Stripe operates within the constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks, and applicable lawsTherefore, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of ServiceAll users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Because Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe has to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and servicesStripe also periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceStripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged card.The majority of the complainant’s business seemed to be driven through unauthorized, fraudulent chargesThis led to a very high chargeback rate which Stripe could not continue to supportTherefore, after a thorough investigation and communication with the complainant, Stripe closed the complainant's account The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of ServiceOur terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" https://stripe.com/us/terms#termination While we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/05/18) */ To fulfill our legal and regulatory obligations, Stripe requires that our users have a website or other reputable means of establishing and verifying the identity of their business: On April 3rd, 2015, a Stripe representative reached out via email to the complainant to let them know that we were unable to verify their business, as the website they provided to Stripe when signing up for an account does not existThe email contained questions and suggestions as to means of verifying their business The complainant responded to provide the correct website URL until May 5th, at which time Stripe responded to notify the complainant that the URL had been received and the website would be reviewedThe complainant contacted Stripe again on May 8th to demand that their funds be transferred immediatelyStripe responded the same day to the complainant to explain that this review is conducted manually and would take some time, and that we'd notify the complainant when the review was complete On May 18th, we responded to notify the complainant that the website review was complete and that a bank transfer had been initiated for their fundsWe are sorry for the delayed website review, and understand the complainant's frustration regarding the wait
Because the complainant the party with the most information about their customer -- if they're someone the complainant knows, if they've purchased from them before, if their order is a one for their shipping address -- they're best equipped to determine whether or not a purchase is fraudulentThey have a better sense of their customers than any algorithm we could write ever writeIdentifying when a credit card is being used by someone other than the cardholder can be difficult, and if their ever suspicious about a purchase's validity going forward, we give the complainant the option to refund the charge and mark it as fraud.Stripe also helps users such as the complainant by supplying tools that allow our users to fight disputes through the guided submission of evidenceOnce this evidence is submitted, we will send this to the card issuing bankDuring the dispute process, the card issuing bank does not reach out to the merchantThe credit card processor is the party in which the card issuing bank reaches out to -- this is not a Stripe specific practice
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/08/10) */ On April 10th 2015, we reached out to the complainant requesting information to complete their identity verificationStripe must verify all of our user's identities to stay in compliance with KYC, or Know Your Customer, regulationsWe allow our users to start processing before verification is complete, but will ask for more data or clarification in some cases -- having a verifiable online presence is a necessary step in Stripe's identity verification procedureIf the user doesn't respond within a few days of our message, we will disable their transfers until they are able to send over the requested information This was the case with the complainantThe complainant verified their personal information on August 7th We then sent an e-mail to the complainant on August 10th 2015, informing them that their account had been verified and the held transfers were held We would like to sincerely apologize for the delay in releasing the complainant's transfersThe verification process is vital to our business, but in this case the time it took adversely effect our user's businessIf the user has any issues or questions we can help with as they continue to process with Stripe, we will do everything possible to respond as efficiently as possible Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2015/08/11) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) Stripe has tansfered our receivables
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/03/23) */ Stripe is required to collect tax identification information from each user for legal and regulatory requirementsThis information is provided by each Stripe user, and is verified to the best of Stripe's ability against IRS databases While unlikely, it is possible there was a mistake causing the complainant's information to be incorrectly provided to the IRS in association with another Stripe account The day after this complaint was created, the complainant successfully contacted Stripe about the issueA Stripe representative responded, letting them know Stripe would certainly assist in anyway possible and apologized for the mistake The complainant indicated they were going to be able to resolve the issue directly with the IRS, and since then, has not contacted StripeWe believe this matter to be resolved but are willing to work with the complainant however necessary to ensure the situation is resolved
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/12/15) */ Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable lawAs a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of ServiceAll users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and servicesStripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceStripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged cardOn December 11th, 2015, Stripe reached out to the complainant to advise them of our decision and the closing of the account The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of ServiceOur terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" https://stripe.com/us/terms#termination While we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data
Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by [redacted] (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on [redacted] 9, ***.Stripe OverviewAs background, Stripe provides a technology platform that allows merchants selling permissible goods or services online, or through a mobile device, to quickly and simply accept credit card payments.[1] Merchants register for an account by providing contact information, some information about their business and its principals, and bank account informationThis information is submitted through an electronic application process and additional information, such as ID scans, may be requested by Stripe after submissionMerchants have control over what information is provided to Stripe – for credit card charges, this must minimally contain the card number and expiration dateMost merchants also elect to provide the name, CVC, ZIP code as an anti-fraud measure, but are not required toIt is important to note that funds are briefly held in an aggregated clearing account at a bank before being deposited into the merchant's bank account It is important to note that merchants identify the account into which funds are ultimately deposited through the Stripe management interfaceMerchants consent to Stripe’s Services Agreement when establishing their accountA current version of the Stripe Services Agreement is available at https://stripe.com/us/legal.[1] https://stripe.com/us/paymentsMerchant Account Overview The Complainant submitted an account with Stripe on [redacted] 18, [redacted] under the name "COLINGIBB.COM " at http://colingibb.com/Stripe processed payments for the account owner until [redacted] 1, ***During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the Complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceSpecifically, Stripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged cardThe majority of the Complainant’s business seemed to be driven through unauthorized, fraudulent chargesOn [redacted] 24, ***, Stripe reached to the Complainant to let them know about its concerns and that it could no longer support their businessStripe took that opportunity to further review the state of the Complainant's accountUpon further investigation, Stripe has found that the account was closed due to a positive by it's fraud toolingIn light of these findings, Stripe has reinstated this accountHowever, there is additional information that needs to be verified on the Complainant's accountOn [redacted] 30, ***, Stripe reached out to the Complainant to verify this information before releasing the fundsThe Complainant did not provide that informationStripe states that it may hold funds in it's Terms of Service,"We reserve the right to change the Payout Schedule or to suspend Transfers to youExamples of situations where we may do so are: (i) where there are pending, anticipated, or excessive Disputes, Refunds, or Reversals; (ii) in the event that we suspect or become aware of suspicious activity; or (iii) where we are required by Law or court order."https://stripe.com/nl/legal#transfers-and-payout-scheduleThis does not stop the Complainant from logging into their Stripe account and refunding these transactions.For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/02/04) */ Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable lawAs a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of ServiceAll users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and servicesStripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise The complainant accepted the first payment on their Stripe account on January 8, and was notified that the payment would arrive in his bank account sometime on January 15, Beginning in the early hours of January 15, 2015, the complainant emailed Stripe three times to check on the status of this bank transferA Stripe representative replied several hours later to let the complainant know that Stripe was looking into the status of the complainant's bank transfer On this same day, in the course of Stripe's standard review process, Stripe noticed that the URL listed on the account did not direct to a website owned by the complainantAccording to our Terms of Service, businesses must register with an accurate site URL (Section B.2)In addition, Stripe noticed that the complainant's account was related to several other accounts that had previously been terminated for fraudulent activity in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceMoreover, Stripe cannot process payments for businesses associated with businesses that have been previously rejected At this time, it was determined that the complainant's account and website were sufficiently suspicious and posed too high of a risk for Stripe to supportAs a result, the complainant was notified that all payments that had not already been transferred to the complainant's bank account were to be refunded to the appropriate cardholdersStripe takes this precaution in the event that an overwhelming number of signals point to fraudulent or suspicious activity originating from the merchant The procedures in the above sequence of events were in accordance with the following sections of the Stripe Terms of Service (https://stripe.com/terms): Section B As part of your registration, you must provide your site URL and the name under which you do business, which may be the business's legal name or a DBAThese two fields may appear in your customers' credit or debit card statementsTo avoid customer confusion and transaction disputes, you must enter a description that clearly identifies your business as well as an accurate site URL Section C We reserve the right to change the Payout Schedule or suspend payouts to your Bank Account should we determine it is necessary due to pending disputes, excessive or anticipated excessive Chargebacks or refunds, or other suspicious activity associated with your use of the Service, or if required by law or court order Section D We may terminate this Agreement and close your Stripe Account at any time for any reason effective upon providing you notice in accordance with Section AaboveWe may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if (i) we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason; (ii) you do not comply with any of the provisions of this Agreement; or (iii) upon request of a Card Network or the a card issuer
