You will find chargebacks on your merchant processing statement when a customer asks their financial institution to refund their money for a purchase or if your customer’s bank sees a problem with a transaction. If you have refused to refund your customer’s money directly, the customer has the right to go to their card provider and take their money back.

Another way of looking at it is that it’s a forcible refund even when the customer has nothing to return to you but you are required to return their money.

As a merchant, you want to avoid chargebacks at all costs (pun not intended) because of associated fees between $20 and $100 per chargeback. If your business incurs a large number of chargebacks, compared to your total monthly credit card transaction amount, your processor can elect to close your account or assess larger per-transaction costs to counteract the chargebacks.  

Customer Chargebacks Process 

Customers typically file a chargeback (or dispute a charge) with their financial institution between 60 and 120 days from the purchase date. Once the chargeback is filed, the affected merchant has 45 days to reply if they disagree with the charge. After the merchant responds to the chargeback, the merchant bank investigates the claim and determines the outcome. If necessary, arbitration may be called in to mediate the dispute, lengthening the chargeback resolution process.

Each credit card provider has specific rules and timeframes for disputes. If you incur a chargeback claim against your business, become familiar with the company’s – American Express, Mastercard, Visa or Discover – requirements.

If the chargeback is determined to be valid by the bank, you (merchant) are asked to provide proof of the claim so the bank can refute the chargeback on your behalf. If your proof is substantive, the chargeback is removed from your account and the customer charge stands. 

If the bank decides the customer’s chargeback claim is accurate, and your documentation doesn’t substantiate your argument, you as the merchant must refund the customer’s money along with a chargeback fee assessed by the bank. 

Avoiding Chargebacks 

You can avoid credit card chargebacks by strictly observing the guidelines and policies of the principal payment processing systems. Handy links to the chargeback guidebooks for Mastercard, Discover, Visa and American Express are at the bottom of this article.

Summarizing guideline best practices:

• Check the expiration date of the credit card proffered and decline it if beyond the expiry date
• Ask for proof of a customer’s identity for in-person transactions. In non-COVID times, ensure the customer signs the receipts and your business name is printed on their receipt
• Verify the signature on the credit card used for a purchase
• If activated, capture the customer’s signature electronically, then compare to the signature on the back of the card
• Never accept unsigned credit cards for payment
• Stay up to date with all current credit card security standards such as enabled chipped card readers
• Ensure that employees who accept payments follow these best practices

However, the reality is your business accepts credit card payments, it is almost unavoidable that you will also have occasional chargebacks. When you are notified of a chargeback, diligently research and provide the requested paperwork within the specified timeframe. Also work inside your business to understand why that chargeback occurred in the first place and create a policy or rule to prevent a similar situation in the future.

The most common chargeback reasons, according to Visa, are:

• The merchant did not process a credit in the timely manner the customer expected
• Ordered products were not received
• A paid-for service was not accomplished at all or to the customer’s satisfaction
• The charged customer did not make the specific purchase; it is a fraudulent charge
• There were authorization issues in processing the transaction
• An error in processor occurred

Merchant Protections and Rights with Chargebacks

In this day and age, merchants have few protections available to fight chargebacks. Even a No Refund policy isn’t sufficient to protect your business from chargebacks; the Fair Credit Billing Act says customers can still file chargeback claims.

Clearly display your policies in your storefront or online and ensure that your customers are familiar with your transaction requirements. This is a key protection if a chargeback goes through arbitration and helps your business refute a chargeback.

In general, banks tend to side with the customer rather than the merchant in chargeback disputes. This makes it imperative for you as a merchant to make sure your transactions and sales are thoroughly documented and validated, conforming to the guidelines and rules published by the major institutions.

Links to chargeback guidelines:

Visa
Mastercard
American Express
Discover

For more information about how to avoid chargebacks and effective Point of Sale systems for your business, contact SalesSensePayments.com, Mike Krause, 585-704-6453.

To your health,

Sales Sense Payments
585-704-6453
mike@salessensepayments.com
Please visit SalesSensePayments.com for more information.

