A chargeback is the reversal of a payment made by a client to a merchant and is completed by the card issuer, who sends the funds back to the customer’s original payment method.
Chargeback representment is the process by which merchants present evidence to issuing banks to fight chargebacks. If the evidence is compelling enough, the chargeback is reversed. Keep in mind that you will have 15 days to initiate a representment request from the first day a chargeback is filed.
In the case of a chargeback, you will not be able to process a refund either in Guesty or via the payment processor. If you wish to refund the guest, then you can agree to the chargeback.
Common reasons for chargebacks
There are many reasons a chargeback can occur. The main reasons are the following:
- Customer disputes
- A customer not receiving a refund
- Friendly fraud
- Buyer identity fraud
There are over 100 reason codes listed across the major credit card brands. It is important to identify and understand the root cause and take the necessary steps to dispute the chargeback.
Card Network | Category | Code | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Visa | Fraud | 10.1 | EMV Liability Shift Counterfeit Fraud |
Visa | Fraud | 10.2 | EMV Liability Shift Non-Counterfeit Fraud |
Visa | Fraud | 10.3 | Other Fraud — Card Present Environment |
Visa | Fraud | 10.4 | Other Fraud — Card Absent Environment |
Visa | Fraud | 10.5 | Visa Fraud Monitoring Program |
Visa | Authorization | 11.1 | Card Recovery Bulletin |
Visa | Authorization | 11.2 | Declined Authorization |
Visa | Authorization | 11.3 | No Authorization |
Visa | Processing Errors | 12.1 | Late Presentment |
Visa | Processing Errors | 12.2 | Incorrect Transaction Code |
Visa | Processing Errors | 12.3 | Incorrect Currency |
Visa | Processing Errors | 12.4 | Incorrect Account Number |
Visa | Processing Errors | 12.5 | Incorrect Amount |
Visa | Processing Errors | 12.6.1 | Duplicate Processing |
Visa | Processing Errors | 12.6.2 | Paid by Other Means |
Visa | Processing Errors | 12.7 | Invalid Data |
Visa | Consumer Disputes | 13.1 | Merchandise/Services Not Received |
Visa | Consumer Disputes | 13.2 | Cancelled Recurring |
Visa | Consumer Disputes | 13.3 | Not as Described or Defective Merchandise/Services |
Visa | Consumer Disputes | 13.4 | Counterfeit Merchandise |
Visa | Consumer Disputes | 13.5 | Misrepresentation |
Visa | Consumer Disputes | 13.6 | Credit Not Processed |
Visa | Consumer Disputes | 13.7 | Cancelled Merchandise/Services |
Visa | Consumer Disputes | 13.8 | Original Credit Transaction Not Accepted |
Visa | Consumer Disputes | 13.9 | Non-Receipt of Cash or Load Transaction Value |
Mastercard | Authorization | 4808 | Warning Bulletin File |
Mastercard | Authorization | 4808 | Authorization-Related Chargeback |
Mastercard | Authorization | 4808 | Account Number Not on File |
Mastercard | Authorization | 4808 | Required Authorization Not Obtained |
Mastercard | Authorization | 4808 | Expired Chargeback Protection Period |
Mastercard | Authorization | 4808 | Multiple Authorization Requests |
Mastercard | Authorization | 4808 | Cardholder-Activated Terminal (CAT) 3 Device |
Mastercard | Point of Interaction Error | 4834 | Point of Interaction Error |
Mastercard | Point of Interaction Error | 4834 | Transaction Amount Differs |
Mastercard | Point of Interaction Error | 4834 | Late Presentment |
Mastercard | Point of Interaction Error | 4834 | Point-of-Interaction Currency Conversion |
Mastercard | Point of Interaction Error | 4834 | Duplication/Paid by Other Means |
Mastercard | Point of Interaction Error | 4834 | ATM Disputes |
Mastercard | Point of Interaction Error | 4834 | Loss, Theft, or Damages |
Mastercard | Fraud | 4837 | No Cardholder Authorization |
Mastercard | Fraud | 4849 | Questionable Merchant Activity |
Mastercard | Fraud | 4870 | EMV Chip Liability Shift |
Mastercard | Fraud | 4871 | EMV Chip/PIN Liability Shift |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4853 | Cardholder Dispute of a Recurring Transaction |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4853 | Goods or Services Not Provided |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4853 | No-Show Hotel Charge |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4853 | Addendum Dispute |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4853 | Credit Not Processed |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4853 | Goods/Services not as Described or Defective |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4853 | Digital Goods $25 or less |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4853 | Counterfeit Goods |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4853 | Transaction Did Not Complete |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4853 | Credit Posted as a Purchase |
Mastercard | Cardholder Disputes | 4854 | Cardholder Dispute Not Classified Elsewhere |
Mastercard | Other | 4850 | Installment Billing Dispute (Participating Countries Only) |
Mastercard | Other | 4999 | Domestic Chargeback Dispute (Europe Region Only) |
American Express | Authorization | A01 | Charge Amount Exceeds Authorization Amount |
American Express | Authorization | A02 | No Valid Authorization |
American Express | Authorization | A08 | Authorization Approval Expired |
American Express | Fraud | F10 | Missing Imprint |
American Express | Fraud | F14 | Missing Signature |
American Express | Fraud | F24 | No Card Member Authorization |
American Express | Fraud | F29 | Card Not Present |
American Express | Fraud | F30 | EMV Counterfeit |
American Express | Fraud | F31 | EMV Lost/Stolen/Non-Received |
American Express | Card Member Dispute | C02 | Credit Not Processed |
