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Lately, we seem to be losing every chargeback and it seems very unfair. These are real customers and they don't seem to be setting out to commit fraud, they just seem lazy or people who become agitated easily. Yesterday I lost a case where a customer ordered the wrong size item, they contacted us and explained the issue. We said no problem and sent them a return mail label. They were not happy with that reply so they opened a chargeback. We explained to the bank that we shipped what the customer ordered and did all we could to make them happy. The bank sided with the customer and refunded their money and we do not have the product and lost the shipping fee and other fees as well. This is one example of similar weekly occurrences.
Hey Bont! I understand how challenging it can be to constantly lose chargeback cases. I'm sharing a few tips that may help you increase your chances of winning future disputes:
Stick to the rules: Make sure you are familiar with the rules and guidelines set by Visa, and Mastercard, and follow them closely. This can put you in a stronger position during a dispute.
Use compelling evidence: In a chargeback dispute, providing clear and compelling evidence can greatly increase your chances of winning. This can include transaction details, shipping information, customer communication, and any other relevant documents or information. Make sure the evidence you present is clear, concise, and directly relates to the dispute at hand. The more concrete and irrefutable your evidence is, the stronger your case will be.
Offer great customer service: Make sure your customer service policy addresses returns and exchanges promptly and effectively. Happy customers are less likely to initiate chargebacks.
Consider a chargeback management solution: Implementing a chargeback management solution can help you automate the dispute process and increase your win rate.
At the end of the day, the credit card issuer gets to decide on who "wins" the chargeback, and if not presented with appropriate amount of compelling evidence that's formatted according to the card scheme rules, they tend to side with the customer.
I hope these tips will help you reduce future chargeback losses. Happy to answer any future questions.
⚡ Chargeflow is the best chargeback recovery software for Shopify brands. Free to start, 24/7 Live Chat Support, ROI-guarantee and the highest win-rates. Let us take care of your chargebacks. ⚡
Hi, thanks for the reply. Yes, I believe that I am doing all of these things. As another example, last week a customer wasn't happy with the product. They shipped it back and we refunded them but they also opened a chargeback. We showed the bank that we had issued the refund and the customer still won the chargeback. It just seems like the banks are not reading the compelling evidence and are siding with their customer because it keeps their customer happy and means nothing to the bank if they decide in the seller's favor or not.
It's really all crap - you are screwed and Shopify will not lift a finger to help. Shopify has decided to outsource their chargeback process to a 3rd party. So if you call Shopify support to discuss why you lost a chargeback, they can't help at all. It's one of the WORST things about Shopify. As a million dollar account to them, we lose all the chargebacks that come across our way. We have like 300 5-star reviews, great customer service, all the best of everything we can do for every customer, fantastic communications, etc. We have high-dollar products and when we get a chargeback, it's painful. For example, we have an $800 chargeback open right now with a customer that we refunded $650 to already. The chargeback amount in question is for the full $800. Shopify has already released the $800 to the credit card holder when only $150 is in dispute. Why did they allow the full $800 to be taken from my account when it's PERFECTLY CLEAR in the customer transaction log that we already refunded $650 which THEY processed?!?!? If we lose the chargeback, we're going to lose the full $800 + the $650 we already refunded + the $15 fee! And, of course, Robify will do nothing but shrug and say too bad, so sad. It seriously pisses me off when you do all the right things and these criminal customers game the system and take your money and the sellers platform you use SUCKS at dealing with chargebacks.
I am in the same boat! Had a customer open a chargeback worth on 600 euro - lost the product & the money & 15$ charge fee.
no one seems to be helping.
They are making a business over customers stealing from companies. Think about how much money they are making from chargebacks
dont forget the transaction fee you pay plus plans you pay them all for zero. You pay into a plan of $2000 and transact with them and pay them hundreds of thousands of dollars. The minute there is one issue your sent to a third world country with limited English
how is shopify existing?
I agree completely with Bont and all the others here. We are 5-star merchants, with impeccable customer service, follow-up, and communication with our customers.. then criminal customers fully take advantage of this broken system and we are the ones left paying the price. Only thing I've found helpful to do is to block those customers when it has occurred using IP blocks and fraud filters, so that it makes it at least difficult for the same criminal to strike twice.
