$1100 Chargeback and nothing I can do?

[tmilone103]

Long story short... Customer ordered $1100 order and merchandise was delivered to billing address and signed for. Customer called for RMA two weeks later and we gave them an RMA # and informed them of the 15% stocking fee and they said they refused to be hit with a restocking fee.

They did not return it and in February we were hit with an Unauthorized Chargeback... We sent in a copy of the order and signed proof of delivery to the AVS verified billing address. We initially won the case but then 2 weeks ago was overturned since the customer is stating that he "NEVER AUTHORIZED" the transaction.

He is not stating that he never received it but that he never authorized it and I am now out $1100. What else can I do? The customer refuses to send it back and I am out my merchandise?

[jwm2]

Long story short... Customer ordered $1100 order and merchandise was delivered to billing address and signed for. Customer called for RMA two weeks later and we gave them an RMA # and informed them of the 15% stocking fee and they said they refused to be hit with a restocking fee.

They did not return it and in February we were hit with an Unauthorized Chargeback... We sent in a copy of the order and signed proof of delivery to the AVS verified billing address. We initially won the case but then 2 weeks ago was overturned since the customer is stating that he "NEVER AUTHORIZED" the transaction.

He is not stating that he never received it but that he never authorized it and I am now out $1100. What else can I do? The customer refuses to send it back and I am out my merchandise?

First i would start with an email and let them know that what they are doing is considered fraud if they do not return the merchandise immediately. Inform them you will report the merchandise as stolen to their local police department and they will be chrged with a federal crime from defrauding a company while using the internet. Give them 48-72 hours to reply and arrange for the shipment of your merchandise back to you with no recourse. After that time period lapses you will need to call their local police department and file a complaint. They will send an officer to their home and check to see if the merchandise is there. You have their signature so you have proof they did receive the merchandise and if they try to hide it, that will be considered a crime as well. They have no right to order something, sign for it, try to return it, and then file a chargeback. That is considered fraud. I've dealt with deadbeats for over 11 years and 9 times out of 10 if you inform them just how much trouble they will be in they will return the merchandise to you to avoid the hassle and legal expenses, not to mention a criminal record. Also find all their emails and print them out, you may need them later on. Good luck.

[Go Live]

Very good sound advice

I would add "suffer severe repercussions both criminal and financial"

As to the restock fee. I understand all the hassle and all. Truth be known it looks threatening on your policy page and no credit card company will honer it. We have learned to just deal with it as a part of doing business on the web as the risk is much less then shoplifting. So we removed that jester from our policy page along with insurance.
Since you can't win you might as well look like a good company to do business with.

Just my 2 cents
Good Luck

[Luxlife]

It seems the best way to handle this is to require that all RMA requests come by email or through the RMA system and they must supply an order number and perhaps a reason for the return.

We have bascially followed this procedure for years with one of the reasons being to prevent situations like this. If they call, require the email. After you receive the email remind them of any restocking fees when the RMA is sent to them.

The little back and forth of this type of this communication demonstrates they were aware of the order.

Of course, all of this assumes the return policy is properly posted on the web site.

Unfortunately, these are situations online and mail order merchants must deal with. Fortunately, they don't occur to often. However, there are a lot of people in financial difficulty in this economy so there is definitely an increase in dishonesty.

Last week, we had an order for a few hunderd dollars with 2nd day shipping. A couple of days later, we receive a frantic call from the card holder claiming they did not place an order with us and the credit card had been stolen. We would have believed him except he made an error by asking how could the order have processed without the security code. He claimed another merchant told him they didn't complete the transaction because the security code was missing and he questioned our security. However, the security code was not missing from our transaction because we block all orders that do not have it. We conclude that either the gateway made an error or he was using small talk as a cover for an order he hoped had shipped to a physical address different from his billing address. The order had an email address with a female name but at the same email service as his. (We got his email address by requiring him to send us transaction details from his credit card by email.)

It is possible he is telling the truth and the gateway allowed this transaction. The point is to have procedures that are non-confrontational and leave a trail that protects the merchant and the customer.

When I have more time, I would like to start a thread to exchange on the issues of fraud.

[rburton34]

A disturbing trend I have noticed the last 6 months or so is credit card companies ignoring an AVS match and signature and refusing the merchant their funds back because the cc holder simply continues to dispute the charge.

I lost a $450 chargeback 4 months ago because the card holder "continues to dispute the charge".

I lost $517 last month because the card holder "continues to state they did not authorize the charge". The quotes are exactly what was in both letters I received back telling me I wasnt getting my money back.

Both had AVS match and both had a signature. I "won" each complaint the first time, but the card holder continued to dispute the charges so I lost the funds. My credit card processor simply stated there was nothing else they could do and suggested I get my funds back through the court system.

So I guess credit card companies have decided they want to keep their interest paying customers and are willing to take part in theft in order to keep them.

[cosmic]

I would definitely pursue getting the merchandise back. Call your merchant account for assistance and send out that email as suggested.

We no longer rely on AVS and shipping same as billing alone for large orders. We do reverse phone lookups and call the billing phone number if it matches the one on the order. If it doesn't we email the customer asking for their billing phone number.

Another thing to watch out for....

We have had several large orders where the AVS code was a match and asking for shipping to the billing address BUT.... when doing a reverse lookup we found the street address matched but the apt # (on the 2nd address line) was different. We chose to hold the order and correspond with the customer and lo & behold, no reply and no follow up asking where their large orders are?

[tmilone103]

A disturbing trend I have noticed the last 6 months or so is credit card companies ignoring an AVS match and signature and refusing the merchant their funds back because the cc holder simply continues to dispute the charge.

I lost a $450 chargeback 4 months ago because the card holder "continues to dispute the charge".

I lost $517 last month because the card holder "continues to state they did not authorize the charge". The quotes are exactly what was in both letters I received back telling me I wasnt getting my money back.

Both had AVS match and both had a signature. I "won" each complaint the first time, but the card holder continued to dispute the charges so I lost the funds. My credit card processor simply stated there was nothing else they could do and suggested I get my funds back through the court system.

So I guess credit card companies have decided they want to keep their interest paying customers and are willing to take part in theft in order to keep them.

Yes, This is the key "continues to state they did not authorize the charge" and exactly what I was given when they said sorry there is nothing else we can do.

I sent the customer email (I know they are valid email addresses) and even sent UPS to pickup the merchandise and they have told UPS that the items were not available for pickup. UPS tried 3 times now and they will not attempt any more pickups so it looks like I now have to file with small claims court.

His refusal to give UPS back the merchandise should be enough to prove my case. They received and signed for it but refuse to give it back. The only thing I am glad of is that they are in the same state so hopefully this will make it somewhat easier.