Preventing Disputes with WooPayments

A dispute is when a customer contests a payment made with their card. Handling disputes from customers can be one of the most unpleasant parts of running a business. The best way to avoid that unpleasantness is to stop disputes from occurring in the first place. There are a number of tactics you can use to do this, which are discussed in this document.

It’s also helpful to keep in mind that there is always some risk that a customer will dispute their purchase, regardless of the payment gateway or platform you are using for your store. In other words, your goal should not be to have absolutely no disputes. Rather, your goal should be to minimize the odds of a dispute occurring.

For guidance on how to respond to disputes after they’ve been filed, please refer to the document on managing disputes.

Know your customer

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The more information you collect about your customer during the checkout process, the easier it is for their bank to verify that the purchase is legitimate. You should strongly consider collecting the following details, even if they aren’t strictly necessary for your own business operations.

• Customer name
• Customer email
• CVC number on their card
• Full billing address, including post code
• Shipping address (if different from billing)

Provide details

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The following is a list of suggested items that you should include somewhere on your website. Implementing these recommendations can help reduce the risk of customer confusion, refunds, and disputes.

• Detailed descriptions should be included on every product page. Multiple images, information about materials, colors, and other details are all a good idea. Show your customers what they’ll be receiving in order to set accurate expectations.
• Make your various store policies easy to find on your website, including any of the following that apply to your business type: a refund policy, a shipping policy with estimated dates, a store pickup policy, a return policy, and a cancellation policy.
• Some products or services are restricted by law. Disclosing these restrictions, if they exist, and how they might impact customers is important.
• If you offer discounts, free trials, or other kinds of promotions, it’s best to clearly disclose the terms of those. When in doubt, transparency is best.

Be prepared

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Many disputes occur because customers are unhappy with the product or service they received. If you are helpful and responsive to your customers (for example, by handling issues quickly or refunding orders quickly), they will be less likely to file a dispute.

Here are some specific tips that may help prevent disputes:

• Ensure that your store’s bank statement descriptor follows our suggested guidelines so customers recognize the charge on their bank statement.
• Publish a clear refund policy page on your store so customers know what to expect when they request a refund or return.
• Make your customer support contact details easy to find on your website, and check that the default WooCommerce emails are enabled so customers receive order updates with your contact info included.
• Publish a Terms & Conditions page and assign it to your checkout in WooCommerce settings, so customers can review your terms before completing their order. Consider adding a checkbox at checkout for customers to acknowledge the terms before ordering.
• If you ship physical items, provide tracking information to customers quickly.
• If you sell downloadable products, consider enabling download logging to record when customers access their files.
• If you offer subscription products, make sure customers have a self-service cancellation option so they can cancel directly rather than disputing through their bank.

Avoid fraud

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WooPayments has both built-in anti-fraud measures as well as customizable fraud protection rules. Ultimately, however, merchants are responsible for avoiding fraud.

For that reason, we recommend that you configure your fraud rules carefully and perhaps even consider installing additional plugins to help fight unauthorized transactions.

If your site is attacked by card testers, we also have a checklist on how to respond.