Definition
A chargeback occurs when a cardholder disputes a transaction with their issuing bank and the bank pulls the funds back from the merchant. Each chargeback carries a reason code (fraud, item not received, not as described, duplicate processing) and a response deadline, usually 7-30 days.
Merchants can contest a chargeback through representment by submitting compelling evidence. Card networks monitor chargeback ratios; exceeding roughly 0.9% of transactions triggers monitoring programs with fines and, eventually, account termination.
Example
A customer claims they never received a $240 order. The Dispute Agent pulls the tracking number showing delivery to the billing address, the device fingerprint matching prior successful orders, and the AVS match, and files a rebuttal within four hours.
How HL Hunt handles it
HL Hunt’s Dispute Agent compiles evidence, writes reason-code-specific rebuttals, and submits them automatically. Customers win 81% of contested disputes on average, and pre-dispute alerts resolve many issues before they become chargebacks at all.