A chargeback costs more than the sale it reverses. You lose the goods or service, you pay a dispute fee, and if your ratio climbs too high your card schemes and acquirers start to take notice.
The good news is that a large share of disputes are preventable.
Know why disputes happen
Disputes tend to fall into three groups:
- True fraud. A stolen card was used on your site.
- Friendly fraud. The cardholder made the purchase but disputes it anyway, sometimes because they do not recognise the charge.
- Merchant error. A late delivery, a cancelled subscription that kept billing, or a refund that never arrived.
Each group needs a different answer.
Practical steps
- Make your billing descriptor obvious. Customers dispute charges they do not recognise. Use a name they will match to your brand.
- Screen transactions before you accept them. Risk rules and fraud scoring catch most stolen-card attempts before they become disputes.
- Use dispute alerts. Alerts give you a window to refund a transaction before it turns into a formal chargeback.
- Make refunds easy. A customer who can get a refund in two clicks rarely goes to their bank.
- Keep good evidence. Delivery confirmations, logs and customer messages win representments.
Built in, not bolted on
Tuskpay’s chargeback mitigation tools sit in the same flow as your payments, so screening, alerts and evidence all live in one place. See how it works or ask us about your dispute ratio.