Briefly… if a customer orders wine over the phone (not advertised on line, but a friend of theirs saw it in the store) and gives complete credit card info… what are the rules/laws regarding the following?
Can the merchant charge the card and withhold shipment until they receive a signed credit card receipt they’ve mailed the customer?
Based on general credit card merchant contract details… DOES the merchant really have any better position against a chargeback WITH that signed receipt? This would be if the customer receives the goods then refuses to pay the cc issuer. I’m wondering how all on line merchants handle chargebacks since none of them have physically signed receipts.
Aren’t there laws that require a merchant to ship within a specific time if the card’s been charged?
My thought is that this transaction is doomed one way or another, but I’m really wondering what the law and/or merchant services requirements are in such a case.
Unless laws have changed, the merchant has 30 days to complete the order.
That may be bad customer service, but it is legal.
Yes, the signature gives better protection. The merchant can verify that the shipping address and phone number match the card, and the card has not been reported stolen. For most merchants, that is enough. However, a merchant bears the burden of proof in any dispute.
Seems as if this isn’t of much interest, but I think my underlying question is specifically about whether obtaining a signed receipt IS really the only means a merchant has of avoiding chargebacks. It just seems rather absurd to think that all online merchants are taking that much of a chance. I’ve never bought something on line and been asked to send back a signed charge receipt before the merchant would ship.
Do large online merchants have different contractual specifics with the major banks?? I can’t imagine that Amazon is just ‘trusting’ customers when they ship a multi-thousand dollar item with just the basic credit card info required by their checkout process.
I would venture a guess that this merchant has been burned too many times by online sales and this is his way of protecting his assets. Maybe he needs to reassess his online presence?
Actually this merchant has never had an online presence. This was a sale conducted by telephone when a friend of the customer saw the wine in the shop. I would definitely agree that the merchant has been burned in the past and has become a complete control freak in these situations.
I’m really just trying to underdstand if that level of self-protection (getting the signature before shipping) has any real basis in fact.
I’m not trying to help the merchant. I’m just questioning whether waiting for a signed charge receipt is REALLY the ONLY recourse they would have. My own experience, and the examples of every web store I’ve dealt with suggest that’s just not the case. Perhaps CC contracts vary???
I don’t know what it’s like in California, but here in Texas, even a signed credit card slip personally witnessed in the store may be challenged by the purchaser / signer and it will be charged back. We have NO protection here under the law, only under the continuing good will of our customers. This happens here at our chain regularly, and peaks (of course) during the holiday season. To the tune of 6 figures a year. Every year. And it’s getting worse. Count your blessings elsewhere.
I am with the previous reply. A singed slip has VERY little additional security. by having all the appropriate information and having previously reported to your processor that you will be taking phone/internet order you have just the same protection as having a signed slip in hand. If a customer want to dispute a charge you could have video of them signing the slip and taking the merch. and still have the card company charge you back. most likely the card company will eat it and give both the card holder and the merchant the money if your proof is rock solid.
See… that’s what I thought too. I just couldn’t see how, as I’ve said, all the internet business is being done if that were really true. I have a friend, who runs a large brick and mortar AND internet business, and he’s always told me a signed receipt isn’t really worth jack if the customer decides to dispute the charge.