Disputes and Chargebacks

Why did my donor or buyer dispute their payment?

A payment dispute or chargeback occurs when a cardholder files a claim with their card-issuing bank to request a reversal of the charge. Most often, this happens when an individual doesn't recognize a charge from Zeffy on their bank statement and issues a dispute with their bank.

What happens when a charge is disputed?

When a dispute is filed, the card issuer (bank) will temporarily reverse the charges pending further investigation to protect the cardholder from credit card fraud. The automatic reversal of this payment looks like a refund on your end. However, these funds are not officially returned to the donor until the card issuer has reviewed the transaction.

Zeffy submits evidence to the card issuer on the organization's behalf to prove that the charge was legitimate.

As soon as the bank informs us that a donor has disputed the charge, you will immediately be informed via email that a charge was disputed. We will inform you of the charge that was disputed and will provide the buyer's contact information in said email. The buyer will also be informed that they disputed a charge via email.

To view a disputed transaction in your Zeffy account: 

• Login to Zeffy and navigate to the Payments tab 

• Filter the Payments page by "Payment status" : Remove the default statuses and select the "Disputed" status instead to pull up all disputed payments 

What should I do if a charge is disputed?

Zeffy will investigate each dispute to determine if the transaction was indeed legitimate. We will submit evidence on the organization's behalf to the bank resolve the dispute in your favour. There are actions you can take to help our team resolve these disputes: 

Contact your donor

Get in touch with the cardholder to inquire about the reason for the dispute. Reaching out may help them recognize the charge or determine the reason for the dispute. Below is a list of common reasons for disputes and how to react based on the donor's response:

• If they confirm that they recognize the transaction: Ask that they contact their bank to withdraw their dispute. Send us a copy of your email exchange with the donor, confirming they have contacted their bank to withdraw the dispute or obtain their confirmation that they recognize the charge in writing. 

• If they confirm that they recognize the transaction, but they want a refund for a contribution to Zeffy: Inform them that the Zeffy team can refund the contribution they left and ask that they withdraw the dispute with their bank. Send us a copy of your email exchange with the donor, confirming they have contacted their bank to withdraw the dispute or obtain their confirmation that they recognize the charge in writing.
• If they confirm that they recognize the transaction, but they want a full refund: 
  • If your organization would like to refund them, follow the same steps as above. The option to issue the refund will become available once the dispute has been withdrawn. 
  • If the payment they made is non-refundable, communicate your organization's refund policy to them. If they refuse to withdraw the dispute, you can share your organization's refund policy with us, proof that it was shared with the donor, and any proof that they recognized the transaction was non-refundable with our team to submit as evidence of the legitimacy of the charge. 
• If they do not reply, we will still submit evidence of the transaction's legitimacy on your behalf. If you have any evidence you think might be relevant, you can reply to the dispute email with the information for our team. 

Update your statement descriptor

How long does it take to resolve a dispute?