Actually, we called the credit card company after going through a nonsense chargeback and they told us that Shopify does not give them the message we put in the shop for the customer and the bank. So, no wonder we get charged, it is like we never answered.
I contacted Shopify about this but they go in circles with their answers and do not want to hera this. But one thing helped. We called the credit card company with the date of the transaction, name, and last 4 digits and told them they played a game on us and they were going to have a bad ''note'' on this customer for the next time they try
Shopify says it’s the card holder, the card holder says it’s shopify.
either way we are the ones holding the bag
the card holder cannot say it is Shopify since they are the one asking for the chargebacks with the credit card companies
Where it does not connect is that the credit card does not seem to get our side. and maybe ist is Shopify that does not transfer the info we give them to fight the chrageback because a credit card company told us it was the case. And when I confront shopify, they keep saying I have to find out, will get back to you and never heard from them. So, to organize the transfer of our case to credit crads might be staff and time consuming and they figure, oh well, they will take it as a loss, but thing is, it forces us to cancel suspicious or large orders (this is what we do) and Shopify looses a little here but maybe better for them
There is a flaw for sure. If anyone contacts shopify (do chat) and save the conversation and maybe after this happening, we can think of something ? Also, contact also the credit card companies yourself with your version. People have to try stuff like we did as well
Hello
Had a chargeback about a year ago. (Lady wanted to exchange 2 gowns for another size, someone made a mistake in the company and sent the new ones without waiting for the returns AND SHE ASKED FOR A CHARGEBACK WITH 4 GOWNS IN HAND !!) We were in our right to not pay back, but even then, were charged. Shopify did not help in any way.
Now, funny thing is that same lady tried to reorder with us. And got her to talk of the different sizing with the gowns she bought from us saying the Petite was almost the same as the Small for her and she liked her 4 gowns. So, I ask why she asked a chargeback ? She did stop wring. BUT NOW, we called the credit card company who told us they were not getting the chargeback info from Shopify. IS THIS WHY CHARGEBACKS ARE AUTOMATICALLY ACCEPTED ??
I am furious if the credit card company says the truth but why would they lie. So, I contacted the lady and told her I would report her to the credit card company and she wants to pay back part of it.
I wasted so much time with Shopify on this to find out that the system is not even connected to send info to credit card companies ?
It makes sense, because our answer was that she simplya wanted to exchange, this was a Friday and I even answered that day to ship back to us and we would return once we get the gowns, but 2 days later, there was a chargeback. But why ask for money of you still have the gowns in hand. We offer refunds and she did not ask for a refund but an exchange for another sizing.
Thanks Shopify !!
I submitted a letter from the customer indicating the charge was legitimate, and I still lost the chargeback. Are the credit card companies not even looking at the response? Do the credit card companies automatically side with the customer?
I've had the same issue twice. The customer agreed the charge was legitimate and that they received their order, but the card processor seems to ignore any evidence you provide.
Actually, we called the credit card company after going through a nonsense chargeback and they told us that Shopify does not give them the message we put in the shop for the customer and the bank. So, no wonder we get charged, it is like we never answered.
I contacted Shopify about this but they go in circles with their answers and do not want to hear this. They answer politely (like we read above) but no connection with the problem, like they answer anything to get rid of us. Polite, but meaningless...... But one thing helped. We called the credit card company with the date of the transaction, name, and last 4 digits and told them they played a game on us and they were going to have a bad ''note'' on this customer for the next time they try.
After a few attempts I've been able to get the bank to review it (again) as they initiated the chargeback, not the customer. Shopify keeps telling me they're "transactional" and don't get any information etc, but it's them making the deductions from our accounts.
It is the customer who ask for a chargeback, not the credit card company. Twice it happened to us, and both customers admitted to it. It is time consuming to make a chargeback as they must call the credit card company, be on hold, explain why, etc, etc. And it has to sound serious for them to accept. But a crooked customer will say things like'' I never received my item, etc'' But the thing is that these people cannot make too many chargebacks otherwise thye look suspicious so when you call the credit card company to report their lie, it messes up their game.
The one company the office called told us they did not get the answers (to defend ourselves, the proofs) we provide on shopify's chargeback conversation, so, of course we will not get refunded.
