We have been accepting credit cards for at least eight years and have NEVER had a charge back go through against us. This is because 1) we are careful and 2) we are honest. There are two reasons for a charge back. 1) A scammer gets hold of someone else's credit card and uses it to order merchandise. 2) Someone orders something and never gets it or isn't happy with it. We protect ourselves against the first by always validating the address to which we are shipping. This is why we never ship except to the address of the card. If someone asks us to ship to an alternate address, we ask them to call their issuing bank and have that address added to the card. No exceptions. This protects both the customer and us against a card being used fraudulently.
As for the second reason for charge back, we ship our packages with delivery confirmation. If it doesn't arrive, we replace the merchandise. If the customer isn't happy, we offer a 100% money-back guarantee. There is no reason to do a charge back. With a few exceptions, the charge backs we did receive were from customers who just forgot the order and didn't recognize the charge on their statement. Since our company name is CCS-Digital and the charge appears as Alsonetworks, this does happen on occasion. We contact the customer and remind them of the order and everything is resolved.
The infuriating ones are the cases where the person committing the fraud is the customer himself, using his own credit card. We had someone order a laser printer and then charge it back claiming his son used his credit card without his permission. I called Wachovia, the issuing bank and pointed out that the person placing the order had the card in his possession at the time. He knew the phone number of the bank and the three digits on the back (the CVV number). The printer was shipped to the correct address and it arrived in a large box. I had also called the customer first and the person I spoke to was not a child. But if the customer's son was truly able to pull off such a scam without his parents' knowledge, he deserved a spanking - not a free laser printer. When this didn't seem to satisfy Wachovia, I told them that I also had one of their credit cards and a son. If they believed you could order merchandise and not pay for it by claiming your son did it, I had a great way of putting my son through college. When angry vendors would call me, I would tell them to also get a Wachovia card and do the same. Eventually Wachovia would be drowning in charge back complaints and vendors would no longer accept the card. They suddenly changed their tune and disallowed the charge back.
A more common approach is for the scammer to claim the merchandise didn't work and therefore he isn't paying for it. This one should simply not be allowed. Vendors are permitted to have conditions with their sales. Stores do it all the time. "Merchandise can only be returned for credit." "Returns accepted for 7 days." When you apply for a merchant account, you are often asked to send them your sales terms. If paying by credit card gives a customer the right to ignore the terms and do whatever he wants, what is the point of having terms? And a very basic term, which doesn't even require posting, is that if something doesn't work, it must be returned in order to get credit. We offer a 100% money-back guarantee as stated on our site.
Several years ago a customer ordered a dozen cartridges, waited about six months, then charged them all back claiming they didn't work. He used an American Express card. Amex asked us to provide a copy of our sales terms as posted on the site. When I explained that we offered a full money-back guarantee, they denied the charge back.
We have just received the first charge back which was upheld against us by Discover. What is infuriating is that the customer lied blatantly, changing his story twice. First, he claimed he never made the purchase. We sent a copy of the order, a copy of the charge slip showing his address, phone number, and the CVV number of his card, a copy of the shipping slip and delivery slip. He then charged it back a second time, claiming it didn't work. I called Discover to ask them how he could claim he never made the order then claim it didn't work? And why wasn't he required to return it? When this attempt failed, he tried a third time, again claiming he didn't make the order. I called Discover to ask how he could claim it didn't work if he hadn't made the order? None of this helped. Discover decided that this blatant liar was entitled to keep the product and get a refund. What this means is that accepting Discover card is tantamount to sending out a product when the customer says "I will gladly pay you Tuesday." You have no guarantee you will get paid and even if you do, it can be taken back months later without cause.
If any of you accept credit cards, Discover or otherwise, do not accept orders from:
Robert Pearle
ropexec@aol.com
5301 Heatherbrook Circle
Las Vegas, NV 89120
Home Phone: 702-435-5663