| e-onlinedata: Best Practices for Internet
Merchants
Thank you for choosing e-onlinedata
as your merchant account provider. In order for your merchant account
to be APPROVED quickly and efficiently, you must clearly
display your intended Refund, Exchange, Warranty and/or Cancellation
policies on your Web site where your customers can review them.
Customer disputes and
chargebacks are very costly to eCommerce merchants in
terms of both time and money. Disputes are time consuming to resolve,
and when left unresolved…turn into expensive chargebacks!
Chargebacks typically cost $25 per incident, and you will also lose the
funds associated with the sale, which must be paid back to the cardholder…namely
your customer!
Retrieval Requests also sometimes occur; this is a request by the issuing
bank for a copy of the signed charge ticket and carries a fee of $10 per
incident.
Bear in mind, as a merchant accepting credit cards for your goods or
services you have agreed to abide by Visa/MC’s rules which (perhaps
unfairly) are often slanted in the favor of your customer!
There are three primary causes for cardholder
disputes:
- Customer expectation not met due to
misinterpretation of products or services.
- Merchant’s Doing Business As (DBA)
name was not recognized on the cardholder’s statement.
- Click
here for suggestions
on how to avoid this issue.
- Refund/Exchange/Warranty/Cancellation
policies missing, unclear or unreasonable.
All three can be effectively addressed with clear and specific Product/Services
info and clear Policies and Procedures. To learn more about Chargeback
procedures and preventing fraud, click
here.
Customer Expectations
It is important to keep in mind that as a Visa/MC merchant you have agreed
to abide by Visa/MC’s regulations. To that end, you sometimes have
to throw "common sense" out the window when creating “policies”
and marketing your products or services.
Visa/MC will allow any cardholder to chargeback a purchase if the customer
can demonstrate to ANY degree that they have not received the products
or services promised by your company in the quantity,
quality & time frame promised.
In other words, if your company promises product or services delivery
on Tuesday, but the product or service is not delivered until Wednesday
(a day late), that cardholder can probably charge that sale back with
little you can do about it.
Likewise, if the quantity or quality of products or services delivered
are not exactly as described
on your site or in other marketing materials, the cardholder will be allowed
to chargeback the purchase.
It is not always fair, but if anything is left
unclear, it almost always falls to the favor of the cardholder. For your
protection and success, we strongly encourage you to spell everything
out clearly and take nothing for granted, even the obvious.
Refund/Exchange/Warrantee/Cancellation policies
We talked above about the importance of clarity and specifics when marketing
your products or services; the same holds true for you policies regarding
refunds, exchanges, warrantees or cancellations.
These policies must be clearly and
specifically spelled out to avoid disputes with cardholders.
If there are any holes or "gray areas" in your policies, Visa/MC
will find in favor of the cardholder in most disputes.
Likewise, if policies are altogether absent, it is assumed there is no
policy. For example, if there is no posted and/or printed refund policy,
it is assumed the cardholder may return products or services for a
full refund, forever!
On the other hand, please don’t confuse no policy
with "no refunds", "no warrantees," etc. It is perfectly
acceptable for your policy to state there are
no refunds, or no warrantees, or no cancellations, etc., assuming
it is clearly spelled out. In fact, these policies provide the greatest
amount of protection to you as they limit a cardholder’s recourse
if they change their mind about your product or service.
CLICK HERE
to view generic examples of Refund/Exchange, Order Cancellation,
Warranty, Termination of Service, and Out of Stock
Policies and Procedures. We also encourage you to use Google to
review other eCommerce merchant's Policies and Procedures. These examples
can help you understand the types of policies you can put in place, however
they are not guaranteed to eliminate disputes and chargebacks.
We process credit cards for thousands of eCommerce merchants, and are
pleased to be able to offer these Best Practices "tips."
- Include your printed Policies and Procedures with all shipped
products.
- Make sure you are implementing AVS (address verification)
for all Virtual Terminal and Web site purchases. You want to verify
the billing address not the shipping address. For maximum security,
ship to the billing address whenever possible and get your customers
to sign a receipt.
- Display your customer service phone number and support
email address in prominent positions on your Web site, and
promote their use.
