resolve the issue, or if American Express decides to skip the inquiry altogether, a chargeback will be filed. Merchants also have 20 days to respond to a chargeback.
A merchant cannot outright refuse a chargeback, but they can dispute it in a process called representment, where they present their case for the legitimacy of the chargeback to the issuing bank.
Careful analysis of every chargeback claim is necessary to ensure that the chargebacks that can be fought are fought. In some cases, the amount a merchant stands to win is significant.
If you lose the initial chargeback determination, you'll have the option to appeal it directly to Visa or Mastercard. If your customer loses the chargeback but disagrees with the bank's decision, they can also pursue arbitration.
If asking the merchant for a refund didn't work, request a chargeback with your credit card issuer. Many card issuers let you dispute transactions by phone, mail or online. You may also be able to submit a dispute directly through your card issuer's mobile app.
Legal consequences
Making a false chargeback in most states is punishable with a fine or imprisonment. In general, the penalties for credit card fraud vary from one to three years in jail and a fine for $1,000 to $10,000.
This can't always be helped. You might not always get a fair outcome when you dispute a chargeback, but you can increase your chances of winning by providing the right documents. Per our experience, if you do everything right, you can expect a 65% to 75% success rate.
Most chargebacks are illegitimate, and illegitimate chargebacks can be reversed. In order to achieve this, you'll need to gather compelling evidence that the transaction was valid and authorized. You'll also need to prove that you fulfilled your end of the sales agreement and the cardholder got what they paid for.
Merchants in the credit repair industry can fight chargebacks by keeping thorough records, including signed service agreements, invoices, receipts, and records of any communication with customers. Merchants can fight chargebacks through a process called representment.
In most cases, the chargeback ends here, but there are exceptions. When a cardholder disputes a transaction with their issuing bank, the bank decides whether or not the customer has grounds to file a chargeback.
One of the common requirements to gain access to the lowest possible interchange fee is that you must settle any given sale within 24 hours of authorization. This makes sense when you think about it.
Arbitration: The last stand
The final step that a merchant may encounter in the chargeback process is called arbitration. Arbitration involves the relevant card association stepping in to help resolve the dispute between the acquiring and issuing banks, and by extension the merchant and the cardholder.
Chargebacks are easy to initiate and are often successful, but they don't cover all scenarios. Chargebacks are designed as a last resort; the first step should generally be to try to resolve the issue with the merchant directly.
When a buyer disputes a purchase, the credit card company involved reverses the charge, reimbursing the buyer in full and debiting the business' account. Retailers and other businesses hate chargebacks because they reduce their income and can lead to penalties if too many chargebacks occur.
What percentage of chargebacks are successful? Merchants report a 12% net recovery rate, which is the rate at which their chargebacks are successfully represented as a portion of total chargebacks issued.
When a chargeback happens, the merchant is hit with a chargeback fee, which typically ranges from $20 to $100. The more chargebacks you get, the higher the fee. If you have too many chargebacks in a short period of time, you could lose your merchant account that enables you to process credit card payments.
If a merchant suspects that you have used chargebacks as a form of "friendly fraud", they are within their legal right to file a lawsuit against you and pursue criminal charges, if applicable.
A chargeback does not usually affect your credit. The act of filing a chargeback because of a legitimate cause for complaint against a business won't affect your credit score. The issuer may add a dispute notation to your credit report, but such a notation does not have a negative effect on your credit.
The bank will then either reverse the charge, or deny the cardholder's request. Of course, the merchant has the option to fight back if they believe a customer's claim is invalid. This happens through a litigation-based process known as representment.
The card issuer must complete its investigation within two complete billing cycles of receiving the dispute, which generally means two months, and cannot take more than 90 days.
You usually have to demand a refund between 30 and 60 days, and a chargeback even up to 120 days with some credit cards. Check the difference between refunds and chargebacks, so you know what you're doing. When it comes to the companies' time limit, it can range from 20 to 45 days.
Unfortunately, banks are a business and are sometimes more interested in holding onto their own profits than doing what's right for their customers. So, if you've been a victim of fraud and the bank does not cooperate, can you sue them? In most cases, the answer is, sadly, no.
You must keep paying your credit card bill like normal during the dispute process. As mentioned previously, card issuers usually remove disputed charges from the bill until the dispute is resolved, but you're still responsible for paying the rest of the bill.
The bank initiates a payment fraud investigation, gathering information about the transaction from the cardholder. They review pertinent details, such as whether the charge was a card-present or card-not-present transaction. The bank also examines whether the charge fits the cardholder's usual purchasing habits.