What are chargebacks?

A chargeback occurs when a cardholder asks their bank to reverse a payment for a specific reason. When such a dispute is raised, the final outcome isn’t always clear, as there are thousands of issuers and several credit card networks - each with their own rules and processes for dealing with chargebacks. Credit card networks have the final decision on whether not to agree with a chargeback request. 

Fortunately, the vacation rental industry does not normally experience the system being abused, which can happen, and credit card networks have built-in protections to prevent abuse of the chargeback system. Additionally, the majority of our partner channels have extra protection to protect against chargebacks.

How do they impact you?

We will do everything within our systems and processes to protect you from chargebacks. Depending on the reason the guest has used to raise the chargeback, sometimes we can try to defend the claim. Other times, we are unable to. The reason a guest uses for requesting a chargeback has a significant impact on the outcome of their claim - please see below. 

If we successfully defend a chargeback, there will be no impact for you. If we are unsuccessful in defending a chargeback or are unable to defend the claim, we need to recover this from you either from future bookings or via a direct payment.

What can you do, as an owner?

As an owner, there are a number of things you can do to help protect yourself from potential chargebacks: 

1. Ensure that your listing is an accurate representation of your property. This includes photos, descriptions, location.

2. If an amenity is broken or out of use, delete this from your listing to ensure the guest is not disappointed for any reason.

3. Ensure your house rules are clear and accurate for the guest when they book to avoid any misunderstanding that could result in the guests unable to stay in the property.

4. Be sure to keep any proof of damage and conversations regarding damage.
   

Chargeback reason 1 - Service not as described:

The guest writes to the card-issuer and claims that the service (accommodation) was not the same as advertised. There are two typical versions of this type of chargeback, either the guest is unable to stay at the property for this reason and the booking is non-refundable so they will attempt to receive a refund using the chargeback system. Alternatively, they complete their stay at the property but are unhappy with the accommodation and still claim for a full or partial chargeback.

These types of disputes are easier to defend, especially in the scenario where the guest does not turn up, because most channels provide official documentation that Travelnest can use to prove that the service was provided as advertised despite the guest not turning up.

After Travelnest has submitted evidence on your behalf, there is a 60-day window that we must wait for confirmation on whether the evidence has been accepted or not. If the evidence is accepted and the guest is not successful, there are no implications for you. Alternatively, if the evidence is not accepted then the money will be claimed from us and we will need to recover any payment made to you for this booking.

Reason 2 - Fraudulent card-not-present transactions:

The guest/card-holder writes to the card issuer and complains that they did not authorise nor participate in the transaction appearing on their billing statement i.e. it was fraudulent. The card-holder does not need to provide any evidence that it is genuine fraud so credit card holders can claim this as a reason even if it is not true.

We are unable to defend these chargebacks because the card-holder is never present when payment is taken so there is no way of knowing whether the fraud is genuine or not. In these cases, we will need to recover any payment made to you for this booking.

What does Travelnest do if we receive a chargeback?

• Offsetting the reclaim against future bookings can only be done if you have sufficient future bookings to cover the amount being reclaimed. Otherwise, we will seek a repayment from you via bank transfer.

Further information:

WorldPay - What is a chargeback?