American Express | Card Member Dispute | C04 | Goods/Services Returned or Refused |
American Express | Card Member Dispute | C05 | Goods/Services Cancelled |
American Express | Card Member Dispute | C08 | Goods/Services Not Received |
American Express | Card Member Dispute | C14 | Paid by Other Means |
American Express | Card Member Dispute | C18 | “No Show” or CARDeposit Cancelled |
American Express | Card Member Dispute | C28 | Cancelled Recurring Billing |
American Express | Card Member Dispute | C31 | Goods/Services Not as Described |
American Express | Card Member Dispute | C32 | Goods/Services Damaged or Defective |
American Express | Processing Error | P01 | Unassigned Card Number |
American Express | Processing Error | P03 | Credit Processed as Charge |
American Express | Processing Error | P04 | Charge Processed as Credit |
American Express | Processing Error | P05 | Incorrect Charge Amount |
American Express | Processing Error | P07 | Late Submission |
American Express | Processing Error | P08 | Duplicate Charge |
American Express | Processing Error | P22 | Non-Matching Card Number |
American Express | Processing Error | P23 | Currency Discrepancy |
American Express | Inquiry/Miscellaneous | R03 | Insufficient Reply |
American Express | Inquiry/Miscellaneous | R13 | No Reply |
American Express | Inquiry/Miscellaneous | M01 | Chargeback Authorization |
American Express | Inquiry/Miscellaneous | M10 | Vehicle Rental - Capital Damages |
American Express | Inquiry/Miscellaneous | M49 | Vehicle Rental - Theft or Loss of Use |
American Express | Inquiry/Miscellaneous | FR2 | Fraud Full Recourse Program |
American Express | Inquiry/Miscellaneous | FR4 | Immediate Chargeback Program |
American Express | Inquiry/Miscellaneous | FR6 | Partial Immediate Chargeback Program |
Discover | Fraud | UA01 | Fraud – Card Present Transaction |
Discover | Fraud | UA02 | Fraud – Card Not Present Transaction |
Discover | Fraud | UA05 | Fraud – Chip Counterfeit Transaction |
Discover | Fraud | UA06 | Fraud – Chip and PIN Transaction |
Discover | Fraud | UA10 | Request Transaction Receipt (swiped card transactions) |
Discover | Fraud | UA11 | Cardholder Claims Fraud (swiped transaction, no signature) |
Discover | Authorization | NA | No Authorization |
Discover | Authorization | DA | Declined Authorization |
Discover | Authorization | AT | Authorization Non-Compliance |
Discover | Authorization | EX | Expired Card |
Discover | Processing Errors | IN | Invalid Card Number |
Discover | Processing Errors | LP | Late Presentation |
Discover | Services | 5 | Good Faith Investigation |
Discover | Services | AA | Does Not Recognize |
Discover | Services | AP | Recurring Payments |
Discover | Services | AW | Altered Amount |
Discover | Services | CD | Credit/Debit Posted Incorrectly |
Discover | Services | DP | Duplicate Processing |
Discover | Services | IC | Illegible Sales Data |
Discover | Services | NF | Non-Receipt of Cash from ATM |
Discover | Services | PM | Paid by Other Means |
Discover | Services | RG | Non-Receipt of Goods, Services, or Cash |
Discover | Services | RM | Cardholder Disputes Quality of Goods or Services |
Discover | Services | RN2 | Credit Not Processed |
Discover | Other | DC | Dispute Compliance |
Discover | Other | NC | Not Classified |
Customer disputes
Customer disputes can happen for a variety of reasons. Most notably, customers can be confused with a merchant's refund policies and not know how to request a refund. Another common reason can be that the customer is dissatisfied with the product or service received and they do not communicate this directly to the merchant, but rather file a chargeback representment instead.
Refund not received by the customer
As a merchant, the status quo for granting a refund to a customer is refunding the money within three days of the request. If the merchant does not grant the refund request, the customer is entitled to submit a chargeback request to receive the funds.
Friendly fraud
Friendly fraud happens when a customer purchases a product or service and then demands the funds back in bad faith.
Buyer identity fraud
Buyer identity fraud occurs when a customer steals someone else’s payment information to purchase a product or service. In cases like these, the victim of the identity fraud will be the one to submit the chargeback request. The fraud victim's credit card will be canceled and a new one will be issued in order to protect their privacy.
Chargeback process
Customers must do the following if they are unable to resolve a dispute with a merchant:
- Contact their card issuer and request a dispute to be registered against the charge. They have 60 to 120 days following the initial purchase or payment to make this request.
- The card issuer will then investigate the dispute and decide whether there are grounds for the customer’s complaint.
- If the card issuer approves the chargeback, they will forward the dispute to the acquiring bank (the merchant’s bank) to debit the funds from the merchant’s account.
- The acquirer then sends the dispute to the merchant to dock the funds from their account.
- Finally, the funds are transferred to the card issuer and subsequently to the customer’s account.
Chargeback fees
Chargeback fees are issued to merchants by their processing bank when a chargeback occurs. These fees are meant to cover the operational costs associated with managing the chargeback process — including investigation, communication between the card issuer, acquiring bank, and merchant, and dispute resolution.
The merchant's agreement with their payment processor usually outlines the chargeback fee amounts and circumstances in which these fees will be charged.