This is available on Subscription Tiers: 

Engage, Grow, Promote, Free Unlimited, Essentials, Accelerate, & Ultimate.

Why This Matters

A chargeback, also referred to as a payment dispute, occurs when a cardholder questions a transaction and asks their card-issuing bank to reverse it. The ability to dispute a payment is meant to protect consumers from unauthorized transactions.

For any business, this can be pretty frustrating, which is why we've made it easy for you to be notified and contest a chargeback right within the app.

Step-By-Step How To

Overview of the Chargeback Process

1. The charge is processed. A customer makes a digital purchase using their card or bank account.
2. The cardholder disputes the charge. The cardholder sees this transaction and files a dispute with their bank.
3. The chargeback amount and $15 fee are deducted from your account directly and provided to the issuing bank. If you win the chargeback dispute, then the exact amount that was deducted, minus the $15 fee, will be returned to you in your next payout. The bank will continue to hold these funds until they consider the dispute resolved. A banner is displayed on the disputed invoice notifying you of the chargeback.
   • In some rare cases, an “inquiry” is opened instead of a full chargeback. Inquiries are the first step towards a full chargeback, but when they occur, you will not have been yet debited the chargeback amount and fee. You’ll have an opportunity to provide evidence just like with full chargebacks, but you also may simply refund the client in order to avoid the potential chargeback fee.
4. The issuing bank sets a deadline for chargeback determination. You can submit evidence to dispute the chargeback through the chargeback banner on the disputed invoice. Wodify Support can help you to identify, obtain, and submit this evidence.
5. On the deadline date, Wodify submits your evidence to the issuing bank. The issuing bank will then make a determination as to whether or not the products and/or services were delivered as advertised. We delay evidence submission to the deadline automatically to grant you the maximum amount of time to settle the dispute or submit evidence. If you take no action on your chargeback, Wodify will automatically submit a pre-generated dispute and attempt to recover the lost sale.
6. The funds are provided to whomever the bank determined to be the rightful recipient of those funds. 

How to View a Chargeback

To view a Chargeback:

1. Go to Financial > Payouts
2. If a chargeback has been issued, you'll see a banner at the top of the page with the invoice(s) number. 

Chargeback Options

1. Contact the client
   • On the affected invoice, you can use the Contact client link to get in touch with the cardholder to understand the reason for the chargeback. It’s possible that the client simply did not recognize the transaction. Contacting the client can often help resolve the issue quickly. If the chargeback is the result of a misunderstanding, then the client can ask their credit card issuer or bank to withdraw the chargeback at any time.
2. Respond to the chargeback
   • To respond to a chargeback, open the affected invoice and click Respond to chargeback. Enter any additional evidence - aside from what has been automatically generated by Wodify - that the client did, in fact, receive the product or service within the expected timeframe.
3. Accept the chargeback
   • You can choose to accept the chargeback, leaving the sale reversed. This option is available on the affected invoice via the Accept chargeback link. You should do this if the reason for the chargeback is legitimate (for example, if your products or services were not delivered).
4. Automated recovery attempt
   • To help you successfully overturn chargebacks, Wodify will automatically respond on your behalf if you do not submit supporting evidence before the chargeback deadline.

How to Respond to a Chargeback

Wodify does most of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to providing evidence that your charge was legitimate. The only work required on your end is to briefly describe why you believe the charge was legitimate. For membership fee disputes, this could be as simple as pointing towards the attendance history and signed contract as evidence that the client used their membership. When you’re ready, submit your evidence. Your billing admins will receive an email summary containing all the info submitted to the clients’ credit card issuer or bank as evidence.

1. Go to Financial > Payouts
2. Click into the Invoice # > Click Respond to Chargeback
3. In the Respond to Chargeback window
   • Briefly describe why you should win this chargeback dispute
   • Upload additional evidence
   • Submit signed contract (upload your own, if you prefer paper contracts)
   • Submit attendance history
   • Submit emailed receipt
4. Click Respond to Chargeback

Note: Wodify automatically provides the attendance history, paid receipt, and signed a contract for you by default when you respond to a chargeback

Chargeback Statuses 

1. Needs Response - This is the first status set when a chargeback comes in.
2. Under Review - The chargeback has been updated with evidence submitted.
3. Won/Lost - The financial institution has made a decision in either your or the cardholder's favor.
4. Warning - Needs Response / Warning - Under Review - An inquiry has been opened instead of a full chargeback.
    

• Each time the chargeback status is updated, Wodify will email your billing contacts the details.

Tips to Win Chargebacks

Wodify automatically uploads some evidence to fight the chargeback for you, but you do have the chance to submit additional evidence, too. Here are some best practices to keep in mind:

1. Keep your evidence relevant and to the point:
   Card issuers review thousands of dispute responses every day. A long introduction about your product or company, complaint about the customer, or the unfairness of the dispute isn’t going to make your responses more compelling. Instead, provide only the facts surrounding the original purchase, using a neutral and professional tone. 
2. On the respond to chargeback form in Wodify Core, please be sure to answer the following questions when asked to briefly describe why you should win this chargeback dispute:
   1. Why was the customer charged for this subscription? 
   2. When was the customer shown the cancellation and refund policy? 
   3. Why isn't the customer being refunded for the charge? 
3. Provide clear and accurate evidence:
   Card issuers do not follow any links provided in a response. Instead, you must include a clear screenshot of your terms or policies as they appear during checkout or on your site if they are an important part of your defense (e.g., a customer disputed a subscription but there is a minimum contract term that must be adhered to).
4. Formatting documents and images to upload:
   Dispute evidence is often transmitted through several legacy systems and most card issuers are still utilizing paper faxing. Before sending your response, ensure that any text or images are clear and large enough to show up clearly in a black and white fax transmission. Any illegible text or data that is submitted with a response will be considered incomplete by the card issuer and not reviewed.
   
   When submitting documents or images as evidence, use the following recommendations to make sure they can remain legible:
   1. Large, full-page images are recommended over trying to fit several images on one page.
   2. Ensure that documents are U.S. Letter or A4 size, in portrait orientation (screenshots can still be added to your documents in landscape orientation).
   3. Use a 12 point font or larger.
   4. Use bold text, callouts, or arrows to draw attention to pertinent information and avoid using color highlighting.
   5. Crop the screenshot to the area of interest and circle any key components (e.g., delivery confirmation or signature).
   6. Use the text fields in the dispute evidence form to describe what the image contains and how it supports your response.

FAQs

1. "Is there a fee for chargebacks?"
   Answer: Yes, you must pay a $15 fee in the United States and Canada, £20 in the UK, and A$25 in Australia when there is a chargeback on one of your invoices. This is non-refundable, even if the financial institution decides in your favor.
2. "How long will this process take?"
   Answer: It’s not unusual for a bank to take 8 or more weeks to tell you about the results of the chargeback. As soon as this happens, your billing contacts will receive an email notification.
3. "I was notified that I lost my chargeback case. What do I do?"
   Answer: We understand that a chargeback loss is frustrating, but unfortunately, a bank decision is usually final. However, you can contact the financial institution to inquire further regarding the reasoning behind their decision, if you like.