Desputes

[Hollywood3271]

Please tell me what to do to stop people from disputing credit card payments. I email them invoices and they pay with their credit card and when I do the job they wait until a week later and they tell their bank they don’t recognize the charge. But they are the one that used their credit card to pay the invoice 

[TheRealChipA]

Hi @Hollywood3271.  The first most obvious thing to check is your company name as you have it in your location list.  What is that location name?  Is it either exactly the same or at least close to your real company name?  The location name is what is on your card transactions and receipts and if it is wildly different from your actual company name that would cause confusion.  Let’s start there and after you answer, we can go from there.

[Hollywood3271]

My company name is the same 

[TheRealChipA]

@Hollywood3271 Ah.  Ok then.  This seems like you have had a run of bad luck from less than honest customers, then.  That makes things more complicated.  Can you tell me what kind of business you have?  Also, was there anything unusual about the invoices that have been disputed — were they larger than normal?  Did you have signed contracts for the work?

[Hollywood3271]

I’ve just seen contracts on here. It was 510.00. I have a towing company. Send them the invoice and they pay it and then I go do the job. I have been with square for a month and I have never had this happen before. I love square other than this happening. So I’m trying to figure out what to do so I can keep using square. 

[TheRealChipA · Accepted solution]

@Hollywood3271 Sorry to hear this.  Whether you were with Square or another company would make no difference.  People as often just dishonest. And with card payments, many of the worst offenders know that their bank will always side with them no matter what.  That’s part of the risk we take when we accept cards for payment.  Still, there are things you can do to protect yourself and at least give you a fighting chance to win a dispute.

1. Always get them to sign a contract.  If not Square Contracts, just a printed contract will do.
2. Require them to send you a photocopy of their driver’s license before you’ll do the work.  You’d have to handle that outside Square.  But you can require them to text or email you this or tell them to go elsewhere.
3. Get their phone number.  Then send them a text and require that they reply with their consent and agreement to pay you upon completion of the job.

All of this will give you more evidence when faced with a dispute.  It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it will be better for you in the long run.  Also, don’t jump to another card processor.  This isn’t Square’s fault and no matter who you are with, the deck is stacked against you since card issuing banks try to please their customers first and always.

let me know if you have any other questions.