Chargeback Process for Major Credit Card Companies

A chargeback refers to the return of funds to a customer, forcibly initiated by the customer’s issuing bank/creditor. Your customer may file for a chargeback with their issuing bank/creditor for one of the following reasons:

• They are not satisfied with services that were rendered
• They do not recognize the charge
• Duplicate processing
• The charge is fraudulent
• They never received the services/merchandise
• A recurring charge doesn’t stop

The customer contacts their issuing bank with questions regarding the charge(s) in question. The issuing bank issues a credit while the charge is investigated. The bank requests supporting documents from the merchant (Active processor) to validate the charge.

The ACTIVE Network receives the dispute documentation from the payment processor via online or mail.  The merchant (ActiveNetwork) provides supporting documents to the credit card company via online, on our client’s behalf.

The possible procedures and outcomes of how ACTIVE Network contacts customers and disputes the chargebacks are as follows:

1. If cardholder is claiming they are not satisfied with the services rendered
   1. ACTIVE Network will provide a refund / cancellation policy (if available) showing the cardholder was aware of the details of the event when registering
   2. The supporting documents submitted to the bank vary depending on the reason code provided when the dispute is received
   • Note: If required, ACTIVE will contact the customer to obtain the supporting document via the account manager
2. If a customer is claiming they don’t recognize the charge
   1. ACTIVE Network sends supporting documents showing details of the transaction in question
   2. We obtain the customer’s statement from the registration system, then submit our response to our credit card processor
   • Note: In these situations, our client is generally not contacted unless we have reason to believe that the registration in your management system is fraudulent. The rate of success in disputing these types of claims on your behalf is highly in your favor
3. If a customer is claiming duplicate processing of their payment
   1. The ACTIVE Network locates the charges in our credit card processor, checks your management system to verify, and then sends supporting documents to dispute the chargeback
   2. We send you a notification via email regarding the duplicate processing
   3. All valid duplicate chargebacks are disputed,  true duplicate transactions will be accepted
4. If a customer is claiming the charge is fraudulent
   1. ACTIVE Network rarely sees fraudulent transactions. If a transaction is true fraud, a refund will be issued to the cardholder
   2. Often, the customer did not initially recognize the charge, but accepts the charge as valid when presented with the transaction details
   3. Once a chargeback is initiated, the cardholder must contact their bank to confirm the charge is valid.  ACTIVE is still required to respond with documentation. Because the transaction was validated by the cardholder, the chargeback would return as a win
   4. If our client believes that the charge is fraudulent, we accept the chargeback and our client is charged for the cost of the dispute. Our client can then in turn pursue payment for the dispute costs from their customer or withhold their services
5. If a customer is claiming that they never received the services/merchandise purchased
   1. Proof showing the services were rendered are sent along with the refund cancellation policy
   2. We submit the chargeback documentation to our credit card processor, including our policy

Note: When chargebacks are submitted, the cardholder’s credit card company decides whether or not the refund policy and electronic signature have been presented to their customer in a manner compliant with their policies