Charge dispute

[Admiraltwin]

We are being disputed for a charge in April. To partially fix the problem, is there a way to block that card from being used in our business in the future. We feel it was a legitimate charge as there is a matching signature.

[EJ_]

Hi there.

Sorry to hear about the dispute. Those are a headache for sellers, but our Disputes team will do everything they can to take care of it for you. There isn't a way to block a specific card from being accepted by your Square Account. 

However, you can view the transaction and take note of either the Customer Name, last 4 digits of the card, or both to help prevent taking payments from this customer in the future. I've included some context that might help to fully understand the chargeback process and protect yourself! 

A chargeback is a cardholder-initiated dispute of a credit card payment. It is a form of consumer protection provided by the cardholder’s issuing bank, which allows cardholders to file a complaint regarding fraudulent transactions on their statement. Once the cardholder files a dispute, the issuing bank investigates the complaint.

When a chargeback is initiated, we collect information from both the cardholder and the merchant. If necessary, we’ll bring the two parties together.

Please keep in mind that chargebacks that result from manually entered transactions are generally harder to win for the merchant. We suggest that in an attempt to mitigate losses resulted from chargebacks, you do the following:

– Verify the identity of the card holder.
– Keep signatures on file for all manually entered cards.
– Provide receipts to your clients for all transactions.
– Enter detailed descriptions for each transaction.
– Input Valid CVV, Expiration Date and Postal Code information (cardholders billing postal code).
– Store any tracking information with proof of delivery.
– Write either Internet Order or Phone Auth on the signature screen to confirm that this was not a card present transaction.

When manually entering payments, it may be advisable to obtain additional information prior to completing the sale. Some merchants choose to have their customers fax or email card authorization forms, imprints, and/or copies of government issued identification. If the name of your customer does not match that on the credit card, it may be prudent to ask for another form of payment. You may also wish to retain copies of signed contracts and itemized documentation proving delivery.

If you want to learn more on how to protect yourself against fraud or disputes, check out our Merchant Protection article and you can learn more about Square’s chargeback policy on our Terms page.

[Admiraltwin]

Thank you for the response.

[LPStudios]

They don't "Fight" for you at all. They take a statement and any relivant information from you and pass it to the customers bank. The customers bank makes the final ruling. The Square dispute team rep I talked to asked if there was anyway I could "I don't want to say threaten, but, put pressure" on the customuer to cancel their dispute. !?!?!?! After asking if there was anything else I could do to get our money back the rep said my company could take them to small claims court.

In my case the customer booked out dates in our studio totaling almost $4000. They used two days, were sent instrumental mixes created by our producer and musical director, then never contacted or showed up for any other session dates. The customer has since disputed the entire amount without ever contacting us. We have a 48 hour cancelation/full refund policy the customer was aware of, we have all the paperwork for the transaction and weeks of e-mail corospondance with the customer, and yet my company had to waste time dealing with this and now have to pay over $200 in overdraft fees. Thanks for being on our side Square. 

[Sean]

@LPStudios - Hello! Just as a friendly reminder, per our Community Etiquette Guidelines, please don't post the same message in multiple places. While it might take us a few days to see your first post, we promise that we'll get around to it. 😀
 
Thank you for your understanding! 

[aor]

We are looking into Square for our business retail location & this is my biggest fear going with Square, wether or not they will actually get you your funds back after a customer uses false reaons to file a dispute. Guess I will continue reading what everyone has to say & make an evaluation on feedback left by current & past users of Square.

[Sean]

@aor - Definitely understandable. I highly recommend reviewing Best Practices for Accepting Payment Cards.

[Spectrum]

LP Studios is correct. The Square Team does nothing to fight for you. They simply send it on to the customers bank without a second glance. How can the customers bank can be judge, jury and excecutioner especially when it comes to the service industry. There is a lot invloved that simply is not taken into consideration when the bank makes thier decision.  I just lost a dispute for $1,500 from a job I did for a customer over a year ago. The warranty period had ended but the customer was able to get their money back??!!

I will not be accepting credit cards anymore thru Square

[Lorelei]

HI @Spectrum, I apologize for the dissapointing outcome to your payment dispute. As a reminder, I can't discuss information surrounding your account due to this being a public forum. I do want to give you some general knowledge surrounding Best Practices for Accepting Credit Cards. This article highlights the most common supporting documentation that the banks are requesting when making thier final decision for a dispute. A Disputes representative will reach out to provide you more account specific information for your payment dispute. 

[cort]

EJ_ said, “When a chargeback is initiated, we collect information from both the cardholder and the merchant. If necessary, we’ll bring the two parties together.”

This is not true. Square simply collects information from their seller and forwards it to the cardholders bank. The cardholders bank is who makes the determination and you are not allowed to know who they are or contact them. The cardholders bank has the final say and there is no way to appeal it.

When they tell you 60-90 days to resolve the dispute count on it taking the full 90 days.

If you call the disputes team before the 90 days is up you will be told there is nothing they can do until the 90 days is up. What happens after 90 days? I got two answers, one is Square will call the cardholders bank and try to hurry the resolution, the second is it is all automated to happen at exactly 90 days.

[Joe]

Hi there, @cort - thanks for taking the time to share your experience.

You are correct - Square does not have any authority when it comes to deciding a resolution on a dispute. That action is totally and completely up to the customers card issuing bank. However, it is important to remember that no dispute resolution is the same. Each dispute has its own circumstantial factors that can contribute to the length of time it takes the card-issuing bank to resolve.

More on dispute resolution here. 

[cort]

Square should go through this forum and remove the incorrect and misleading information posted by moderators. The information I quoted about disputes is in at least one other place.

[DaveH50]

We just had our first dispute in 9 months. As a nail salon, all our business is in person. I fail to understand why the law permits a customer who signed and agreed to the charge at the time of service, is permitted to challenge the transaction later, unless it was an unauthorized transaction by another person who gained access to the credit card. 

In our case, the charge was on August 15 for $95, chip card was dipped and receipt signed by the customer.  On August 28, the customer initiated a chargeback for $60, claiming they were overcharged. No attempt to contact us was made.  Isn't the customer responsible for reviewing the charges before signing the receipt? 

In years past, the credit card issuer merely asked for a signed receipt as proof the charges were valid. Dunno what has changed.

[DaveH50]

Since Square added the ability to print custom text on the Square Terminal charge receipts, I inserted the following text: "Signature attests customer has reviewed charges and agrees to pay the amount shown on this receipt. Please contact us at XXX-XXX-XXXX if any questions, thanks."

Not sure if this will have much legal effect should we have to take a "friendly fraud" chargeback customer to small claims court, but it might discourage potential fraudsters, especially since they are noticed to contact the salon first, which most fraudsters fail to do as they initiate the chargeback directly with their card issuer.

[Wbower]

Square let’s you rot.  There is absolutely no way to protect yourself. They won’t even tell you which bank is involved so you can refuse their cards.   I’ve stopped using Square for any large transaction.  Most cards are debit cards now.  They can zelle me or cash app.   Never a problem.