We changed our ways since then, we check every adress and names and new customers (below 4 orders) are not allowed to order more than one garment if we feel they are suspicious.
Shopify is a nice platform and pleasant customer service but they could not help in the past on this subject and as they grew, even less.
We have had two chargebacks recently, one was initiated by the bank as suspicious, even though the customer had previously ordered from us. The other was the customer not recognizing the transaction and reporting it. In both cases, our chargeback submissions were rejected. I have to wonder where it's going wrong: with Shopify, or with the banks keeping the money from merchants because they can. I agree that Shopify are getting harder to deal with. Sometimes it seems I have more experience with the back end than the person dealing with a support issue.
Well, they might be fake orders. There was a video few months ago made by Shopify who mentionned about people who had ordered before. This is one of their trick, so you feel safe
There is an app Fraus Filter that helps checking of the adress matches the billing adress. I need to set it up for the name but it checks the adress and the CVV . So, you check the Fraus analysis and even is all good, check every line if all matches. Then google these people, name and adresses. Also, google the location. I had people shipping to post office which UPS does not accept or adresses that were filming location where many companies are and the package could end up showing as delivered and you never can prove otherwise. We had a customer who ordered once then now wants to place large orders but always with an adress that does not match the billing adress with the credit card. She claims she moved to Columbia and wants the stuff shipped to a friend. Recently, she tried with an adress matching but another delivery adress (shipping location and this is a big NO for us). So, we cancelled the order because again, the package could show as delivered but it disapears in that location. She said the lady owning that place was her best friend, she trusted her. I said, if she is your bext friend, then, ask her to buy for you and you refund her then..She never did.
But when a bank cancels a transaction, not the customer it is because someone stole somebody's credit card and the person who own the card saw the transaction and called it. It happens of course. We take 2-3 weeks also before we sip because it gives time to the person that has been robbed to notice and call the bank. But of you have not shipped, then, no loss for you.
Every buyer has to be checked, and every transaction. I check their past delivery adresses to see if the same. I just had one who bought 5 times and this time was in a long term stay hotel. I called and I could not speak to her for a month and would not ship until I reached her to find out their house had been destroyed by a tornado and it was a fact. So, it takes time, but it gets faster over time and anyone you do not feel safe (like they ship elsewhere than the billing, or the ip is 3000 miles away from he city they live in) , cancel the order.
I had an order cancelled for ordering 300 miles away from my place (I was visiting a friend who liked my hat and wanted to order one while visiting. It did not work even if I called and had ordered before. They refused because of the IP and also getting it shipped elsewhere)
This feels like we should all come together and file a class action lawsuit. I lost a charge back for $3200. I spoke to customer before he bought numerous times, sent him an email with our return policy which states once opened and used cant be returned, it's health product and there is sanitary issues so no returns. He got buyers remorse because he wanted bigger size and told him I can't accept but I would sell the larger at my cost and he could sell other one on marketplace or something. Wasnt good enough open charge back and never returned product, I had all the evidence tracking number, email to him, he was so happy his son bought one etc. So now he bascially is getting it for free. I might take him to small claims court. I just wonder now if Shopify even sent info to his bank.
That is awful. The thing you should do is contact the credit card company yourself and give them the date of purchase, name and last digits of the card. If anything, thye get the other version and put a bad note to that customer. We had a customer who dicede to refund us when we told her we were about to do this. But we had called Amex and they told us that they never received our reply from Shopify (the proof we had submitted to defend ourselves). I cannot know if this is true but our chargebacks were so ridiculous, it was impossible for a credit card company to accept the chargeback.
We got more difficult, we cancel orders if we have red flags, and if they have large orders, cut the quantities & we ship to billing adresses only.
We had a customer in Canada who, every year, would order three items and claim she got only two so we ship a third one. Every year, the same story and the dumb employee at the office would simply ship without telling us until I looked into this and decided to ship only one item and cancel the other two items from the order; she never ordered again after this.
So, do not take large orders, ship to billing adresses, check who they are, linkedin, whites pages, etc, etc. Had a lady claiming she was Moon Shine (her name) ?
