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Lessons the Fyre Festival Can Teach About Chargeback Protection and Customer Service

47% of merchants think fraud is inevitable. According to another 20% of merchants, fraud control is too expensive.

Chargebacks can create a headache for everyone involved in a business, both the merchant, the processor, and the acquiring bank. Because of chargebacks, the whole process needs to be reversed, and that’s not free.

Let’s take the example of the recent Fyre Festival. Thousands of guests from all over the world arrived in the Bahamas in late April 2017 to take part in the Fyre Festival. The latter is a new music event promising fun, luxury, and entertainment. Unfortunately, the festival turned into a PR fiasco for organizers and gave a valuable lesson for business owners to learn.

 

In fact, any business may face problems time after time. The important thing is to take the appropriate actions so as to reduce chargebacks and customer complaints. With the right steps, merchants can reduce chargebacks by 40%. For this, you should:

  1. Have a Thorough Plan

Often, you can’t see businesses account for the demands of scalability. Your business should, first of all, focus on growth. Instead of planning only for the present, you should aim at planning for what will be needed later. You can’t fully rely on technologies and modern solutions, especially those without any human oversight.

  1. Make Customers Trust You

Promise only what you can deliver. Don’t break your customer’s trust. If you can’t deliver certain products/services, don’t promise that. Customers will expect the delivery and will get dissatisfied in case you fail to deliver. This will result in lost sales and disputes.

  1. Use Reliable Chargeback Protection Services

A reputable payment processor like emerchantbroker.com offers unmatched fraud prevention and chargeback protection services to merchants of any type and size. EMB is voted the #1 high risk processor in the US and has an A+ rating with the BBB. EMB has partnered with Verify and Ethoca to offer an exceptional chargeback shield to its customers.

  1. Address Your Customers’ Problems and Offer a Solution

Avoid being unresponsive. Always do your best to provide up-front communication and be responsive to customers’ questions and concerns. Don’t forget to offer a solution.

  1. Don’t Let Your Customers Have Doubts and Fears

If something has gone wrong, don’t hesitate to immediately reassure your customers that their concerns are important to you and won’t be left unaddressed. Don’t leave your customers in ignorance. Otherwise, they will express their anxiety and frustration elsewhere to make everyone know about it, such as on social media.

  1. Be Responsible for What You Do

Even if it’s not your fault that something has gone wrong, don’t make just an excuse or express apologies without taking some further steps. What you should do is to apologize sincerely and offer solutions to the problem.

Even if your business turned into a debacle, it doesn’t mean this is the end of the world. With the right steps, you can save the situation, and reduce chargebacks and customer complaints.