Digital meetings and presentations are much more cost-effective than traveling or convening a group of people in a single location for an hour or two. These might include sales webinars, training sessions, virtual conferences or presentations between supplier and customer. 

The trick is to make the transition to virtual meetings smooth and professional. In-person meetings let you watch body language, facial expessions, side conversations and attention spans. These are mostly absent in a digital forum unless everyone has their camera on. And even then, your eyes can’t be watching all participants and pay attention to your presentation at the same time. 

So here are a few tips to help you get comfortable with making digital presentations and participating in virtual meetings. 

Prepare for your virtual meeting
Just as you would prepare for a face-to-face meeting, get your materials organized, create your presentation deck and become very familiar with the functions and features of the presentation system you will be using. Each system has unique features and you must know how to move smoothly through the process, how to unmute participants, how to switch presentations and so much more. Some even have a “blur” setting so you can obscure your background or have a picture of a nice beach or sunset behind you. 

You really cannot take a presentation you have made in front of a live audience and simply share it digitally. The results will not be the same and probably not well received. Your interactions with a remote audience are limited so your visuals must reinforce your message well. 

Practice your presentation using the presentation system beforehand so you work out any tough spots. 

Send the login information, including the URL, password, call in numbers and an agenda, at least one business day in advance so they have the information needed. If it’s the first time with this group of participants, suggest they log in a few minutes early in the event they have to download an app and test connectivity before the actual start time of your meeting. 

Be Engaging, Stay Focused
Don’t skip the early call pleasantries – you need to engage in a little chitchat to help put people at ease and reacquaint them with your voice and speech cadence. Do a little housekeeping by asking participants to put their questions in chat or raise their hands. Explain how the call will go briefly and ask for their agreement. To keep people engaged and paying attention, you might want to ask questions during your meeting but avoid tough questions or ask a particular person so you don’t have a long period of dead air followed by several people trying to talk at once. 

Don’t try to pack too much into your meeting. Keep your topics to no more than two. Otherwise you may confuse or “turn off” your audience. If the call is longer than one hour, give participants a 10 minute bio break. Adults don’t sit for long periods of time well; their concentration and focus strays easily.  

Think about your clothing and stay neutral – no plaids or stripes that cause video jitters. Be dressed as you would in a face-to-face meeting: if the customer usually dresses in business attire (tie, suit jacket) then mirror that as you present.

Stay fully focused on your presentation and participants throughout the meeting. If you sound or act distracted, that will come across to your attendees and you will lose them. Iron out any technical issues well before the meeting begins, asking new participants to log in as much as 15 minutes early so you and they can ensure smooth connectivity. 

Digital Meeting Etiquette
Here are some quick reminders for what to do and what not to do whether you’re the presenter or a participant in a digital meeting. 

Be polite, attentive and respectful to all participants and speakers
Speak clearly and a little bit more slowly, near the microphone
Slow down your presentation slightly to allow for comprehension
Keep body movements to a minimum if you are on camera
Keep your microphone on mute unless you are asking a question or presenting content
Move and gesture slowly but naturally
Maintain eye contact by looking in the camera, not at your notes
Keep the session interesting with mild jokes, quips, cartoons, asking softball questions
Relax and enjoy the session
Smile even when you’re not on camera – your pleasant demeanor on or off screen still communicates to your attendees 
Avoid making distracting sounds – tapping a pen, jingling change, sniffling, laughing loudly, shuffling papers, clanking bracelets or jewelry
Never shout or whisper – keep your voice at a normal tone 
Try to not interrupt other speakers or participants – the audio lag can be a problem with this
No side conversations on mute or by covering the microphone – people can hear the slightest sounds and they are quite aware of what you’re doing

As you do more digital meetings and presentations, your natural personality and abilities will make them a snap. Give them a try!

Stick with the CDC for Health Info and Reopening Guidelines
Click here to read more best practices from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Wear a mask in public. Stay home, slow the spread. Flatten the curve.

Stay home, stay healthy and safe!

Mike Krause
Sales Sense Payments
585-704-6453
mike@salessensepayments.com
Please visit SalesSensePayments.com for more information.