How long does a cardholder have to initiate a Chargeback after their purchase?
In most cases, a cardholder is given up to 120 days from the original sales transaction to file a Chargeback. However, there are reason codes whereby the cardholder is able to initiate a chargeback up to 540 days from the date of the transaction. These reason codes are ‘Services not provided’; ‘Services not as described’; and ‘Credit not issued’.
Am I required to pay a Chargeback fee if the Transaction was valid?
Yes, if you are required to pay a Chargeback fee as part of your contract with TMT, then a Chargeback fee will be applied in all Chargeback cases. The Chargeback fee is non reversible.
What if a Chargeback is initiated but I have already issued a Refund?
If a Chargeback has been applied to a payment which has previously been refunded, then we can dispute the Chargeback by providing the bank with evidence of the refund. Using this information the bank will be able to reverse/cancel the Chargeback. Once the Chargeback has been reversed by the bank Trust My Travel will credit your Booking and corresponding Statement.
Is there a timeframe the merchant has to dispute a Chargeback?
The timeframe you are given to dispute a Chargeback varies per card issuer. However, more often than not you will have approximately 10 days. If we receive a Chargeback with a small timeframe, we will be in contact with you straight away to notify you of this.
To find out how long you have to challenge a Chargeback, look for the ‘Challenge by’ date which will appear in the chargeback transaction under the ‘Response’ Field.
How can I protect myself from fraudulent Chargebacks?
There are a few things you can do to protect yourself against fraud:
1.Use your Trust My Travel dashboard to monitor your bookings regularly and raise any suspicious bookings with us. I.E. If a cardholder has attempted to process multiple payments with you using different cards then please let us know and we can review this more closely.
2.Ensure that you verify the travellers identity before travel takes place. Do they have a copy of their ID which you can verify against their booking?
3.Ask your traveller to sign some documentation before travel commences. This can often be used to strengthen your case.
Does my Chargeback Ratio % affect my Trust My Travel account?
Yes, your Chargeback ratio will affect how you can use Trust My Travel and every endeavour should be made to keep your Chargeback ratio down as much as possible.
A rising Chargeback ratio may affect your ability to use our solution or future merchant accounts. Chargebacks, whilst inevitable, are normally a sign something has gone wrong between you and customer and must be actively prevented where possible through effective fraud measures, understanding of causes and communication with customers.
Friendly fraud is invariably common in the travel industry and our team and tools are on hand to assist with these cases. Chargeback ratios above 1% of processing are rare but if you do reach this level and above, we will try to work with you to bring this back down again and satisfy any concerns raised by the card schemes.
How long does it take for a decision to be made on the Chargeback after evidence has been submitted?
Once Trust My Travel has submitted evidence to the bank to represent this Chargeback, the decision can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to be resolved as this often depends on each individual case. However, we are likely to receive a response no later than 55 days (from the date that we submitted supporting evidence to the bank). Previously refunded Chargeback are usually settled more quickly.
What is a Retrieval Request?
A Retrieval Request is a method of obtaining a copy of the paperwork to validate a transaction.
The request comes from the credit card issuer or cardholder and goes to the acquirer or merchant. We do not debit your account at this point, as its merely a case of providing the bank with more information about the booking before they consider applying a Chargeback.
If a retrieval request is not responded to within the timeframe that we have provided you with, then its highly likely that this retrieval request will escalate into a Chargeback, at which point your account will be debited and Chargeback fees will apply.
If you respond to a retrieval request within the timeframe, this documentation will be sent to the bank to review.
The card issuer or cardholder may decide that a Chargeback still applies, in which case this will escalate into a chargeback and be reflected on your dashboard.
If the card issuer and cardholder are happy with the document provided, they may decide to close the retrieval request in which case no further action is taken.
Which email address does the chargeback notification get sent to?
Chargeback notifications are automatically sent to the primary contact (BCC email) found in each Channel. If there is also a Chargeback email address defined (using the ‘Chargeback email’ field) then this email address will also receive a copy of the same receipt as well as the primary contact. Please note that the defined ‘Chargeback email’ contact will not receive any email notifications other than Chargeback notifications.