Chargeback

[JJChedz]

A customer purchased items on 4/21/21. Were shipped via FedEx Priority Overnight and were signed for the next day. He placed a few other orders after that with zero issues. On 6/16/21 I got notification from Square that said customer did a chargeback with their bank. I checked and they sure did.

I confronted them via email and messenger and they’re completely denying it saying it must be an error on Squares side. Well this isn’t my first rodeo so I know that’s nonsense. A bank doesn’t just flag a random transaction and report it as “goods not received. So far Square has not got back to me with any information to help on my side. Very disappointed with them so far.

Has anyone else ever had a “random chargeback?”

[Joe]

Hi there, @JJChedz - thanks for taking the time to reach out and join us here on the Seller Community. Good to have you!

So sorry to hear that this customer is giving you trouble. We are here to help walk you through the disputes process! We have plenty of resources available on our Support Center - take a look at this one for a bit more detail on next steps.

It's important to remember here that 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. 

Let us know if you have any questions along the way! 

[MudFire_Dex]

Yes - thank you for the dispute resources link - it is always helpful to have this ready. Disputes are usually pretty straight forward with forms to fill out and evidence to provide (signatures on tracking, contracts, etc).

[ssullivanids]

I received a chargeback from American Express to the tune of over $15K, and I felt so vulnerable that Square would be allowed American Express to take the money out of my account. This chargeback has destroyed my fiscal 2021. This money represented two projects in progress.   I had to use the profits from other projects to complete one of the projects. The other project still has outstanding items. I'm looking for options; I don't feel protected. 

[LAXBlackCars]

Wow, experiences with chargebacks, all sellers and providing services are NOT protected by Square. Will it be possible to file a law suit towards them?

[MudFire_Dex]

@JJChedz @ssullivanids Just for perspective - we've had chargebacks with every processor we've ever used. I've owned 2 businesses and used 6 different processors over the years although they can, and do, help with providing supporting documentation for the chargeback dispute because the particulars are different based on the card issuing bank. No processor is going to take the responsibility to protect the merchant in these transactions. We luckily only have 3-4 chargebacks a year, on contracted memberships - we usually win 50%. Sometimes card-issuing banks will side with us because we have a contract the individual signed, and sometimes they don't even with a legally binding document let alone a purchase. This is an issue of accounting because you can write off bad debts, refunds, chargebacks. Is it as good as making the money - no - but at least it offsets other income you earned. This is unfortunately a reality of doing business.

[Dta]

Wow I don't feel protected at all. A dipped card I just had a chargeback. The card was present, the person CAME in our store and purchased. Took with them, no shipping  etc and filed a chargeback. Seems like anyone can easily scam and we have NO protection at all

[MudFire_Dex]

@Dta Unfortunately, yes, anybody can just scam. One of our last chargebacks was a studio member who was here in person for 4 months. This is just a cost of doing business and having to trust the outside world. It can't be a processor's responsibility to protect every transaction for every merchant any more than the US Treasury protects us when we accept bad cash (and yes, I have accepted bad cash in $20s and $100s so now we have a marking pen). At least Square makes it easy for us to dispute (former processors had really arcane interfaces). We haven't had any with Square recently but we have had disputes within the last year with AMEX from our managed billing and we normally win some lose some even with membership contracts. I would definitely recommend filing a dispute so their cardholding company knows what is up.