- Be cautious of first time orders with large quantities and
overnight delivery requests.
- When taking cardholder information, ask for the card type
("Visa" or "Discover" for example) not just the
card number. Fraudulent usage may occur when a criminal has stolen the
card number, but doesn't know the type of card.
- Always obtain and submit actual valid expiration dates.
- Watch for repeat orders in a short period of time. Fraudsters may
process a "trial balloon" transaction and if accepted, can
use the card for multiple purchases.
- Pay close attention to orders from free email accounts
such as Yahoo or Hotmail. These are commonly used by those who wish
to hide their identity.
- Protect your reputation as a safe place
to do business!
e-onlinedata offers these Policies and Procedures as examples
only. We encourage you to develop appropriate Policies and Procedures
that best fit your business type and model.
Refund/Exchange Policy
(example) We offer a 30 Money Back
Guarantee on almost every product we offer. Please call customer service
at 800-000-0000, in advance to obtain an RMA number (Return Merchandise
Authorization) within 30 days of purchase date.
Return merchandise with RMA number to:
YourSite.com
(print RMA number Here)
Post Office Box XYZ
City, State 12345-6789
NOTE: Refunds sent with no RMA number, or mailed to the call center will
be returned to sender.
Order Cancellation Policy (example)
Please submit any cancellation via email to CancelOrder@YourSite.com,
or call on our business phone at 800-000-0000.
Email cancellations must contain the following: First name, last name,
order number, and email address. This information must be identical to
the information originally submitted on your order. Please provide contact
information so that we may contact you if we have questions in regards
to canceling your order.
Every effort will be made to accommodate the cancellation of your order,
providing your order has not been charged and/or shipped out. In the event
that a cancellation was submitted (via email or phone), and your order
was shipped out after, we will gladly refund the complete balance charged
including shipping. However, if the cancellation was documented as received
after the order was shipped, we will refund the merchandise total less
shipping.
Warranty Policy (example)
Shipping Costs
Customer assumes all costs in shipping to us, and we assume the cost in
shipping back to the customer. All replacement/repaired products are shipped
UPS Ground unless a rush is requested. The cost of such a shipping upgrade
is to be paid by the customer prior to shipment.
Warranty Procedure
We suggest you contact our tech support team first by posting a question
in our Help Desk to determine whether the item is indeed defective before
shipping. Then make an online return merchandise authorization (RMA) request.
See Return Policy for more details. No phone call or email is necessary!
30-Day Warranty
All products (unless specifically stated otherwise), carry an implied,
industry-standard 90-Day warranty against defects due to manufacturing
or failure. Warranty does not include any use of the product that does
not fall into the designed use of the product as intended by the manufacturer.
One-Year Warranty
All parts (except refurbished items) come with a warranty against manufacturer
defect or failure for a period of one year from the date of purchase.
This warranty covers replacement or repair of the product, which is determined
by availability, or vendor, and the time of purchase. Replacement is often
used within 30 days after purchase with the same product or like product
when direct replacement is unavailable. Repair is often necessary for
items purchased more than 30 days prior.
Manufacturer Warranty
Manufacturers sometimes offer additional warranty for the following products:
(…name products here). Customers should contact the manufacturer
after warranty expires.
Lifetime Warranty
Lifetime warranty is given to all (name products here). This warranty
is for replacement of like items only. Lifetime warranty does not cover
items out of production if YourSite.com no longer stocks them. This warranty
is valid only for the original buyer but not transferable. (Lifetime is
defined as the lifetime of the product on the market. Outdated technology
is not covered by lifetime warranty if the item is no longer available
on the common market as a new product.)