And do take them to court, call the credit card company to report them and tell them what is coming up. This chargeback story is a joke
I did check all their info, he's an accountant. I think he's just an old grumpy man.
Even more scary because he knows the rules. Then do report him to the credit card company. If anything, this guy won't be able to pull tht stuff with another person. If you are correct, the crdit card will put a bad note in his file and when he really needs it.
Good idea, but how do you know what is the issuing bank for the credit card used? It's easy to say contact the credit card company, but how do you know which one?
We simply called Amex to tell them about our situation and they told us they had not gotten our answer from shopify to defend ourselves. They wanted her name, and the adress but we were not talking to the bank of the lady, simply, the general number.
You are a merchant and I think time to put pressure on the credit card companies. But at the end, I wrote so many times to Shopify who always answers very pleasantly on the chat but it goes nowhere. They say they will look into it, they are sorry, but I get no more feedback. So something is fishy. The fact that credit cards do not get our side of the story is real bad.
Thanks.. yes, in the case of AmEx, there's only one bank - AmEx themselves. But when it's Visa or Mastercard, there's a plethora of issuing banks, so how would you even begin to know which one to contact based on only 4 digits? Totally agree about Shopify. It's really sad. I just submitted a reply to a chargeback today. The customer claimed never received, yet we have photo of delivery at their door from the FedEx tracking, AND google maps confirms that it's that customer's front door. It's even worse that some savvy (that's putting it nicely) customers know that they can take full advantage of the situation. I have rock solid proof of delivery... but who knows if the issuing bank will ever see it?
But that is a different story because people can have their packages stolen. I hate ordering online because I have to sit home to wait for a package. And you must have heard about cars following Purolator for example and as soon as the driver drops the package, the guy gets out to steal the package. The home camera shows that stuff and it happened a lot over the holidays. It was on the news. So, either you charge more for the shipping and ship with signature only, no drop off without it or you write a note like we do. See below
We have on our website and also in the e-mail comfirmation when someone purchases this : ** please be aware that shippers sometimes leave packages at doors, so, please follow the tracking and be on the lookout for your package. We cannot be held responsible for lost packages that show as delivered. In these rare cases, we will try to help locate, but if lost, we will not refund the order and shipping.
Yes, we also have a spot on the cart page that gives the customer the opportunity to choose "signature confirmation" for $5, and if they choose that, we include the service - and we do explain without signature confirmation, we are not responsible for lost or stolen packages. This customer chose NOT to have signature. We've done OUR job. We delivered the package to the shipping address provided. If this is a case of "porch piracy," we're sad about that, but the customer shouldn't be doing a chargeback to US about it - they should be contacting their police department. We also wrote to the customer mentioning this, but crickets.. so it's more likely the customer is scamming us. Anyway, like I mentioned... what do you think the odds are that their bank never sees the rock solid proof of delivery that I submitted on the chargeback reply through Shopify? 😞
We had a solid story against a chargeback and that is the one we told we would call the credit card on her and she got scared. But we wanted to do it. She ordered two garments, and she wanted to exchange for another size and she said she was in a rush to get them, so told her, reship yours now and send me the tracking. But my company reshipped right away (did not tell her though) thinking the garments would cross each other and arrive at the same time and since she was a doctor, had money and would not playing games like this. But she never shipped, her tracking was bogus. AND she asked for a hcrageback !! 4 garments in hand and wanted to be refunded and she won even with all the proofs sent in the shopify page . But I went after her and got the money back. I had spoken to a credit card company and they told us to call back with the name adress and 4 digits, I wanted to do it but kept my word. Shopify never helped on that ridiculous story.
I would not give people the choice to pay 5$ extra for shipping, I would only offer the option with the tracking. I buy at times items and they ship this way, so...
I also, at times when I feel suspicious about an order, write to them and if they do not answer, cancel, because it also tells me that they will not see the Out for delivery message. And some people have fake e-mails, like they can get messages but it shows as not good if we write. I had 2 weird stories like this. I cancel the orders and then they answer. Too late. And the 1st sign to know who is a crook, they are very rude, complain about customer service because we cancel (they cannot give a real name, etc.) I even have orders from Canadians who claim we know nothing that in their country they can order with a non matching billing adress and have shipped to a pobox in another country. Crazy ! Turns out thesales agent we have is in Canada and said, she never heard of stupid stories like this.
