Chargeback prevention alerts are a valuable dispute management tool. However, users occasionally run into unexpected challenges with the technology, such as receiving the wrong alerts.
Fortunately, there are several troubleshooting steps that can help. Follow the guidelines below if you receive alerts for transactions that were not processed by your business.
An alert platform must trace a disputed transaction back to the business that processed it. The technology uses billing descriptors to make this match.
When a transaction is disputed, the cardholder’s issuing bank enters the transaction’s billing descriptor into the prevention alert platform. If that descriptor is enrolled in the system, the bank sends an alert. However, if multiple businesses use the same or similar billing descriptors, the alert technology cannot accurately determine which business processed the transaction.
Therefore, if your billing descriptor closely matches another merchant's descriptor, you might receive their alerts.
Follow these steps to troubleshoot and resolve issues with incorrect alerts.
If you have not already done so, review A Guide to Billing Descriptors: Tips and Best Practices. It explains billing descriptors and their variations.
Ask your processor for your main descriptor, and attempt to discover as many variations of it as you can. Make several test purchases using different card brands (for example, Visa® and Mastercard®) to see exactly how your descriptors display on a statement.
Note
You must run these test transactions as actual sales; simply requesting authorization is not enough. Pending transactions display different billing descriptors than settled transactions. Be sure to review your descriptors at both stages of the transaction lifecycle.
Contact your processor to see if you can edit your existing descriptors. Consider how you can make your descriptor unique. Use wording that helps you stand out from other companies while remaining instantly recognizable to your customers.
Consider the following best practices when editing your descriptors:
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Avoid common abbreviations. Most descriptors are limited to 20 or 25 characters, so abbreviations can help shorten long words. However, descriptor overlap is much more frequent when using common abbreviations.
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Avoid generic product or service names. The more specific your descriptor is, the less likely someone else is using it. Avoid words and phrases that your competitors might also use (for example, games, online, hemp).
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Rearrange the words in your descriptor. When Ethoca processes alerts, the technology looks for descriptors that start with the same word or phrase. Edit your descriptors so they begin with a unique identifier.
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Add your phone number. Verifi’s technology can match customer service phone numbers. If possible, add a phone number to your descriptor to provide additional matching data. Additionally, including a phone number is a standard best practice because it encourages customers to call you directly for a refund instead of calling their bank to initiate a chargeback.
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