We recently had a customer dispute a charge claiming that they hadn’t received the product, which is true because we cancelled the order and issued a refund. The customer placed a total of three orders, the first of which we filled and shipped. The additional orders, one on November 30 and the other on December 3, were both cancelled and refunded.
Despite receiving refunds for the cancelled orders the customer filed a dispute for the order placed on December 3. We received notification from Stripe on January 13 and we downloaded all of the documents from our Stripe account which clearly indicated the order was cancelled by us and we refunded the money on December 3.
We felt confident that our records showing the order having been cancelled and the money refunded would amount to a formality and the dispute would be closed in our favor.
We were wrong.
On January 30 we received notification from Stripe that the customer’s bank had found in their favor. Moreover, according to Stripe the decision was final and the matter was closed.
No it is not.
We will not stand by and allow anyone to steal our money, and that is exactly what has happened.
Perhaps most concerning is how nonchalantly Stripe allowed a financial institution to wrongfully steal our money and never provided us with any support.
As far as we’re concerned the bank that found in favor of their customer is guilty of theft. Any rational person could look at the records we provided and immediately see the order had been cancelled and a refund issued. We suspect it’s possible that the bank engaged in this theft of our money because they know Stripe won’t do anything to prevent it from happening.
In order for us to recover our stolen money we’re going to first file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. We will also contact our U.S. Representative and the Department of Veterans Affairs because we want them to know that a financial institution and a credit card processor willingly took part in common theft.
Most importantly, we want other businesses to know that you don’t have to allow your money being stolen from you and be told there is no recourse.
There is recourse.
Stripe and the bank that did this are about to find out.
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