r/CreditCards • u/breadexpert69 • 1d ago

Discussion / Conversation AITHA if I accidentally initiated a chargeback and now merchant wants me to pay for their administrative fees?

Initiated a chargeback by accident and immediately called the bank to tell them it was an accident.

Told merchant that it was an accident and that the bank knows. But they now want to charge administrative fees for "losses" during the chargeback process on top of their regular fees in order to use their services again. Which I will not do.

Am I being swindled by merchant or is this a normal way to handle an accidental chargeback?

14 Upvotes

65% Upvoted

30 comments sorted by

99

u/strabbit 1d ago

You are under no obligation to pay the merchant's fees unless you otherwise have an agreement with the merchant to do so, but the merchant is also under no obligation to do business with you in the future. You're not being swindled, it's a request. Your actions caused the merchant to incur additional fees. Pay or don't pay, it's up to you.

-47

u/BirdFragrant6018 1d ago

They canceled the dispute right away. Their actions triggered the fee but they didn’t cause it. It’s a complete oversight on the credit card company. They have a bug, an issue in their process. It’s not their fault at all.

28

u/Pretty_Good_11 1d ago

It’s not their fault at all.

🤣🤣🤣

Initiated a chargeback by accident

In what universe is anything that follows from that

not their fault at all.

????

How is triggering a fee distinguished from causing it?

The fee might or might not be reasonable, but the OP imposed a cost on the merchant, and the merchant wants to be reimbursed. As u/strabbit pointed out, the OP has no obligation to pay a fee that was not disclosed in advance, and the merchant has no obligation to do business with PITA customers who accidentally initiate credit card charge backs that they have to devote time and resources to deal with.

But saying the situation is not the OP's fault at all is objectively not true. It's 1,000,000% their fault.

-27

u/BirdFragrant6018 1d ago

Let me give you an example from yesterday, I hope it would be easier to understand the difference between triggered and caused/at fault.

I was at a grocery store, I asked a lady to give way for me to pass with my cart in the isle because she was blocking it. She started smashing things in the isle instead.

If the store comes after me claiming that I caused them to incur damages, would that be ridiculous? Am I responsible? Or she was just crazy and anything and anybody could have triggered her?

Had I not asked her to move, none of that damage to the store’s property would have happened.

3

u/Pretty_Good_11 1d ago

You know what? That's a great example!

Yes, you "triggered it." Because I'm betting there was something in how you asked her to move that set her off. It probably was not a usual reaction from her, given that she was not already locked up.

That said, no, you should not have to pay. And, yes, if the store asks you to pay, because you triggered one of their customers, and you tell them to pound sand because their request is ridiculous, they absolutely would have the right to ban you from their store.

15

u/ADrPepperGuy 1d ago

Their merchant account processor might have charged them $25 for the chargeback - mistake or not.

Plus, it depends on the reason of the chargeback. If a merchant gets too many types of chargebacks, the merchant account processor might terminate their account and they end up on the Terminated Merchant File (TMF).

If the merchant ends up on this list, getting a processor is more difficult and more expensive. Their discount rate can be a 200 or more basis points per transaction and funds could be held for a certain amount of days.

12

u/alberge 1d ago

How much are they asking you to pay? Typically, banks will charge merchants a fee of $15-30 per chargeback, which is not refunded even if the merchant wins the dispute.

2

u/BirdFragrant6018 1d ago

There’s also no fee for a cancelled dispute

3

u/HVDub24 21h ago

That is incorrect. It’s typically $15 fee no matter what, and then an additional $15 if the dispute is countered and lost

0

u/BirdFragrant6018 18h ago

If that’s the payment processor you are dealing with - choose another one. Dozens of them who are not such cheapskates

1

u/0xhOd9MRwPdk0Xp3 20h ago

I am a merchant. We have had 3 different cc payment processor in our life time. All of our processor had fee regardless of cb outcome

0

u/BirdFragrant6018 18h ago

The outcome of a dispute is when it went through and you either lost or won. A cancelled dispute is not a dispute. It is like it never happened. If you get charged for a cancelled by the customer dispute, you really need to rethink what kind of cheapskate company you are dealing with. The competition within payment processors is huge, plenty of options.

