Why the Heck Did You Dispute that Credit Card Charge?

Lucky for me (sort of!), the broken mugs were the result of factory error (lack of proper packaging), so all I had to do was open a claim with the factory, return the order to them, and they reprinted the items for my customer the very next day. Easy peasy.

I wasn't done yet, though. Now that I had made the customer happy, there's still that small matter concerning the $500.00 I was missing. The next day I followed up with my credit card merchant about the disputed charge to make sure they knew the problem had been resolved and that the customer had done the same. I then diligently watched my bank account to make sure the refunded money and any accrued fees had been returned to me.

PRO TIP: In all cases, despite the customer and the bank confirming the matter has been resolved over the phone, it doesn't hurt to fax an explanation or documentation to the fax number provided by your credit card merchant just in case someone somewhere drops the ball. At least this way you're covered.

Now, I hate to break it to you, but your solution won't always be as easy as the example above. Regardless, it's your job as a distributor—and one whose hard-earned money is on the line, no less—to try your hardest to find an immediate solution to the problem at hand. In more difficult cases, you must be willing to sacrifice profit and just settle for breaking even on the order.

"But I don't wannaaa," I hear you sales reps shouting. Just hear me out. You've got to look at it this way: losing the credit card dispute will result in a much bigger loss, and once you lose it's not like you can go charging that customer's credit card again for the same charge, so it's often best to do everything in your power to make the customer happy, even if it means simply breaking even.