Protect yourself and your customers because you know one customer could have their credit card stolen by a collegue and they order with the right billing adress and ahve shipped elsewhere. Got cases like this as well. I check they previous phone numbers and call these. ore and more, people ship only to billing adresses.
p.s, I suppose they get tracking for their orders as well ?
If you shop online yourself, you will notice all about risking loosing packages. This is what got me to write this and also, if I suspect something weird, I cancel. Had someone ordering for a movie set. Thing is I work part time in that field and I know these studios (filing) are huge and share with others as well. So, to ship something to these studios, menas one has to be waiting on the package to mae sure to get it. I am sure this person would claim she never recieved it and the package would disapear at the door.
It is part of the deal to research every location because online businesses have gotten bad the past year. Lots of crooks out there. We get some every other week
Also, set it that you accept charges manually and take aday to review, research and if not sure, void the order. We never tale risks, rather loose am orser tham streaaing ourselves
Oups, typed too fast. We never tale risks, rather loose an order than stressing ourselves
I called Visa and they asked for a number in the transaction details, I can't remember which and they told me Chase was the issuing bank.
the transaction details is with the comfirmation at the bottom of the page. But it sounds good, you got help
We really should all sue Shopify, Shopify is essentially not doing their job to protect thier customer (which is us), do we have legal ground to do it? I am totally down to do it
I think it would take a lot of cases where people who spoke to credit card companies keep the results, mention them here and if there is a group, send a letter to shopify to get their stuff together. I think they need to know first. If no move, then..why not
We sell health products too. Big ticket items. There is no winning this and this will just be a growing problem. One banker told me to just blend chargeback costs into our prices. Great I’ll forecast being robbed everyday and just raise my prices.
If I go into the bank and rob the bank for 10,000 I go to jail. If I go online and buy an item for $10,000 and file a chargeback after I get the item it’s ok.
let’s file a lawsuit. A class action one. All merchants are losing here
Have you looked into using a tool like IPQS to help flag the high risk orders so you can avoid them? Pretty sure they have a shopify plugin as well.
What is the connection with the chargeback ?? Have you read our messages or simply trying to push an app
A bit insulting to have someone pop up and suggest an app when it has nothing to do with the problem`The porblem is NOT about finding who id honest, who buys here and there , NO' it is about the fact that if you did everything right, shows up a customer that decides to ask for a chargeback and even if you are right, the answer you provide to defend yourself does not reach the credit card company
Unless your app enters the backstores from shopify and can pick up these answers and pass them on to Visa, Amex, etc, then your app is of no interest in the conversation.
Are we a retailer or are we investigators? Why do we have to do all this work since the bank or shopify can’t. We sell products and that’s what we are good at. Now we have to be criminal detectives on each account to ensure we are ok. Why?
class action lawsuit
Not your fault but Shopify do not contact the bank at all, eventhough you give all your messages, they never did. So a lot of people use it to get product for free , with this loophole of shopify.
Well, now we check every customer, we ship only to billing adresses and new customers ( min 3-4 orders) cannot order more than 150$ approx on the store because sometimes they look suspicious, order 3 items to have delivered elsewhere , etc. We have a lot of rules and if anyone tries a chargeback , we call the credit card company and tell them these people are doing fraudulous orders. That works, because IF it were to go through with us, next time, when they need it, they will have trouble. And we warn the customers we will do so. One time we had this and the customer backed out . Really insulting that people try to steal from us. If it were food and starving but our stuff ??
I think we need a class action lawsuit. I’ve lost all chargebacks including ones the customer got the item. As of right now we have zero terms and conditions, there is no such thing as a return policy and it’s strictly up to the customer to decide our business terms without investing a dollar.
explain how someone who doesn’t get logistics or why we have a restocking fee gets to decide if that’s ok or not after the purchase
legit class action lawsuit. Shopify is making money off it. The banks are, we are being robbed daily and nobody is here to protect us. One user said get a chargeback software system. Yes and pay fees every single month? Get insurance and pay thousands a year all for customers illegally breaching contracts and legitimately stealing from us?
do we fight back and just start buying product off manufacturers and just chargeback the manufacturers? How far does this go?
