The better we get at preventing fraud the harder fraudsters try to take our hard earned money. The new term you will start hearing about is “friendly fraud”. The short explanation of this is a customer orders product via the internet. The customer takes delivery. The final step the customer reverses the charges claiming they never received the product when in reality they have. I know you are thinking that is impossible and no one does this let alone gets away with this. Well I am here to tell the have can and will continue to get away with this nonsense if retailers don’t protect themselves and fight the good fight.
So what can you do to cut down on and hopeful stop “friendly fraud”?
First thing is having a clear and concise 30 day return policy and make sure your customers know about it. This makes them more likely to contact you rather than the credit card company when disputing a charge. When having only a couple day return policy consumer fraud tends to be much higher. Plus having a clearly written policy may deter a fraudster as it will give you more of a “we have our act together” type business. Keep in mind fraudsters, like any crook, will pick the easier mark or the path of least resistance.
Second make sure you send a delivery confirmation –email after an item arrives at the customers home or business. This is simple a paper trail that may come in handy down the road should the customer dispute the fact that they received the product.
Third if it is a recurring sale or membership perhaps, makes sure it is very easy for customers to end or opt-out. If they can’t and they call the bank and complain about the charges most times the bank will side with the consumer leaving you with another reversed charge.
These are just a few tips for things you can do to protect yourself. Another resource or service to help prevent chargeback’s is www.chargebacks911.com. For a monthly fee they will manage chargeback’s and have an excellent record of reducing them. As always feel free to call the team here if you have any questions. 1-800-699-0820 ext 2
