From time to time, you may receive a small number of chargebacks, requesting that you provide information related to the transaction. A chargeback is when a customer questions one of your transactions after raising a dispute directly with their bank. Disputed funds will be automatically deducted until the dispute is resolved and a £15/$15/€15 fee per disputed transaction will usually be applied by your payment processor.

A chargeback can be issued for a wide range of reasons as listed below:

Credit not processed - A customer believes they are entitled to a refund, which you have not provided. As tickets are non-refundable unless your event has been cancelled, rescheduled or postponed, the customer should not be entitled to a refund, and you can dispute this by referring to your purchase policy.

Duplicate transaction - A customer may have mistakenly purchased multiple tickets in quick succession and complained to their bank rather than trying to resolve the issue with you directly. Providing you haven’t already resolved the issue, you should accept the dispute on this occasion. 

Fraudulent - The customer disputes the transaction as a fraudulent purchase. In many cases, the customer simply did not recognise a genuine transaction on their bank statement and disputed the order, or has recently been the victim of other card fraud and mistakenly also disputed legitimate transactions. In some cases, the customer may knowingly submit a dishonest claim to their bank to better their own personal financial situation. We would advise researching the customer and assessing whether the claim is genuine fraud. This can be a simple check, such as Googling their contact details and researching their social media profiles for evidence. 

General - The customer or bank has disputed the transaction and provided no additional information. In these cases, attempt to contact the customer to clarify the situation. If the customer is non-responsive, mention this in your dispute and provide the general purchase policy and product information. 

Product not received - The customer is claiming that they have not received the product, whether that be receiving their e-ticket or the event not taking place. Submit in your claim their provided contact details and mention if your event is still due or has taken place.

Product unacceptable - The customer claims that the product was not as described at the time of purchase. In this case, clarify in your response to how your event as sold and what was delivered, and include your purchase policy. 

Subscription cancelled - The customer disputed a recurring payment, such as a payment plan payment. In this case, provide your purchase policy and mention if the customer has made no effort to contact you regarding cancelling their payment plan. 

Unrecognised - The customer does not recognise the description on their bank statement and is asking for more information. Provide them with your full event details and the information provided by the customer, such as their attendee name and email address. If the statement descriptor you have set in your Stripe or Paypal account is unclear, we would recommend changing this to your event or publicly known brand. 

Resources 

Stripe - How disputes work

Stripe - Dispute categories (and how to respond)

Paypal - Resolving a dispute