February 25, 2009
I got a chargeback for fraud on my merchant account, what happens now?
Scott W asked:
I got a chargeback on my M.A. for fraud, which of course I did not participate in. My question is, first of all the payment gateway did not have an option to decline transactions if the address or CVV did not match and he placed a $499 order. Secondly, it has been 3 months since the transaction (who waits that long to dispute transactions?). And thirdly, what happens if I can’t pay back the amount?
I got a chargeback on my M.A. for fraud, which of course I did not participate in. My question is, first of all the payment gateway did not have an option to decline transactions if the address or CVV did not match and he placed a $499 order. Secondly, it has been 3 months since the transaction (who waits that long to dispute transactions?). And thirdly, what happens if I can’t pay back the amount?
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Comments on I got a chargeback for fraud on my merchant account, what happens now?
If I understand your situation correctly, you say that you’ve been the victim of fraud; if you’re not at fault, I don’t imagine that you would have to pay anything – and if they pressure you to, consider going to court.
As for you not being able to pay, it takes a while before the damage adds up. First, the bank will harass you, hit you with late fees, and make your life miserable until you pay. This will continue for between 3-6 months, at which point, your balance will be sent to collections, who will continue harassing you.
And finally, the credit card company will basically black list you from opening an account with them again, which is a nasty blow to your credit.
I will give a short outline of the chargeback process so you can get an idea of what it is and what you can do in regard to this particular transaction.
A chargeback begins with the cardholder contacting his card issuer, notifying them that he is disputing a transaction. In most cases, before a chargeback is initiated, the card issuer requests a copy of the sales record. If there is sufficient evidence to support the cardholder’s request, the card issuer sends the transaction back to the acquirer (your processing bank), who, if not able to resolve the issue, may contact you for additional information. What that means is that you should deal directly with your payment processor. Tell them what happened and provide supporting evidence.
If you provide sufficient evidence to warrant a reversal of the chargeback, your processor will forward the representation to the issuer through the Credit Card Network (Visa or MasterCard). In essence, the transaction will be reinstated and you will get your money back.
For more information on chargebacks and a visual description of the process, you can visit: