Preventing Disputes
While they don’t happen often, payment disputes are a risk you take when accepting payment cards. Where there are purchases, there are payment disputes. As with any transaction, there’s always a risk that your customer will dispute the validity of their purchase. Cardholders can initiate a payment dispute or chargeback by asking their bank to reverse the charge. Follow a few best practices below to reduce the likelihood of disputes.
Take a moment to learn about best practices for accepting payment cards and how to prevent fraud.
Present Your Refund, Return, and Cancellation Policies on Your Receipts
Write out and present your return, refund, and cancellation policies on your receipts or any other agreements made at the point of sale. Presenting a no returns/refunds/cancellation sign at the point of sale is not sufficient to verify your business’s policies. Usually, you’re more likely to win a dispute if you can show that the customer signed a receipt or invoice in which these policies are clearly explained. Learn more about customising your receipts.
Keep in mind that you can always resend a receipt from your mobile device or from the Square Dashboard so your customer has a proof of purchase.
Make the Name on Your Customer’s Bank Statements Recognisable
If your business name isn’t saved correctly within the Square Dashboard or doesn’t reflect the types of goods or services you provide, it may confuse your customer when they review their bank statement. When they see a name they don’t recognise, they’re more likely to call their bank and initiate a dispute.
For example, it’s best not to use your personal name as your business name, because customers will be looking for your business name on their statement. If you don’t have a business name, use your service type followed by the name of the city where you provide the service (i.e. “Florist - Melbourne, AUS”).
Square Risk Manager
With Square Risk Manager, you can gain insights into payment fraud patterns, and set custom rules and alerts to manage risk for your business. Square Risk Manager is available with no additional costs for online transactions processed through third-party integrations, Square Online and Square Checkout links.
To view your Risk Manager insights, log in to your online Square Dashboard and select Risk Manager to go to the Risk Manager page.
Learn how to get started with Square Risk Manager.
Communicate with Your Customers
Initiating and maintaining open communication with your customers is one of the best ways to clear up confusion and reduce the likelihood of disputes. Clearly communicate your expectations around pricing, sales tax, delivery, shipping, and the services you provide. Check out our full suite of Customer Engagement tools to create better experiences for your customers.
Attach a Contract
One of the best ways to avoid misunderstandings or late payment is to put a contract in place. Contracts allow you and your customer to understand exactly what is expected from your transaction, minimise your chance of a dispute, and help ensure that you get paid.
You may also consider using one of our contract templates to develop your own set of terms. Using contracts can help to build good customer relationships and avoid disputes by setting expectations with your customer at the outset. Take a look at the contracts we have available in the Square Contracts feature.
If you are using Square Invoices to get paid, you can attach a contract right to your customer’s invoice. While contracts aren’t appropriate for every business, they can be invaluable to businesses who work in wholesale or on a project basis.
Using Square Invoices, you can attach a copy of your contract directly to your customer’s invoice. If you aren’t familiar with creating a contract, our team has created two templates that you can use.
Learn more on how to Attach a Contract to your Invoices or Estimates Online.
If you are using Square Appointments to get paid for your services and/or items, you can attach a contract right to your client’s appointment. While contracts aren’t appropriate for every business, they can be invaluable to businesses who work in wholesale or on a project basis.
Learn more on how to Send digital customer contracts with Square Appointments.
If you need help attaching a contract or file to your Invoice or Appointment, our Support Centre can help.
Note: Square is not a law firm, an attorney or a professional advisor in any industry. Square provides this template to individuals who choose to prepare their own contractual documents and does not constitute legal advice.
Take a moment to learn about best practices for accepting payment cards and how to prevent fraud.