Few things can disrupt your business more than when the bank notifies TLC that an order has been disputed. People dispute orders for many reasons but often never consider the potential consequences when they do.
The chargeback process has three primary phases:
- Notification
- Response
- Resolution
Notification
TLC receives information from the bank that an order has been disputed. When we receive the notification, the account on which the order was placed is suspended, as well as all the associated accounts. This means that if the order is on your account, your account will be suspended. If you placed an order on another account but shipped the product to your address, both accounts will be suspended.
When the account is suspended, login access is removed, all existing SmartShip orders are cancelled, commission payments are placed on a temporary hold, and any retail bonuses or other commissions that were paid on the order are clawed back. This includes G5, 10-5-2 and Rising Star bonuses. An email is sent to the email address on the order, not the account. If the chargeback is on a Life Changer account and the account has not been restored by the end of the pay period, the Life Changer will also lose carryover volume.
Response
The Account Support team (tlcsecure@totallifechanges.com) reviews the chargeback information and responds to the bank about the validity of the charge. In some cases, we have no recourse and are unable to fight the dispute. In those cases, we accept the chargeback. In other cases, we provide documentation that will prove that the charge was valid.
Once notified, we have up to 40 days to respond to a chargeback. While we try to ensure that we respond quickly, nothing can be done to restore an account until a resolution is provided.
Documentation Provided to Bank
- Rebuttal Letter
- Original Invoice
- Proof of Delivery
- Positive AVS (Address Verification System) Match
- Account/Order History
- Any Communication with Customer Support about the Order
- Return Policy
- Other Information as Required
Once the rebuttal information has been sent, the bank has up to 60 days to review the documents and make a decision about who keeps the money, the cardholder or TLC.
Resolution
The bank notifies both parties of the outcome.
- Denied – The cardholder keeps the money.
- Reversed – The company keeps the money.
The account will remain suspended until there is additional action requested by the account holder.
Restoration
If your account has been suspended for a chargeback, you can restore your account. Because TLC is charged a fee by the bank when an order is disputed, we charge a restoration fee of $50.00 per chargeback. Depending on the resolution, you may be required to pay both the order and the restoration fee or just the restoration fee to recover your account and resume your TLC business. We will restore login access and return any commissions that have been clawed back. You must ensure that the credit card information is updated and restore any SmartShip order or subscriptions that may have been cancelled. We do not restore carryover volume lost because of a chargeback.
Chargebacks not only affect you personally, but also have the potential to affect Total Life Changes in a negative way. Too many chargebacks can lower our merchant rating. If that happens, Total Life Changes can be viewed as a risk with banks, credit card processors and other companies with whom we want to do business. As the cardholder, your card will be cancelled, and a new one issued. You will have to update any account with automatic billing that has the card attached. If you claim that the card was lost or stolen, the bank may view all charges after the reporting date as unauthorized and dispute additional charges without your knowledge.
Total Life Changes never recommends filing a chargeback or disputing an order. Please adhere to our Return Policy. If the product must be returned, return it. If the product is lost, file a claim with the courier. We will not deny a refund if the reason for the return is valid.
The banks make it seem like a chargeback is the fastest and easiest way to get your money back. This is not true. A refund will take approximately two weeks from the time the order is processed, is shipped to you, and then returned to TLC. With a chargeback, we have 40 days to respond to most chargebacks and the bank has up to 60 to decide who keeps the money. If you ever find yourself in a situation where you want a refund, it’s better for everyone if you work with TLC Customer Support and not the bank.