[esnagel]

Last month, I had a jewelry sale reversed. I wasn't very happy, as it was a $200 commission, but I understand it happens.

A few days passed, and I was still thinking about the reversal. The sale came from my coupon site, and the referring visitor came from a PPC ad.

So why would this criminal, with a stolen credit card, get to the checkout screen and think, "Oh, I should save a few bucks for the guy whose credit card I stole" and go searching for a coupon?

Currently, the merchant's reply (and that's all I have to go on) is "a stolen credit card number was used, and the payment was reversed."

This may be the case, but I find a thoughtful criminal to be rather suspicious.

[loxly]

A. Wife made a purchase hubby didn't appreciate and he reported CC stolen.
B. Merchant is not being truthful.
C. Bank messed up.

I agree that a person with a stolen CC probably isn't going to be hunting for a coupon.

[MichaelColey]

Are they on a network where the reversal rate is public? If so, is it excessive?

Perhaps they really meant "invalid credit card" or "credit card charge disputed"?

[bonnievr]

Actually on my personal retail site - we did have an incident where someone used a coupon AND requested a gift card and guess what? STOLEN CARD

I guess it all depends on the the relationship you have with your merchant. Do you trust them? You'll be amazed how quickly people cancel orders. Im sure it was legit.

[esnagel]

Merchant is working with a network. 30-day reversal rate varies between 33-300% (really? 300%???)

I guess part of having an automated system is picking up merchants with crappy stats like this.

Still waiting for merchant reply, but not holding my breath.

[Greg Rice]

Originally Posted by esnagel

Merchant is working with a network. 30-day reversal rate varies between 33-300% (really? 300%???)

I guess part of having an automated system is picking up merchants with crappy stats like this.

Still waiting for merchant reply, but not holding my breath.

Wow, as a merchant myself if I had a third of my sales reversed I'd be taking a very close look at the reasons why.

[rematt]

Originally Posted by Greg Rice

Wow, as a merchant myself if I had a third of my sales reversed I'd be taking a very close look at the reasons why.

If I were a network and had a merchant with a third of their sales reversed I'd be taking a very close look at the reasons why.

-rematt

[esnagel]

heh... latest reply:

This is the case 90% of the times, they start the search in coupon sites

First: no they don't.
Second: they didn't start at my site. I have server logs - they're magical things. I can see this user (IP goes back to Stanford University) came into my site specifically looking for a coupon for this merchant, didn't look around, but rather immediately left the site via my affiliate link once they had the coupon.

On one hand, I don't care. It didn't cost me that much (aside from the lost revenue).

On the other hand, it still smells fishy.

[bcwaller]

It does look weird. But the stolen card can mean everything from not having permission to just plain buyer remorse. People lie all the time on these chargeback forms.

We have classified ads posted for a person's offer where the ad itself tells people to contact the exact same person at the same address of the person who paid for the ad. Yet the chargeback comes through saying either the card was lost, stolen, or unauthorized use. We have had spouses claiming the other one did not have permission.

Years ago we would contest these with server logs, copies of ads, emails from the customer, etc. We lost every one.

The bottom line for an Internet merchant is that all a person has to do is contest the charge and you lose. No signature = losing every chargeback.

[esnagel]

Thanks Brad - your reply explained a lot. I never realized people could / would do that.

Eric

[rematt]

Regardless of all of the great explanations for why this particular sale might have been reversed, a merchant with a reversal rate of 33% or more is still a cause for concern. Either they're not being honest or they're not very good at what they do. Whatever the reason for the high reversal rate, I'd be wary of continuing to work with them. Just sayin'...

-rematt