For Goldie subscribers located in the U.S., U.K., and Canada who have set up the Payments feature and begun collecting payments from their clients, it is possible you may experience a chargeback (disputed transaction).
What is a chargeback?
A chargeback is when the issuer of your client’s card takes back the payment, which results in an “involuntary” refund to your client. This is often the result of your client looking at the charge from your business (via Goldie) and flagging it as incorrect. Clients may do so for a variety of reasons, such as not recognizing the source of the charge or believing that they were charged an incorrect amount.
Additionally, some disputes may arise from early fraud warnings, which can occur due to situations like a customer not recognizing the charge or a canceled card mistakenly flagging the transaction. Being aware of these scenarios can help businesses address and resolve disputes more effectively.
Chargebacks come with an additional cost beyond refunding the client: whenever a transaction is disputed, card networks charge the merchant a dispute fee, which is typically $15 USD. This means that your Goldie account balance will be debited for the total transaction amount and for the dispute fee in the event of a chargeback.
The goal of the dispute process is to prevent fraudulent activity by either businesses or clients. If you are confident that you provided your client with the product they paid for (or planned to, for deposits) and had your transaction blocked, there are two steps you can take to try to reverse the chargeback:
Communicate directly with your client
This is almost always the fastest and most effective way to resolve any issues around a transaction. Sending your client a reminder (and potentially proof, such as a photo or receipt) of the service you provided can encourage them to cancel their dispute via their card issuer.
As a best practice, document all communications with your client, such as text messages or emails. These records can serve as important evidence if necessary.
Contest the dispute
If your client does not reverse their dispute/chargeback, and you can prove that they should have paid for the service, our team will help you contest the dispute. To start the process of contesting a dispute, email our support team with the subject line "Contest a dispute." Please be sure to include key information, such as the amount and date of the disputed transaction. Our team will then work with you to assemble the evidence needed to contest it.
When contesting the dispute, include strong evidence such as communication records where the customer acknowledged the service, documentation of policy acceptance, and any proof of refunds or resolutions already provided. Goldie enhances this process by automatically submitting key evidence but allows you to supplement it with personalized details.
Please use the email associated with your Goldie account when submitting the information below.
Here are some other resources about contesting a dispute:
It's important to connect with us about contesting chargebacks/disputed transactions as soon as possible. Evidence must be submitted within seven (7) days of the dispute being filed. After submission, it may take 30 to 60 days for the bank to review and make a final decision.
Once the bank reaches a decision, it is final and cannot be appealed by either party. This highlights the importance of submitting complete and accurate evidence during the initial review process.
For Goldie subscribers located in all other countries (besides the U.S., U.K., and Canada), contact Stripe’s support team to initiate a chargeback/disputed transaction. To do so, visit https://support.stripe.com/ and log in with your Stripe account information.
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