As of [redacted] ***, all charges have been refunded to the card holderIt can take 5–business days after the date on which the refund was initiated for the refund to reach the card holderThe Complainant is welcome to reach out at support.stripe.com/email for refund reference information
I would highly discourage merchants from using this serviceStripe and their partner bank will facilitate your business getting ripped off through fraudulent charge backsYour chances of resolving a dispute are and they will dip into your bank account instead of taking responsibility or doing any due diligenceDo not allow these people access to your bank account
Disputes can be a frustrating part of accepting credit card payments, and Stripe does everything possible to make sure our users have an advantage during the disputes processUsing Stripe as a payments processor does not relieve the complainant of their contractual obligations to bear the responsibility for preventing fraud on their accountStripe is very clear as to what happens in the case that a dispute is initiated against a merchantThis procedure is in accordance with the following sections of our Terms of Service, which can also be found at https://stripe.com/us/terms and more specifically https://stripe.com/us/terms#receiving-your-funds-from-card-transactions ("You are responsible for refunds, returns, and liable for customer disputes (chargebacks).") Specifically in regards to the complaint: Section Cof Stripes Terms of Service states: "When a Chargeback is issued, you are immediately liable to Stripe for the full amount of payment of the Chargeback plus any associated Fees, fines, expenses or penalties (including those assessed by the Card Networks or our payment processors)You agree that Stripe may recover these amounts by debiting by means of ACH debit of your Bank Account associated with your Stripe Account, debiting your Reserve Account, or setting off any amounts owed to you by usIf we are unable to recover funds related to a Chargeback for which you are liable, you will pay us the full amount of the Chargeback immediately upon demandYou agree to pay all costs and expenses, including without limitation attorneys' fees and other legal expenses, incurred by or on behalf of us in connection with the collection of any unpaid Chargebacks unpaid by you." Additional relevant terms agreed to by the complainant: https://stripe.com/us/terms#payment-methods https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks We also pride ourselves on having as much documentation for our users as we possibly canOne area of focus is fraud and dispute prevention, and we clearly mention steps for our users to take in order to prevent this exact type of situation: https://support.stripe.com/questions/avoiding-fraud-and-disputes#identifying-pot...⇄ While we understand the stress this situation has caused the complainant, our Terms of Service and documentation are very clear that the ultimate responsibility for preventing fraud and covering the expenses in a dispute fall on our users In regards to the complainant's case, to this date there are disputes filed against the complainant's businessFor the first dispute, the credit card company deliberated for several weeks and decided in the complainant's favor (the dispute was withdrawn by the customer)As a result, the complainant is due to receive full payment of the sale as well as the dispute fee withheld by StripeThe second dispute is still open, which was filed against another charge dating back in [redacted] by a different customerThe funds from the said charge and handling fees are currently being held back while the customer's bank is deliberating the caseThe bank has up to days from the duedate of response from the complainantWhile the complainant may feel this is not and feel unfairly targeted, this is a part of a routine flow of how disputes are handledIf the credit card bank decides this case in the complainant's favor, then all funds will be returned to the complainant, following due process
Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by [redacted] (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on June 7, *** Stripe Overview As background, Stripe provides a technology platform that allows merchants selling permissible goods or services online, or through a mobile device, to quickly and simply accept credit card payments.[1] Merchants register for an account by providing contact information, some information about their business and its principals, and bank account informationThis information is submitted through an electronic application process and additional information, such as ID scans, may be requested by Stripe after submission Merchants have control over what information is provided to Stripe – for credit card charges, this must minimally contain the card number and expiration dateMost merchants also elect to provide the name, CVC, ZIP code as an anti-fraud measure, but are not required toIt is important to note that funds are briefly held in an aggregated clearing account at a bank before being deposited into the merchant's bank account It is important to note that merchants identify the account into which funds are ultimately deposited through the Stripe management interfaceMerchants consent to Stripe’s Services Agreement when establishing their accountA current version of the Stripe Services Agreement is available at https://stripe.com/us/legal [1] https://stripe.com/us/payments Merchant Account Overview The Complainant submitted an account with Stripe on March 8, under the name MYNEWCOMPANY.COMStripe processed payments for the account owner until March 9, During a routine review, Stripe determined that the complainant's business had a high level of disputes and was at risk for incurring more disputesOn March 9, 2017, Stripe contacted the Complainant, informing them that their dispute rate was over industry standard, at 49.37%; we are unable to accept payments for businesses we determine to be at high risk for a dispute rate of over 1%, as mentioned here: "High chargeback rates (typically those exceeding 1%) may result in your inability to use the Payment ServicesFailure to timely and effectively