What is a chargeback?
A chargeback can be defined when a payment made using a debit or credit card is successfully disputed and reversed either by the participant, underlying bank, or credit company. Those funds are then returned to the participant.
Sometimes, if a participant does not recognize a charge, wants a refund, or is unsatisfied with their event experience, they can go to their bank or credit card company and dispute their charge to get the money back. Many banks and creditors tend to favor the credit card holder in these disputes even when we provide sufficient evidence of the purchase and the refund policy.
Where does athleteReg come in?
We manage the dispute process on the event director’s behalf. It’s a tedious manual process, and one that still can result in a loss. During the dispute process, we respond to these chargebacks providing proof of purchase, the event refund policy (if posted on the registration page or website), results showing the participant finished (if the dispute is after the event), as well as any other details we can provide that may help sway the dispute to our favor.
How does this affect my event?
If the dispute process takes place before the event, we pull the participant from the event and reach out to them directly. In some cases, the participant responds to our initial outreach letting us know that the dispute was a mistake. In these cases, we have them cancel the dispute and reinstate them into the event.
How does this affect me financially?
If the chargeback is lost prior to the event being paid out, we easily make an adjustment by removing the participant along with their entry fee. If the event has been paid out, we will work with the event director to get funds back into their account to cover the dispute through a direct deposit, check, or credit card.
What else should I know?
At athleteReg, our goal is to be as transparent as possible, so we work with the participant and event director to solve any disputes as quickly as possible. Sometimes, however, the dispute process can take several weeks due to procedures that the underlying bank or credit card company is forced to follow, which is why we reach out to the participant directly before entering the dispute process. Sometimes, we are able to work through the dispute by accepting a second payment and accepting the dispute on our end.
If you have any questions, please let us know by writing into us here.