Key Takeaways
Hello, David here Merchant-Accounts.ca with another episode in our How to Fight Chargeback Series. This one is for how you fight chargebacks with the "item or service not as described" reason code. Stay tuned because we'll dig in in one second.
Item not received or services not rendered chargebacks
Of all the chargeback reason codes, this is perhaps one of the most subjective ones and arguably the easiest one to fight. Maybe kind of unclear, but you do have a chance. The nature of this chargeback reason code that is the item or service is not as described, is that the customer admits they ordered something, they admit they received it, but they aren't happy with it. For whatever reason, they're saying that they bought a Rolex, but they received an RX. They're saying that they rented a villa, but they showed up and it was a shanty. They paid for expertise, but they received something much less. They simply didn't receive what they expected, and importantly, they didn't receive what was promised to them, which is the nature of the dispute.
What was promised to them? When you fight chargebacks, I can give general advice. It's impossible for me to do a YouTube video and make it perfect for every business because every business is unique. here's the starting point of the question for this specific chargeback reason code. What I mean is exactly what did you promise to your customer? Both in your web copy and in your terms and conditions. Let me give you an example. If you have a website selling something, but you bury it in your terms and conditions that the item received may not be representative of what they saw on the website, well in that case, you're going to lose that chargeback. You usually can't win those, and you shouldn't win those on a technicality you're supposed to provide. Visa wants you to be an honest and ethical merchant, and that is the reason for this cardholder protection. I fully support it. You should not rely on your terms and conditions in a shady way to try and squeeze out of it. That's not a proper way to do it, and I don't have any advice for you.
However, a lot of the time merchants bend over backward. They offer a great product or service, but the customer's just being difficult or unreasonable. That does happen, and that's what this video is about. You can win these chargebacks, especially if it's properly documented. What should you do to win this chargeback? You need to laser focus on what was promised to the customer. You should probably do a screenshot of your website where your marketing copy showed what they were purchasing, if it was an online sale a copy of the invoice, or any correspondence if it was not an e-commerce purchase.
Gather evidence
What can be especially helpful is that correspondence. Let's say that you're a designer and we all know design can be subjective. However, maybe they're, you're designing a logo for them, and along the way you're emailing with the customer, you're communicating with them, and they're commenting on the progress. They've signed off on the font, they've signed off on the color. You would include that correspondence to show, hey, like we worked with this person, and here's the signing off on our work. Now, this doesn't need to be a long video because it's too situationally specific for each type of business, but if you consider what you promised to the customer and you look at what proof you have to see that it was rendered and that they received it. Now that could be photos of the item that went out the door or documentation to prove an item was legitimate proof of delivery, especially if you have the delivery slip that states that the customer was allowed to examine the item and before accepting it, they signed that it was received in satisfactory condition and was as described.
Now, a lot of my viewers will be sitting here watching and being like, yeah, Dave, I would love to wish that document into existence. You can't always do that, and just like my other videos in this series, you can't plan retroactively, but you can also think ahead. Like a lot of chargebacks, it can be really hard to win if you don't have compelling evidence. Let me rephrase that, like a lot of chargebacks, it can be impossible to win if you don't have compelling evidence. If you're watching and saying, I wish I had what Dave's talking about. Sometimes these are lessons that we take away to fight and win the next one. Now, I don't want to upset any viewers, but I also want to be honest with the situation. A lot of fighting chargebacks is about planning ahead and constantly improving.
It's also how you provide your evidence, in the chargeback response. When you do fight the chargeback laser focus in on proving you delivered as promised, but keep it concise and short. I made a mistake one time. I had a client, who had pages, pages upon pages of documentation photos. The customer was there in person, but they still lost. The reason they lost is it was too long. Now, they shouldn't have, it was wrong that they lost. It was the card issuer who dropped the ball, but guess what? The card issuer dropped the ball. They have humans there. They're working, they're not emotionally invested. They don't want to read an encyclopedia. You have to, I always say write it like it's a kindergarten child on the other side.
Let's go, with the designer example. They hired us to design a logo. Here's the logo on January 10th, they hired us in February. We signed off on the font in March, and we signed off on the final design. That's it. That's all that you need.
Summary
In summary, include the copy on your website or any correspondence that explains what they were purchasing. Include a top copy of your terms and conditions that govern the sale, and then include any correspondence, anything along the way that can prove that you delivered what was promised to this customer. Now, if you're having a problem with chargebacks that you need help with, please do reach out to us Merchant-Accounts.ca. We're happy to listen and give the best advice that we can to try to help you win the chargeback. Also, if you would like a quote for credit card processing for your business, again reach out to us at Merchant-Accounts.ca just for the record, we often work with our clients after they get a chargeback to see what they could change going forward to have a better chance of winning. You always keep learning and growing, and that has to be the approach to minimizing your chargebacks and then improving your win rate when they happen. With that, thanks for watching. Have a nice day. Bye now.
