Chargeback issue

[Steve Jones2]

I use Zettle for card payments.
I sold a laptop to a customer at her premises.She signed a contract after inspecting it, to say she was happy.
A week later she chargebacked the purchase, claiming it was faulty.(it wasn't)
I went back to her premises and she had gone, and has never answered her phone.
I am certain this is a fraudulent chargeback.Its important to note that she never reurned the laptop, or provided any proof to her card company. Surely they should have insisted on this before allowing the chargeback?
I appeealed it, and was refused.I was the told if I wanted to pursue it i'd have t pay in the £535 (the original transaction amount), but "the customer could still refuse to pay".
Firstly, why would I pay any amount in order to continue to challenge?, and why is it up to the customer to decide? Surely it's the card company who decides?

So not only have I lost the money I paid for the item, but the custome has basically stolen it from me as she's has kept it and not paid for it.
Is this something I can report to the Financial Ombudsman?

 

[StevensOnln1]

Have you reported her to the police for fraud?

 

[Ozzy]

Have you reported her to the police for fraud?

This ^

It sounds like you and the genuine cardholder 'may' have both been card fraud victims, as I have been in the past. Many many years ago I sold a company formation and the customer wanted all the documents couriered to Stoke, and as I rode a motorcycle I figured I would do the courier trip myself.

Printed and bound the docs, jumped on the bike, and headed to Stoke. Met the guy at his front door, he signed the delivery note, and then a week later the payment was charged back.
I reported it, and it came to light that the card used for payment was stolen, and the property I delivered to was empty.

It is quite common for cloned cards to be used for theft like this. With high value products it's always worth considering only to deliver to the billing address of a payment card, which can be verified using the card payment processor. I'm not sure if Zettle offer such a service, but I know Stripe does.

 

[Lisa Thomas]

I don't think the fraud team tend to be interested unless the fraud amounts to over £100k...But perhaps cumulatively they might want to investigate, or perhaps that policy has changed since I read about it a few years ago.