Klastov
Hamburg,#2Consumer Comment
Thu, November 06, 2008
I found the employee rebuttal to be less than satisfactory. According to the Mastercard Chargeback Guide, only 2 pieces of information are needed to contest an incorrect code 4808 chargeback: the original date of transaction and the original authorization code. No supporting documents are needed. In fact if this is a card-not-present transaction, there are no documents that can be submitted. The merchant only gets a transaction number and a authorization code as a blip on a computer screen. The top poster clearly had both and had submitted this information to IMS. So it should have been straight forward to process the second presentment. I don't use IMS. But I do get code 4808 chargebacks from time to time via a different card processor. What concerns me is how the customer knows nothing about these stealth 4808 chargebacks. They are initiated by the card issuer's bank and not the paying customer. When I contact the credit card customer directly and ask about the chargeback they have no knowledge of it. The customer still pays the charge on their credit card bill, it is not refunded! Someone else in the loop is keeping the money from code 4808 chargebacks.
Leanne
Calabasas,#3UPDATE Employee
Mon, December 17, 2007
Although it may seem that IMS makes up the rules as they go along, it's simply not that way. IMS does not govern chargebacks. When a customer has a charge on their credit card that they want to dispute for any reason, they have 6+ months to contact their bank to do so. Then, their bank must follow certain rules in the issuance and classification of the chargeback and this goes out to the merchant's processor (i.e. IMS). Once received we are required to respond in a certain fashion and timeframe with whatever documentation we can obtain. However, if this documentation does not conform to Visa/MC regulations, the merchant loses the chargeback. Additionally, electronic records generated by Visa/MC are used in the dispute process and indicate such things as multiple authorizations. These are not created or generated by IMS and are electronic records generated by the interchange for Visa/MC on behalf of the card issuing bank. If this merchant lost a chargeback, it was due to the rules created by the associations, using electronic records as supporting evidence. IMS is required to comply with the regulations when interacting with the cardholder bank in this dispute process. However we do not govern them or create them. It's an unfortunate part of doing business with credit cards.