manage Disputes with your Customers may ultimately result in your inability to accept payment cards for your business." https://stripe.com/us/legal#specific-payment-methods As these chargebacks accumulated, pursuant to the Complaint's agreement with Stripe and as described in further detail below, Stripe debited these funds from the ComplainantSpecifically, as further described below, we debited the amount that was charged back and a fee of $ [redacted] for each chargeback that we processed Reserve Terms In order to mitigate future losses to Stripe as a result of chargebacks on the Complainant's account, a reserve was set in place that will last for daysFunds will be transferred to the complainant's bank account on June 7, These funds have been transferred out as of todayThis is in accordance to Stripe's Terms of Service: "We may impose a Reserve on you for any reason if we determine that the risk of loss to Stripe, Customers, or others associated with your Stripe Account is higher than normalFor example, we may hold a Reserve if: (i) your or your Customers’ activities increase the risk of loss to us or to your Customers, (ii) you have violated or are likely to violate this Agreement, and (iii) your Stripe Account has an elevated or abnormally high number of Disputes." https://stripe.com/us/legal#clearing-funds-and-reserves For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 7, 2015/11/05) */ Disputes can be a frustrating part of accepting credit card payments, and Stripe does everything possible to make sure our users have an advantage during the disputes processThat said, Stripe does not have the ability to resolve disputes for our users, or make decisions about who wins or losesStripe provides tools to our users for submitting evidence to their customers' card-issuer, but that issuer is the entity who arbitrates the process, not Stripe The complainant ultimately bears the responsibility for preventing fraud and disputes on their accountThis procedure is in accordance with the following sections of our Terms of Service, which can also be found at https://stripe.com/us/terms and more specifically https://stripe.com/us/terms#receiving-your-funds-from-card-transactions ("You are responsible for refunds, returns, and liable for customer disputes (chargebacks).") Additional relevant terms agreed to by the complainant: https://stripe.com/us/terms#payment-methods https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks Section Cof Stripes Terms of Service states: "When a Chargeback is issued, you are immediately liable to Stripe for the full amount of payment of the Chargeback plus any associated Fees, fines, expenses or penalties (including those assessed by the Card Networks or our payment processors)You agree that Stripe may recover these amounts by debiting by means of ACH debit of your Bank Account associated with your Stripe Account, debiting your Reserve Account, or setting off any amounts owed to you by usIf we are unable to recover funds related to a Chargeback for which you are liable, you will pay us the full amount of the Chargeback immediately upon demandYou agree to pay all costs and expenses, including without limitation attorneys' fees and other legal expenses, incurred by or on behalf of us in connection with the collection of any unpaid Chargebacks unpaid by you." We also pride ourselves on having as much documentation for our users as we possibly canOne area of focus is fraud and dispute prevention, and we clearly mention steps for our users to take in order to prevent this exact type of situation: https://support.stripe.com/questions/avoiding-fraud-and-disputes#identifying-pot...⇄ While we understand the stress this situation has caused the complainant, our Terms of Service and documentation are very clear that the ultimate responsibility for preventing fraud falls on our usersThe complainant has provided evidence for many of the disputes and we are waiting on responses from the relevant banks before marking these as won or lostThe complainant will be informed of the outcome of these disputes as soon as we hear back from the banks Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 9, 2015/11/06) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This is the same General answer they have on their websites help page this does not explain why I've lost cases that I have this conclusive evidence showing I should be the winner of that dispute I've requested to talk to someone on the phone about my disputes and I get these general answers I could have looked up online for this company has a very bad review for stealing people's money without giving them a clear reason why besides them claiming they have nothing to do with the result of dispute Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 11, 2015/11/14) */ We understand disputes are a frustrating part of running an online businessWe are happy to provide the complainant specific information and feedback on disputes and the evidence they submitted should they email us at [redacted] @stripe.comHowever, we cannot provide that information through the public forum on the Revdex.com websiteAdditionally, Stripe provides tools to help our users submit dispute evidence to banks, but the ultimate decision on a dispute lies with the cardholder's bank and not with Stripe In general, we recommend merchants contact their customers first to try to resolve disputesSpecific recommendations based on dispute type can be found in our comprehensive support documentation, for example: https://stripe.com/help/dispute-types#fraudulent Again, we are happy to answer any specific questions about disputes at: [redacted] @stripe.comOutside of that, our Terms of Service are clear that responsibility for disputes and chargebacks lies with the complainant Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (4200, 13, 2015/11/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I have already spoken to multiple customers who say they have authorized their purchases with us the same orders you guys say we're never authorized by my customer something's not adding up if my customer tells me they authorized the purchase and expecting the purchase there has to be a scam on your end I've made test purchases with my own credit card to see if they would go through a few months later I will receive a dispute from stripe saying that this order was never authorized by the car holder which I am the cardholder which I did authorize that transaction I simply want my money back stripe swindle out of me
