Getting Started

• What is a credit card chargeback?
• Why do customers initiate a credit card chargeback?
• What is a chargeback fee?

What is a credit card chargeback?

A chargeback occurs when the customer disputes a charge with their credit card provider. Typically banks are more likely to refund the customer if they claim fraud, so this is our more common complaint.  

Our Loss Prevention team manages chargebacks that take place for clients using our Eventim processor for their events.

Why do customers initiate a credit card chargeback?

Chargebacks are initiated for Fraud and Service related reasons. For example:

• Expecting a refund that has not been granted
• Not receiving what they expected
• Not recognizing the transaction
• Unauthorized Transaction 

What is a chargeback fee?

Chargeback Processing Fees are what the banks and processors charge for disputes. They vary in amount but generally are between $25-$50. Ours is $25.00 per chargeback.

E-commerce rules state that all chargeback fees are the responsibility of the merchant (Eventim) and per the client terms agreement, chargebacks and chargeback processing fees are passed on to the client. To use our platform, all of our clients must agree to our Service Agreement which states that the client is responsible for all chargebacks and fees incurred.

Chargeback Lifecycle

Receiving the Dispute

Submitting Evidence

Bank's Resolution

Receiving the dispute

Our system will automatically record and update any chargebacks received, whether you are using Eventim processing or your own Stripe Account.

When the dispute is filed, it will be synced into Eventim platform with “pending” status; all the tickets on the order change to chargedback status (except any comp tickets that were previously voided) and become unusable. If the order was processed through the See Ticket gateway, you will be billed for the Chargeback Amount and the Chargeback Fee on the event statement.

Additionally, when a payment on an order is disputed:

• Order status changes to “chargedback”
• Any upcoming payment plan charges are cancelled. 
• (If any) WRSTBND token is deactivated
• (If any) Ticket transfers are cancelled.
• Ticket will not be counted as “Sold”

Note for orders containing multiple events: since the chargebacks are considered an order level transaction, a single dispute will affect all tickets and relate to all the events on the order.

Submitting Evidence

Our Fraud Prevention team will automatically dispute the chargeback with any and all information that we have in our system: AVS and CVV match, IP address, customer communication, our terms of service agreement, etc. Once submitted, it can take between 30-90 days for the bank to decide on the dispute resolution.

Bank’s resolution

Once the bank resolves on one's favor, the dispute status will be automatically updated in Eventim. 

If resolved on the customer’s favor:

• The chargeback on the client’s statement stands and no changes are made, the customer keeps the credit.
• The chargeback status will change from pending to lost
• If the ticket status prior to the chargeback was “purchased” or “layaway”, a ticket or seat will be brought back to the available allotment (unsold count) as a replacement of the lost chargeback to give you the opportunity to recover the lost revenue.
• If prior to the chargeback the ticket was refunded, posted or sold on Lyte, tickets will not be brought back to the available allotment.

If resolved on your favor:

• The status changes from pending to won
• Tickets on the order go back to the status they were before the chargeback, as long as there are no other pending or lost chargebacks in the order. This means a ticket could still be used by the customer (if the status is "purchased").
• If the order was processed on Eventim gateway, you will be automatically credited on the statement to offset the Chargeback Amount previously billed. Chargeback Fee is not reversed even if the dispute is won as it covers the cost of disputing the chargeback.

For additional information, we recommend visiting our Chargebacks FAQs. 

Reporting

Eventim offers different options to get information around the chargebacks on your account, depending on what information you are looking for

Detailed information about each dispute

The client level “Chargebacks” report under the Finance Reports section provides a more granular vision of each dispute (status, reason, etc.) and its lifecycle (date received, date resolved). Go to Client Dashboard > Stats/Reports > Chargebacks. If you’re looking for event specific information, use the event level report instead: Event Dashboard > Live Stats > Reports > Chargebacks.

Note for orders containing multiple events: since the chargebacks are considered an order level transaction, a single dispute will relate to all the events on the order. The client level report will reflect the dispute once, related to only one of the events, however it will be indicated that the order includes multiple events.

Chargedback orders

The Event Sales Summary by Order Date" report provides visibility of orders currently in “chargedback” status. Access this report by going to your Client Dashboard > ANALYZE menu section > Stats/Reports > Event Sales Summary by Order Date.

Once downloaded, you should sort the sheet by Category in column A. Filter for the status "chargedback". This will not denote whether the chargeback has been won or lost.

Mitigating Chargebacks and Fraud - What can I do?

You can influence our win-rate by delivering the event as advertised, communicating effectively with your ticket buyers, and scanning in tickets at entry.

Lower ticket limits, especially VIP tickets in the days leading up to the event.

Utilize Delayed Delivery.

Turn on phone number collection at checkout.

If your event has Box Office/Will Call capabilities, switching to Will Call or Box Office only at least 48 hours leading up to the event. This will allow us extra time to screen orders/discourage fraudsters.

Have a flexible refund policy. Issue refunds promptly for cancelled or rescheduled events.