We've outlined some of the most common chargeback situations and facts to prepare your business and employees to encourage the best resolutions. There will be times when chargebacks are inevitable. How your business and employees are trained to handle them will make all the difference. Preparing and educating your staff will result in the best customer experience. Here are a few ideas for training topics that are most effective when tailored to your specific environment.
Start with the basics and then call-out important information that can be gathered quickly once they know what to look for. There are various methods of payment from a card-present transaction, when you have the physical card in your hand to run it in your card machine to card-not-present transactions, which is typically an online purchase or over the phone order when you do not have the actual card to process. Let's start with card-present.
Card-present
When you have an in-person, in-store transaction and have a physical card the best way to process the card to avoid chargebacks is to verify the information. Start with the card expiration date and enter the three-digit security code (CVV).
Card-not-present
As most transactions without a physical card will be online, the most successful way to reduce chargebacks and build a case to support your business in the event of a chargeback is to collect additional information. Capturing digital signatures and IP addresses are recommended.
Payment Descriptor
Your descriptor appears on the cardholder’s statement. It's a listing, identification name for your business. It is to help the consumer connect the purchase to your company. If your descriptor is unclear, the cardholder may not recognize your company name or the purchase and file a dispute. In the event that your payment descriptor causes confusion for your customers, minimize concerns by sharing this payment descriptor upfront to remove confusion and provide transparency.
Review every chargeback individually
Every chargeback will be different and it is important to review every chargeback based on the specifics in that situation. For instance, if a long-time customer files a dispute it might be better to accept the chargeback to retain a good customer. Training your employees on knowing what to ask can help to uncover special circumstances and adjust accordingly.
Never underestimate the power of excellent customer service
Strong customer service is one thing your business can take control over and uphold a standard-level across departments and from employee-to-employee that is above and beyond. Customer service is an area that every business can continue to positively improve and reinforce.
Merchant services when working with a full-service payments provider, can offer additional benefits such as chargeback assistance.