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2014/07/17) */ Stripe is a service that sellers use to accept payments onlineAccording to the report, the buyer made a purchase from one of Stripe's users and states that the seller didn't deliver the serviceWhile Stripe facilitates purchases between buyers and sellers, we'd recommend that the customer contact the seller directly for questions about his purchase or to request a refundIf the customer is dissatisfied with the purchase and the seller won't offer a refund, we'd recommend that he contact his card-issuing bank to dispute the purchase
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/06/26) */ Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable lawAs a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of ServiceAll users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and servicesStripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceStripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged cardOn May 29, 2015, Stripe reached out to the complainant to advise them of our decision and the closing of the account The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of ServiceOur terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" https://stripe.com/us/terms#termination While we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2015/06/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) FirstWe do not appreciate Stripe, Incgive us a copy and paste response from their policyWe understood they policy termsHowever, when the fraudulent transaction was made by an unknown customers using stolen informationWe did not know that the transaction was illegal and would have never processed an illegal transactionWhen this transaction was made, it passed [redacted] fraud checks including the CVC, zip code and address checkOn top of all that, we even contact Stripe just to insure they safety of the transaction since it was our first transaction processed through Strip IncA Stripe representative ensured us that the transaction was valid being it passed [redacted] checks so we continued processing the orderStripe "per Policy" waited weeks before depositing our funds because they said it is our first transactionOnce the funds were deposited into our account, we completed the customer's orderA few days later is when we were contacted by Stripe informing us the transaction was a fraudulent purchase and the actual user is disputing the purchaseShortly after another email, followed letting us knows that Stripe will be deducting $from our account to reimburse the customers fundsThe funds were taken and we ( [redacted] s) filed a dispute through Stripe's dispute portalOn June 13th we were notified by Stripe that the dispute was WON in our favor and this is the actual quote from Stripe Inc"We have good news for you! The disputed payment from May was successfully resolved in your favor by your customer's bank or Credit Card CompanyThis means that $and the dispute fee will be returned to your account in the next few days." Now for Stripe to turn around and try to keep our money is wrong! If they do not return our funds back into our account that, they had no problem taking it fromWE WILL SEEK LEGAL ACTION ASAP!!! Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 9, 2015/07/07) */ Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable lawAs a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of ServiceAll users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and servicesStripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceOn May 28th, Stripe reached out to the complainant to advise them of our decision and the closing of the account There was also a disputed charge on the complainant's account, and funds in the amount of $were held as a matter of standard procedure while the bank reviewed the disputeThis dispute review process typically takes the banks around days After receiving notice that the bank ruled in the complainant's favor on June 13th, 2015, we initiated a thorough review of the account before transferring funds to the userUnfortunately, this review process took much longer than normal, and we are working hard to speed this process up On July 7th, 2015, we released the hold on the complainant's funds and are in the process of transferring funds to the user's bank accountThis transfer is scheduled to be delivered to the complainant on July 9th, 2015, but may take several business days to post to the complainant's bank accountWe sent out an e-mail on July 7th, 2015, to apologize for the delay and to inform the complainant that the funds would be transferred to their bank account on July 9th, While the dispute was ruled in the complainant's favor, the Stripe account associated with the complainant will remain closed as a result of our reviewThe closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of ServiceOur terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" https://stripe.com/us/terms#termination While we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (2000, 11, 2015/07/10) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) On July 7th we ( [redacted] Company) received an email from [redacted] @stripe.com (via [redacted] The email reads: "Hi [redacted] , Apologies for the delay on our endI've reviewed the history on this and have released the funds that were being held on your Stripe accountAfter the dispute was ruled in your favor, we should have resolved this much more quicklyMy sincere apologies for the delay on thisThe transfer of $is scheduled for July 9th, but please bear in mind that it may take several business days to post to your account Best, [redacted] " On July 9th we checked with our bank and the funds were released back into our accountAs we do appreciate Strip Increleasing the funds back into our accountFor any future transaction with Stripe Incand other customersWe suggest to Stripe that they should not make it so hard for customers to get back money that belongs to them and not StripeWe also want to ask Stripe Incto take any bank account information belonging to us out of your system because we feel unsafe that Stripe as a company can go in at any time and take money fro our account!