We have never won a chaergeback- no matter how much evidence we submit and how obvious it is that we are being scammed they ALWAYS side with the customers- once we had an IG wannabe influenced do an unboxing live of the order she made with us- an actual video of her receiving the shipment and opening it- her husband saw the charge on her bill and filed a fraud claim- she told us that it was a mistake and she would contact the bank to remove it. We filed our response including the video that SHE posted of the shipment and we still lost. I mean how much more evidence could we have given? Its definitely an issue and SHOPIFY does nothing to help. Its interesting to read here that they might not even be submitting the evidence. Very disappointing very frustrating.
Ask her the money back, check, wire or you can open a charge on shopify, that is doable and get her to pay it
Honestly the bank will almost always opt to side with the customer because that person is also their customer and they want to keep them happy. The best way to deal with chargebacks is to prevent them from happening. In this instance, you did about all of what you can do.
We struggled with this for a long time, so we built our own solution using AI/ML to model the patterns and try to stop these kinds of shipment issues from happening. I'd be happy to chat and discuss with you further.
Our app can be found here if you'd like to check it out on your own: https://apps.shopify.com/deliverlitics?st_source=autocomplete
Actually, not true. I asked myself for chargebacks on defective items in my life and there were a lot of back and forth between Visa, the seller and I. I had to give all kind of proofs to be able to get my money back.
The problem is (if you read all the conversations instead of popping in to push your app) is that Shopify does not give the answer, proofs we have to the credit card company. So, the credit card company thinks we agree to the chargeback and refund. The best to call the credit card company with the date of the transaction, etc and give our version and also create a bad file on these crooks. Because they cannot pull that garbage too many times once someone raise the flag, you see
And very annoying when we have problems to always have people popping in with their apps to sell to us, and worse, no connections with the issues. You are not solving the problems. Make an app that does send the answer to the credit card company and maybe we might have an interest. Sorry to sound rude, but it is annoying to get these type of answers
The banks do a good job asking for proof to discourage fraud and spend a ton doing so. But, the customer in this case is their concern. As long as the claim seems legitimate and doesn't raise any major red flags, the bank will process. You are correct that Shopify doesn't do a great job communicating to the card company. But the issue still stands that the opportunity exists for a fraudster to attempt an exploit.
I would challenge your claim that we are not solving problems. If you have less of these orders then you have less claims. You cited your methodology of not allowing orders over $150 for new customers and only shipping to billing addresses. Those are all ways of preventing the issue from occurring. But I would consider those solutions akin to a blunt instrument. CAC is extremely high, and repurchase rates across D2C products is very low compared to major retailers. So if you think you need to get a lot of juice out of the squeeze then you run the risk of excluding legitimate customers that might be ordering a product for a party, or some other event where it's very normal to order a lot at once. All stores are also different and some sell items that are $600-$800 per item where a person can order two and still be very much in the range of normal, while exposing the merchant to a huge chargeback risk. This cornucopia of issues is why we developed the product to scan addresses based on a plethora of data points to identify risky orders and stop them before they can turn into a chargeback claim.That said, we are in the business of problem solving.
As I said in my previous post, we built this app because we were struggling w/ the same issue on our stores. So far, it's been very helpful to us, and I wanted to share that. But if you think there are other features and products we should build, I would love to have a conversation with you. Your knowledge of this topic is in the top 1% and it would be great to see if we can build something that solves your problems as well
I do not agree with you. Because when we called ourselves the credit card companies, they said, they never got the responses we gave to shopify against the customers.
For example, you ship an item 300$, tracking shows as delivered, then the customer says I love it and asks if you have other colors, you say yes. THEN, the customer asks for a chargeback saying she never received..... ?? you have the exchanges about the item she received and loved, the tracking that shows delivered and sigbed. Who wins in this case ? US, but no, because when we sent the proofs to shopify (the answer is in their system, from what I get, the credit card does not get this answer and at this point, they think you accepted the chargeback. But we now call the credit card company as well and mess up their credit real good
And not true, I hasked for chargebacks twice in my life and a lot of questionning and back and forth between the seller and I to the credit card company
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