What is a chargeback?
A chargeback is a disputed charge initiated by a cardholder. A cardholder may dispute a charge they do not recognize or believe to be illegitimate.
The process can vary by card brand and issuing bank but in general, the process of a chargeback works as follows:
- The cardholder disputes a charge with their bank.
- The issuing bank temporarily awards the cardholder funds in the amount of the charge being disputed. You will see the disputed payment deducted on your next Deposit Report.
- The issuing bank will request more information from the merchant to understand why the charge was submitted. Any supporting documentation provided by the merchant is taken into consideration when determining the legitimacy of the charge.
- The issuing bank will make a decision in favor of the merchant or in favor of the cardholder.
- The bank will award funds in the amount of the disputed charge to the winning party. If the issuing bank finds the charge to be legitimate, the funds are debited from the cardholder’s account and are credited back to the merchant. If the charge is found to be illegitimate, the funds will remain credited to the cardholder. Banks typically have 90 days to review documents provided and make a determination.
Please note: Depending on the cycle of the chargeback, the cardholder can dispute a transaction more than once. Card brands have different parameters around how many times a cardholder can dispute a charge and the cycle in which funds are credited/debited. If you’ve won a dispute, there could still be a window of time during which the cardholder can dispute the transaction for a second or third time.
There will be a $20.00 chargeback fee for the chargeback reflected on your deposit from Easy Storage Payments. This fee may be charged multiple times depending on the stages the chargeback cycles through. The chargeback fee is charged to the facility to cover chargeback fees from the processor. If the facility chooses to pass this fee to the tenant, a manual fee needs to be issued.
Where can I view my chargeback activity?
The Chargebacks report provides real-time visibility into your chargeback activity and chargeback statuses.
You can view the report by navigating to the Reports page in your Easy Storage Solutions account and click Payment Processing - Chargebacks. You can view all chargebacks or filter by date range or status.
Open Chargebacks
Chargebacks that need to be accepted or disputed. The Response Date column shows the date you need to respond to the chargeback by.
Closed and Pending Chargebacks
Chargebacks that have been responded to. One of the following statuses will be shown in the Status column:
- Won - The issuing bank has ruled in the merchant’s favor. The funds are debited from the cardholder’s account and are credited back to the merchant.
- Lost - The issuing bank has ruled in the cardholder’s favor. The funds will remain credited to the cardholder.
- Pending - The dispute is under review by the issuing bank. These transactions will be updated to Won or Lost once a decision is reached).
Print or export the Chargebacks Report
Click Export CSV or PDF to download the report.
Who at my company will be notified when there is a chargeback?
Chargeback notifications are sent to your contact email address on file. This email address is shown on the Payment Processing - Chargebacks page in your ESS account. If you need to change your contact email address, contact our Support Team at support@storageunitsoftware.com.
Please note: If you change your Chargeback email address, you will be changing the email address for all ESS communications other than system generated notifications.
What is Easy Storage Payments’ involvement in chargebacks?
When a chargeback occurs, you will be notified via email. You can let the ESS Team know if you would like to accept the chargeback, which will refund the disputed amount back to the customer, or have the ESS Team dispute the chargeback on your behalf. Disputing the chargeback provides an opportunity to submit evidence to prove that the charge was a valid transaction for the correct amount.
In either case, the transaction amount will initially be deducted from your next deposit report. Your software will not allow you to issue a refund on the transaction because the funds have already been sent back to the tenant.
The Easy Storage Payments Support Team is not involved in the decision-making component of this process. Dispute outcomes are out of the control of the ESS Team and are solely determined by the issuing bank. We can only facilitate the submission of documentation or accept liability on a merchant’s behalf.
How do I respond to a chargeback?
To accept or dispute a chargeback, respond directly to the Support Team’s email. Sending a separate email to our Support Team can cause communications to be missed or misdirected and lead to delays in connecting your message with the dispute case. Although our chargeback emails are sent from a no-reply email address, responses will be directed to our Support Team.
The best way to prevent chargebacks is to communicate with your customers. You can learn more about preventing and responding to chargebacks in our article: Avoiding and handling payment disputes.