The Complainant's account and transactions have been reviewed several times as the result this complaint, their Revdex.com reviews, the emails they sent containing the invoices, their communications via social media and other review sitesAfter each of these reviews, it was determined that the evidence provided by the Complainant was not sufficient to illustrate that these charges were authorized by the card holdersAs Stripe is unable to process payments that are not authorized by the card holder, these charges will be refunded to the card holders Stripe's ability to do so is outlined in it's Service Agreement, "Until you have submitted, and we have reviewed and approved all required information, your Stripe Account will be available to you on a preliminary basis only, and we may terminate it at any time and for any reason." https://stripe.com/us/legal#your-stripe-account "Stripe is not responsible for or liable to you for authorized and completed Charges that are later the subject of a Dispute, Refund, or Reversal, are submitted without authorization or in error, or violate any Laws." https://stripe.com/us/legal#processing-transactions-disputes For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless
Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by Kevin D Reyes (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on March 23, 2018.Stripe OverviewAs background, Stripe provides a technology platform that allows merchants selling permissible goods or services online, or through a mobile device, to quickly and simply accept credit card payments.[1] Merchants register for an account by providing contact information, some information about their business and its principals, and bank account informationThis information is submitted through an electronic application process and additional information, such as ID scans, may be requested by Stripe after submissionMerchants have control over what information is provided to Stripe – for credit card charges, this must minimally contain the card number and expiration dateMost merchants also elect to provide the name, CVC, ZIP code as an anti-fraud measure, but are not required toIt is important to note that funds are briefly held in an aggregated clearing account at a bank before being deposited into the merchant's bank account It is important to note that merchants identify the account into which funds are ultimately deposited through the Stripe management interfaceMerchants consent to Stripe’s Services Agreement when establishing their accountA current version of the Stripe Services Agreement is available at [redacted] Merchant Account Overview The Complainant submitted an account with Stripe on March 9, under the name [redacted] Stripe processed payments for the account owner until March 15, During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the Complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceSpecifically, Stripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged cardThe majority of the Complainant’s business seemed to be driven through unauthorized, fraudulent chargesOn March 15, 2018, Stripe reached to the Complainant to let them know about its concerns and that it could no longer support their business and would be refunded all of the charges on the Complainant's accountAfter a thorough investigation, Stripe closed the Complainant's account and refunded all of their charges.The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of ServiceStripe's terms very clearly state that Stripe"may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" [redacted] While Stripe is not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the Complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing dataFor the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless
I have tried two separate times to conduct business with this provider of online merchant services Two separate other companies that I work with use them They provide no assistance in setting up your accounts or when you have problems except by email Anyway their page to set up your account wouldn't accept my information I tried multiple times changing things in order to suit the software but to no avail I emailed multiple times and waiting to receive answers back and received instructions to do what I'd already done over and over I then requested that they call me or allow me to call them Again Oh, we don't do that Well too bad because you lost me as a customer and I will NEVER do business with them And after reading some of the complaints I'm glad the whole thing didn't work out But I sure wasted a lot of hours on itSo spare yourself the headache
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2014/11/26) */ While Stripe does provide various tools for fraud protection, the company does not take on liability for disputed chargesIn this case, full liability lies with the complainant When a chargeback is issued, a merchant is liable for the full amount of payment of the chargeback plus any associated fees, fines, expenses or penaltiesStripe charges $per chargeback (note: this fee is dependent upon the currency in which the Stripe user receives funds), though this fee is refunded if the issuing bank decides the dispute in the user's favorIn the event that a Stripe user is able to win a dispute, Stripe returns the full amount of the charge and the $fee to the user, and incurs this costStripe returns that fee because we feel strongly that users shouldn't be penalized for disputes that are resolved in their favor In this case, the complainant lost seven disputes, and is now liable for the full amount of payment of the chargeback, plus the associated $fees for the two disputed charges, totaling $1,Information about how Stripe handles disputes is provided here: https://support.stripe.com/questions/how-does-stripe-handle-chargebacks, and additional information about disputes or chargebacks can be found here: https://stripe.com/help/disputes The relevant section of the Stripe Terms of Service can be found here: https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks When contesting chargebacks, Stripe provides merchants with chargeback assistance, including status notifications and facilitating chargeback responsesHowever, Stripe does not assume liability for this role or assistance in contesting chargebacksThough Stripe did provide these services to the complainant, they unfortunately did not win these disputes, and are now liable for the disputed fundsThe relevant section of the Stripe Terms of Service can be found here: https://stripe.com/us/terms#contesting-your-chargebacks Because Stripe is not liable for the disputed charges, Stripe will not be reimbursing the complainant for these disputed charges nor for the associated feesOur team apologizes for a slow turnaround on any of these queriesHigh volume can impede response times occasionally, but attempts are made in good faith to respond to emails promptly, in the order in which they are received
