In this guide you will find an overview of common dispute types and Timely’s suggested prevention strategies. Before reading further, ensure you have read our help guide How to navigate the dispute process, as this includes information on what to expect when encountering disputes and answers to frequently asked questions.
In this article you will find an overview on the following dispute types:
Fraudulent
A fraudulent dispute occurs when a cardholder communicates that they did not recognise, make, or authorise the payment. This doesn’t necessarily mean your business is fraudulent, but it could be that someone has stolen their credentials and used these to make an unauthorised payment.
Timely tip: When you are faced with a fraudulent dispute, it is good to review any suspicious activity, for example: did the client make any unusual requests?
If the payment is a deposit for a future appointment, and you cannot get in touch with the client; you can consider cancelling the appointment and then accepting the dispute to return the payment. This can be a way to ensure the time slot becomes available again for other clients to book, ensuring your business is best placed to recover the costs.
Alternatively, if the client is present for their appointment while the dispute is still open, you could charge the full amount on the day (not redeeming the deposit) and then accept the dispute.
If you know the payment has been made or authorised by the cardholder, it’s good to get written confirmation, ideally with signature, from the client. Otherwise, you can attempt to counter by proving to the bank it was indeed the cardholder who made the payment by providing identifying information you have for this payment and client. For more information on important evidence to include in your response, please see our guide on how to prepare & submit evidence for a dispute.
Prevention Strategies
- Ensure your statement descriptor reflects your business name accurately to avoid confusion.
- Send receipts after the customer paid, so they can easily review what they paid for.
Timely tip: To reduce the risk of Fraudulent disputes in future, check out our guide on How to reduce the risks of receiving fraudulent transactions online.
Credit not processed
A customer may dispute a payment under “Credit Not Processed” when they expect a refund for their payment. If the disputed payment is a deposit, it’s important to check whether the appointment was cancelled by the customer; if so, they likely expected the deposit to be refunded automatically. If you are happy to refund the deposit due to cancellation, you can go ahead and accept the dispute, which will refund the payment closing the dispute at the same time.
Alternatively, to counter the dispute, you will likely want to show that the refund was already actioned or why the payment was non-refundable. For more information on important evidence to include in your response, please see our guide on how to prepare & submit evidence for a dispute.
Timely Tip: If you tried refunding the payment through Timely, confirm the payment type of your refund - If you haven’t refunded manually (e.g. via bank transfer) make sure TimelyPay has been selected as the payment type of the refund.
Timely note: Only TimelyPay payments refunded through TimelyPay are automatically refunded to the cardholder. If any other payment method was selected the refund would have needed to be actioned manually (for example, via bank transfer). In case this hasn’t happened, it is possible the client didn’t receive a refund which would have led to the dispute.
Prevention Strategies
- Ensure your return or cancellation policy is clear and easily accessible to customers before they make a payment. If you have a website with terms, it’s best practice to include a link in your cancellation policy in Timely.
- Be transparent about what happens to deposits after cancellations that are done well in advance (outside your cancellation period). For example, does the deposit stay available as credit for future redemption or do customers need to get in touch with you for a refund?
Product not received
When a dispute is raised under Product not received the cardholder claims that the service or product they paid for hasn’t been delivered. If the disputed payment is a deposit, check whether the appointment was cancelled by the customer. If so, they likely want the deposit to be refunded. If you are happy to refund the deposit due to the cancellation, you can go ahead and accept the dispute, which will refund the payment while closing the dispute at the same time.
If you don’t agree that the payment should be returned, you’ll need to prove the service/product was provided. For more information on important evidence to include in your response, please see our guide on how to prepare & submit evidence for a dispute.
Prevention Strategies
- Ensure you have clear and easily accessible contact details so clients can reach out if they have any problems
- Keep record of the client coming for their service or purchasing a product, for example, asking them to sign the receipt, treatment notes (incl. signed consult forms) or having CCTV footage.
- Always follow your written policies and local law quickly when a customer asks for a full or partial refund for products or services they didn't get.
Product not acceptable
When a client raises a dispute as Product not acceptable, they believe that the service/product they paid for was not as described or didn’t meet the description as advertised. If the client hasn’t already reached out to you, your best first step is to get in touch with them and gather context as to why they raised the dispute.
Sometimes this reason is used similarly to “Credit not processed” or “Product not received” where the client expected a refund for a cancelled booking. In the same manner, if you are happy to refund the deposit due to the cancellation, you can go ahead and accept the dispute, which will refund the payment while closing the dispute at the same time.
Should you need to counter the dispute because the service was provided as agreed/advertised you can view more information on important evidence to include in your response. Please see our guide on how to prepare & submit evidence for a dispute.
Prevention Strategies
- Make sure your description of the service is clearly advertised and any unique arrangements with your customers are properly recorded.
- If the client reaches out to you about their service try and resolve this directly with them, instead of referring them to their bank. As the business who sold the service you must be their point of contact.
Duplicate
A duplicate payment dispute indicates that the cardholder believes they have been double-charged for the same payment. Firstly, you should confirm whether the client was actually charged multiple times. For example:
- If you are taking online payments with TimelyPay but also have terminals (including 3rd party terminals) it could be the client was charged via the terminal and via TimelyPay (e.g. cardless checkout).
- Check if there was an orphaned duplicate payment. The best place to check for this in your TimelyPay transaction report.
If the payment is a duplicate, you should accept the dispute to refund the duplicate payment. If the payment is unique and you want to counter the dispute you need to prove to the bank why the payment is unique. For more information on important evidence to include in your response, please see our guide on how to prepare & submit evidence for a dispute.
Important note: Do not refund manually while the dispute is pending, as this can cause you to lose the funds twice.
Prevention Strategies
- Review your payments and refund any duplicates immediately.
- Check the TimelyPay transaction report after a failed payment, in case it has been processed as an orphaned payment.