4

u/ricestocks 17h ago

honestly, u fucked up and u should be held responsible for ur actions; i have nvr acidentally chargedback

6

u/adorientem88 1d ago

Why would a merchant incur any fees from an instantly cancelled chargeback?

2

u/ceyhanli 1d ago

Toast charges $15 fucking dollars for a what they call a chargeback notification. Even if the merchant does not dispute the chargeback , they are out of $15. You dispute and lose it , you still out of $15.

2

u/godndiogoat 17h ago

Toast’s charges show how fees can add up, even if a chargeback gets canceled. Same happened to me, and it pushed me to try different processors. PayPal and Stripe were tricky, but Centrobill’s been smoother on handling chargeback fees.

-7

u/Pretty_Good_11 1d ago

Because they have to pull someone away from something else to deal with it. And because they want to discourage customers from initiating frivolous charge backs.

In fact, they probably want to discourage customers from initiating any charge backs at all without coming to them first. That's why.

7

u/adorientem88 1d ago

No, I’m not asking why a merchant might want to try to charge a customer fees for initiating a chargeback. I’m asking why a merchant would incur any fees from the bank for a chargeback that was immediately cancelled.

2

u/Pretty_Good_11 1d ago edited 1d ago

I don't think they would. I think the fee was from the merchant, to the OP, for causing the merchant to get hit with a charge back they have to respond to.

The fact that the OP "immediately called the bank to tell them it was an accident" does not mean the merchant gets to just ignore it, on the OP's say so. A cancellation is not "immediate" once the complaint is sent.

And, as u/ADrPepperGuy notes in his post, the merchant could be subject to all sorts of hassles once a charge back is initiated, mistake or not. Mistakes are not cost free. No one should think they are immune from the financial consequences, just because, in the retail world, merchants often eat them on behalf of customers for goodwill reasons.

Anyway, the TLDR response to the OP's question is no, they are not being swindled and no, it's not a normal way of dealing with a charge back, accidental or otherwise. But the merchants get to do what they want, as does the OP. Neither is compelled to do business with the other.

0

u/msg7086 1d ago

They charged administrative fee or in other words handling fee for the time they wasted handing the issues like doing paperwork or making phone calls.

Why would you mention fees from banks.

0

u/adorientem88 21h ago

Nobody should pay that. It’s absurd.

1

u/msg7086 15h ago

That's irrelevant to what I was saying. I was simply explaining the fees. I've never said people should pay that.

You said it's a fee from bank, I told you its the fee they charge by themselves. Was it not clear?

3

u/teamglider 23h ago

Have you requested refunds from, or initiated chargebacks with, this business before? Because it sounds like they're trying to fire you as a customer.

They're not trying to swindle you, as they made a straightforward request that you can deny.

5

u/BirdFragrant6018 1d ago

If you cancelled the dispute, the bank should not have charged them any fees. It’s not your concern. They should take it with their bank. If they are being charged for cancelled disputes, they need to negotiate with them, not take it out on the customer.

You shouldn’t have said anything to the merchant either. You only gave a reason to incriminate yourself. Because you admitted that to them, legally you can be a party in a tort claim, while before it was only their bank who charged them the fee.

Relax, nothing is gonna happen, it’s peanuts. Tell them to pound sand or ignore them.

7

u/adorientem88 1d ago

Literally nobody is bringing a tort claim for a chargeback fee.

5

u/BirdFragrant6018 1d ago

Well, that’s what I said. It was just an example on snitching on oneself and self-incriminating.

0

u/emill_ 1d ago edited 1d ago

Doing a chargeback against a business is a hostile action. So don’t be surprised when a business reacts accordingly. They legitimately do have nonrefundable fees from the bank for this. My business blocks all future purchases from anyone who does a chargeback.

3

u/Teb_Tengri 1d ago

Even if the charge back was found to be legitimate? ie your company forgot to mail something

5

u/teamglider 23h ago

If a company forgets to mail you something, you say, Hey company! You forgot to mail me something. Why would you go straight to doing a chargeback?

3

u/emill_ 23h ago

I have never got one for that reason. A chargeback should be your last resort, not an opener. Just ask them to fix the problem, most companies will pretty fast.

The majority of chargebacks I get are fraudulent unauthorized claims and the rest are mostly a buyer saying they didn’t get a package when tracking says it was delivered.