Chargebacks: How And When To Use Them The Right Way

In the digital age, with more and more of our daily lives becoming cashless, consumers have an added layer of protection when they spend their money: They can have credit card charges reversed.

Chargebacks are a legitimate tool consumers have to protect themselves from fraud and unethical business practices when they pay by using a credit card. Like most financial transaction, taking advantage of a chargeback is a little bit more complicated than just having a charge to your credit or debit card reversed.

There are risks and rules involved with using chargebacks, and to protect yourself, you need to understand how and when to use them the right way. Read on to learn all about the history and purpose of chargebacks, a step-by-step guide to using them, and the risks and consequences you should keep in mind before asking for chargebacks.

WHAT IS A CHARGEBACK?

A chargeback is a dispute of a charge that can result in a reversal of the charge that a consumer initiates with their bank.

Chargebacks give consumers the option to reverse charges, which protects them from fraudulent and inaccurate transactions. Unfortunately, not all consumers know the ins and outs of chargebacks. They can even be over utilized or used at the wrong times. To further understand, let’s take a look back at the history of chargebacks.

THE HISTORY OF CHARGEBACKS

In the early 1970s, credit cards and bank charge cards were beginning to come into prominence, but many consumers were wary of them because they worried the cards could be lost or stolen, sticking card owners with the bill for unauthorized transactions.

There was also the risk of shady merchants using credit card numbers to add fraudulent charges to purchases and take advantage of their customers. When the Fair Credit Billing Act of 1974 was written into law, it created chargebacks as a way for consumers to protect themselves when they used credit cards.

Before chargebacks, the fear was that once money was taken from a consumer’s account, there was nothing he or she could do about it. Chargebacks gave them a way to ask their bank to replace funds that had been taken out because of fraudulent transactions.

Chargebacks provide consumers with a safety net that protects their money if they used cards instead of cash and checks.

USING CHARGEBACKS TODAY

Today, chargebacks are still a legitimate way for consumers to protect themselves while making purchases using credit cards. They serve a number of purposes in the digital age:

• Helping customers feel safe and secure when making digital payments for goods and services.

• Keeping merchants honest and transparent, because if they deliver subpar goods and services, or try to take advantage of their customers, a bank can remove money from their accounts.

• Protecting consumers from fraud. As hack, data breaches, and identity theft have become the reality of living in a modern world, chargebacks are a way for victims of criminal fraud to reverse unauthorized transactions and recoup the money they lost.

CAN YOU USE CHARGEBACKS FOR DEBIT CARD PURCHASES?

The Fair Credit Billing Act that created chargebacks as a protection for consumers only applies to credit cards.

If you make a purchase with your debit card and run the card as a credit (meaning you didn’t enter your PIN), the bank can follow chargeback procedures. If you entered your PIN, the process gets a little tougher for you.

You can still dispute a purchase you made on a debit card by contacting your bank. What happens after you initiate a dispute is up to the bank’s policies and procedures.

WHEN CAN YOU LEGALLY USE CHARGEBACKS?

Here’s the rub: You can’t just use a chargeback whenever you feel like it. The power to initiate a chargeback doesn’t give consumers carte blanche to reverse any transaction. There are situations where you might consider a chargeback and end up not initiating one. In addition, there are times when chargebacks are absolutely necessary and within your rights as a consumer.

WHEN YOU MIGHT CONSIDER USING A CHARGEBACK

These are situations in which you’re allowed to initiate a chargeback:

• You didn’t authorize charges to your card, generally because your card has been stolen or your account was compromised.

• You never received paid for products or services.

• You received paid for products or services, but they were defective or not-as-described.

• You were charged a recurring fee after canceling a subscription.

• You were charged more than once for the same purchase.

• You were charged the wrong amount for a purchase.

• You were charged in the wrong currency for a purchase.

• You returned an item, but never received a refund.

Just because your situation matches one on this list doesn’t mean you can go straight to your bank for a chargeback. In fact, the only situation in which you should contact your bank first is if there are unauthorized charges on your card. Otherwise, you are expected to attempt to work with the merchant before turning to your bank for help.

When you complete a chargeback, you get to keep the item in question, but the money gets taken from the merchant and given back to you. That means the merchant is basically paying double because they’re losing inventory, and not getting paid for it. Plus, many payment processors charge the merchant fees for chargebacks to cover administrative costs. A chargeback should be a last resort to use with a merchant that’s unwilling or unable to help you, not a tool you use on regular basis.

It’s possible that your issue with the merchant is the result of an honest mistake. Most merchants don’t want to deal with the hassle and cost of chargebacks, so they’re likely to be willing to work with you to make things right. It’s only if you’ve contacted the merchant and they’re not willing to work with you that you should contact your bank about initiating a chargeback.

WHEN YOU SHOULD NOT USE A CHARGEBACK

Like we said above, chargebacks can definitely be overused. These are just some of the situations in which you should not use a chargeback:

• You have buyer’s remorse.

• The return process seems long, complicated, or burdensome.

• You don’t want to pay for shipping, handling, or a restocking fee to return an item.

• You feel like delivery for your item took too long.

• You want to return an item, but you waited too long and the return window is closed.

• You don’t want to pay for an authorized charge on your credit card bill.

• You forgot about or don’t recognize a transaction, but you haven’t investigated it to see if it was legitimate.

• You want to keep your money or get an item for free.

A growing problem in the digital age is what’s called “friendly fraud,” or seemingly trustworthy people using chargebacks in situations that don’t warrant them. We’ll get more into the costs and consequences of chargebacks (both for merchants and consumers) below, but be aware that knowingly requesting a chargeback without attempting to work with a merchant first is illegal and it abuses the system.

HOW TO USE A CHARGEBACK

While most of us understand that we should be concerned on some level about how much personal data companies collect. If you’ve been a victim of fraud, or you’ve attempted to work with a merchant and found the business unwilling or unable to help you, you can start the chargeback process. Before we get into the steps involved, let’s look at all the parties involved in a chargeback.