What additional evidence can an e-Commerce merchant provide to defend against chargebacks?

In addition to the actions described in What is a chargeback?, you can also provide the following evidence:

Evidence of the cardholder’s actions

• Evidence that the cardholder used in a previous transaction that they didn’t dispute, for example:
• IP address
• Email address
• Physical address
• Telephone number
• Transaction history if the cardholder is registered online, for example:
• Type of device they used to checkout
• IP address
• Time and date of purchase
• Evidence of the cardholder accessing your website after the transaction date
• Evidence that the cardholder’s email address they used at the time of the purchase matches the email address they used to receive digital goods
• A pickup form with the cardholder’s signature and a copy of their identification
• A release form or waiver that the cardholder signed that allows you to deliver packages to the cardholder’s address without requiring a signature, and an unsigned Proof of Delivery (POD)
• Evidence that the cardholder agreed to accept the goods or services as provided
• Evidence that the cardholder has the goods or is using the service, for example, photographs or emails

Evidence of your actions

• Written correspondence between you and the cardholder, which may include:
• Letters
• Emails
• Photographs
• Faxes
• Invoice or Proof of Delivery (POD) that shows you shipped the goods before cancellation and the cardholder hasn’t returned them
• Evidence that you shipped the goods to a positive AVS address and you obtained Proof of Delivery (POD)
• A signed POD for domestic only deliveries
• Evidence of shipping and delivery of any replacement goods
• Explanation of why the transaction dates, your merchant name, or your merchant location is different to what the cardholder thought it would be

What can I do to help prevent chargebacks?

In addition to the best practices described in How can I avoid chargebacks?, we recommend you follow these best practices:

Do:

• Clearly indicate the expected delivery date on the receipt or invoice
• Contact the cardholder in writing if you delay delivery or cancel the goods or service
• Provide a valid customer service number or a URL address
• Provide goods or services as you described to the cardholder
• If the cardholder receives defective goods or they do not receive the goods as you described, immediately resolve the issue at first contact
• Use an AVS to confirm that the billing and shipping address match

Don’t

• Charge the cardholder before you ship the goods to them

Tags: proof, e-commerce, avoid chargebacks, avs, chargeback process, dispute, defend chargeback