Term/Termination of Web Hosting Agreement (example)
a. The initial term of this Agreement shall be as set forth in the Order
Form (the "Initial Term"). The Initial Term shall begin upon
commencement of the Services to Customer. After the Initial Term, this
Agreement shall automatically renew. ADDITIONALLY AFTER THE INITIAL
TERM, YOU ACKNOWLEDGE, AGREE AND AUTHORIZE YOUR-SITE.COM TO AUTOMATICALLY
BILL AND/OR CHARGE ON YOUR CREDIT CARD FOR SUCCESSIVE TERMS OF EQUAL LENGTH
AS THE INITIAL TERM, UNLESS TERMINATED OR CANCELLED BY EITHER PARTY AS
PROVIDED IN THIS SECTION. The Initial Term and all successive
renewal periods shall be referred to, collectively, as the "Term."
b. This Agreement may be terminated
i. by either party by giving the other party thirty (30) days prior written
notice (subject to an early cancellation fee payable by Customer as provided
below),
ii. by YOUR-SITE.COM in the event of nonpayment by Customer,
iii. by YOUR-SITE.COM, at any time, without notice, if, in YOUR-SITE.COM's
sole and absolute discretion and/or judgment, Customer is in violation
of any term or condition of the this Agreement and related agreements,
AUP, or Customer's use of the Services disrupts or, in YOUR-SITE.COM's
sole and absolute discretion and/or judgment, could disrupt, YOUR-SITE.COM's
business operations and/or
c. If you cancel this Agreement prior to the end of the Initial Term
or any Term thereafter,
i. you shall be obligated to pay all fees and charges accrued prior to
the effectiveness of such cancellation,
ii. YOUR-SITE.COM shall refund to you all pre-paid fees for
basic hosting services (shared, dedicated and/or managed) for the full
months remaining after effectiveness of cancellation (i.e., no partial
month fees shall be refunded), less any setup fees and any discount applied
for prepayment,
iii. you shall be obligated to pay 100% of all charges for all Services
for each month remaining in the Term (other than basic hosting fees as
provided in (ii) above) and (iii) you shall pay an early cancellation
fee of $XYZ. Any cancellation request shall be effective thirty (30) days
after receipt by YOUR-SITE.COM, unless a later date is specified
in such request.
d. YOUR-SITE.COM may terminate this Agreement
i. if the Services are prohibited by applicable law, or become impractical
or unfeasible for any technical, legal or regulatory reason, by giving
Customer as much prior notice as reasonably practicable or
ii. immediately by giving written notice to Customer, if YOUR-SITE.COM
determines in good faith that Customer's use of the Customer Web
site or the Customer Content violates any term or condition. If YOUR-SITE.COM
cancels this Agreement prior to the end of the Term for your breach of
this Agreement and related agreements, the Customer's use of the Services
disrupts, YOUR-SITE.COM shall not refund to you any fees paid
in advance of such cancellation and you shall be obligated to pay all
fees and charges accrued prior to the effectiveness of such cancellation;
further, you shall be obligated to pay 100% of all charges for all Services
for each month remaining in the Term and YOUR-SITE.COM shall
have the right to charge you an administrative fee of $50.00.
e. Upon termination of this Agreement for any cause or reason whatsoever,
neither party shall have any further rights or obligations under this
Agreement, except as expressly set forth herein. Termination of this Agreement
and retention of pre-paid fees and charges shall be in addition to, and
not be in lieu of, any other legal or equitable rights or remedies to
which YOUR-SITE.COM may be entitled.
Out of Stock Policy (example)
- The most important thing to keep in mind when ordering is that our
stock balances fluctuate throughout the day with sales demand and stock
that we receive from the manufacturers. Items are constantly being sold
and our stock is constantly being replenished. If the item is identified
as "Out of Stock", we can special order the item for you and
ship it as soon as we get it. Most items ship within 2 weeks.
- Just because the item you ordered is NOT identified as out-of-stock
does not necessarily mean that it will be in-stock at the moment you
order it. We will notify you if the item you ordered is out-of-stock.
We first try to reply via email and give you 3 days to reply. If we
have not heard from you we will then try to call you at the numbers
you provide with your order. Be sure to give us your current email address
and phone number.
- Some items are listed for sale on our web site that have not been
released from the manufacturer yet. We place these items on the web
site so that consumers may pre-order the items. Preorders are reserved
with payment up front on a first come, first served basis. You may also
request to be placed on a “notify list” and we will let
you know when products are in-stock and available for delivery. Be advised
that prepaid orders always get priority for delivery.
- Many out-of-stock items are excellent products and are available for
purchase, but we do not always stock these items in inventory. We will
be happy to special order these items for you in a timely fashion. Again,
most items ship within 2 weeks.
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