Stripe operates within the constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks, and applicable lawsTherefore, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of ServiceAll users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Because Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe has to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and servicesStripe also periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceStripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged card.The majority of the complainant’s business seemed to be driven through unauthorized, fraudulent chargesThis led to a very high chargeback rate which Stripe could not continue to supportTherefore, after a thorough investigation and communication with the complainant, Stripe closed the complainant's account The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of ServiceOur terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" https://stripe.com/us/terms#termination While we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/05/18) */ To fulfill our legal and regulatory obligations, Stripe requires that our users have a website or other reputable means of establishing and verifying the identity of their business: On April 3rd, 2015, a Stripe representative reached out via email to the complainant to let them know that we were unable to verify their business, as the website they provided to Stripe when signing up for an account does not existThe email contained questions and suggestions as to means of verifying their business The complainant responded to provide the correct website URL until May 5th, at which time Stripe responded to notify the complainant that the URL had been received and the website would be reviewedThe complainant contacted Stripe again on May 8th to demand that their funds be transferred immediatelyStripe responded the same day to the complainant to explain that this review is conducted manually and would take some time, and that we'd notify the complainant when the review was complete On May 18th, we responded to notify the complainant that the website review was complete and that a bank transfer had been initiated for their fundsWe are sorry for the delayed website review, and understand the complainant's frustration regarding the wait
Because the complainant the party with the most information about their customer -- if they're someone the complainant knows, if they've purchased from them before, if their order is a one for their shipping address -- they're best equipped to determine whether or not a purchase is fraudulentThey have a better sense of their customers than any algorithm we could write ever writeIdentifying when a credit card is being used by someone other than the cardholder can be difficult, and if their ever suspicious about a purchase's validity going forward, we give the complainant the option to refund the charge and mark it as fraud.Stripe also helps users such as the complainant by supplying tools that allow our users to fight disputes through the guided submission of evidenceOnce this evidence is submitted, we will send this to the card issuing bankDuring the dispute process, the card issuing bank does not reach out to the merchantThe credit card processor is the party in which the card issuing bank reaches out to -- this is not a Stripe specific practice
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/08/10) */ On April 10th 2015, we reached out to the complainant requesting information to complete their identity verificationStripe must verify all of our user's identities to stay in compliance with KYC, or Know Your Customer, regulationsWe allow our users to start processing before verification is complete, but will ask for more data or clarification in some cases -- having a verifiable online presence is a necessary step in Stripe's identity verification procedureIf the user doesn't respond within a few days of our message, we will disable their transfers until they are able to send over the requested information This was the case with the complainantThe complainant verified their personal information on August 7th We then sent an e-mail to the complainant on August 10th 2015, informing them that their account had been verified and the held transfers were held We would like to sincerely apologize for the delay in releasing the complainant's transfersThe verification process is vital to our business, but in this case the time it took adversely effect our user's businessIf the user has any issues or questions we can help with as they continue to process with Stripe, we will do everything possible to respond as efficiently as possible Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (2000, 7, 2015/08/11) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) Stripe has tansfered our receivables
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/03/23) */ Stripe is required to collect tax identification information from each user for legal and regulatory requirementsThis information is provided by each Stripe user, and is verified to the best of Stripe's ability against IRS databases While unlikely, it is possible there was a mistake causing the complainant's information to be incorrectly provided to the IRS in association with another Stripe account The day after this complaint was created, the complainant successfully contacted Stripe about the issueA Stripe representative responded, letting them know Stripe would certainly assist in anyway possible and apologized for the mistake The complainant indicated they were going to be able to resolve the issue directly with the IRS, and since then, has not contacted StripeWe believe this matter to be resolved but are willing to work with the complainant however necessary to ensure the situation is resolved
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/12/15) */ Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable lawAs a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of ServiceAll users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and servicesStripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceStripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged cardOn December 11th, 2015, Stripe reached out to the complainant to advise them of our decision and the closing of the account The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of ServiceOur terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" https://stripe.com/us/terms#termination While we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data
Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by [redacted] (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on [redacted] 9, ***.Stripe OverviewAs background, Stripe provides a technology platform that allows merchants selling permissible goods or services online, or through a mobile device, to quickly and simply accept credit card payments.[1] Merchants register for an account by providing contact information, some information about their business and its principals, and bank account informationThis information is submitted through an electronic application process and additional information, such as ID scans, may be requested by Stripe after submissionMerchants have control over what information is provided to Stripe – for credit card charges, this must minimally contain the card number and expiration dateMost merchants also elect to provide the name, CVC, ZIP code as an anti-fraud measure, but are not required toIt is important to note that funds are briefly held in an aggregated clearing account at a bank before being deposited into the merchant's bank account It is important to note that merchants identify the account into which funds are ultimately deposited through the Stripe management interfaceMerchants consent to Stripe’s Services Agreement when establishing their accountA current version of the Stripe Services Agreement is available at https://stripe.com/us/legal.[1] https://stripe.com/us/paymentsMerchant Account Overview The Complainant submitted an account with Stripe on [redacted] 18, [redacted] under the name "COLINGIBB.COM " at http://colingibb.com/Stripe processed payments for the account owner until [redacted] 1, ***During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the Complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceSpecifically, Stripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged cardThe majority of the Complainant’s business seemed to be driven through unauthorized, fraudulent chargesOn [redacted] 24, ***, Stripe reached to the Complainant to let them know about its concerns and that it could no longer support their businessStripe took that opportunity to further review the state of the Complainant's accountUpon further investigation, Stripe has found that the account was closed due to a positive by it's fraud toolingIn light of these findings, Stripe has reinstated this accountHowever, there is additional information that needs to be verified on the Complainant's accountOn [redacted] 30, ***, Stripe reached out to the Complainant to verify this information before releasing the fundsThe Complainant did not provide that informationStripe states that it may hold funds in it's Terms of Service,"We reserve the right to change the Payout Schedule or to suspend Transfers to youExamples of situations where we may do so are: (i) where there are pending, anticipated, or excessive Disputes, Refunds, or Reversals; (ii) in the event that we suspect or become aware of suspicious activity; or (iii) where we are required by Law or court order."https://stripe.com/nl/legal#transfers-and-payout-scheduleThis does not stop the Complainant from logging into their Stripe account and refunding these transactions.For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/02/04) */ Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable lawAs a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of ServiceAll users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and servicesStripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise The complainant accepted the first payment on their Stripe account on January 8, and was notified that the payment would arrive in his bank account sometime on January 15, Beginning in the early hours of January 15, 2015, the complainant emailed Stripe three times to check on the status of this bank transferA Stripe representative replied several hours later to let the complainant know that Stripe was looking into the status of the complainant's bank transfer On this same day, in the course of Stripe's standard review process, Stripe noticed that the URL listed on the account did not direct to a website owned by the complainantAccording to our Terms of Service, businesses must register with an accurate site URL (Section B.2)In addition, Stripe noticed that the complainant's account was related to several other accounts that had previously been terminated for fraudulent activity in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceMoreover, Stripe cannot process payments for businesses associated with businesses that have been previously rejected At this time, it was determined that the complainant's account and website were sufficiently suspicious and posed too high of a risk for Stripe to supportAs a result, the complainant was notified that all payments that had not already been transferred to the complainant's bank account were to be refunded to the appropriate cardholdersStripe takes this precaution in the event that an overwhelming number of signals point to fraudulent or suspicious activity originating from the merchant The procedures in the above sequence of events were in accordance with the following sections of the Stripe Terms of Service (https://stripe.com/terms): Section B As part of your registration, you must provide your site URL and the name under which you do business, which may be the business's legal name or a DBAThese two fields may appear in your customers' credit or debit card statementsTo avoid customer confusion and transaction disputes, you must enter a description that clearly identifies your business as well as an accurate site URL Section C We reserve the right to change the Payout Schedule or suspend payouts to your Bank Account should we determine it is necessary due to pending disputes, excessive or anticipated excessive Chargebacks or refunds, or other suspicious activity associated with your use of the Service, or if required by law or court order Section D We may terminate this Agreement and close your Stripe Account at any time for any reason effective upon providing you notice in accordance with Section AaboveWe may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if (i) we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason; (ii) you do not comply with any of the provisions of this Agreement; or (iii) upon request of a Card Network or the a card issuer
As of [redacted] ***, all charges have been refunded to the card holderIt can take 5–business days after the date on which the refund was initiated for the refund to reach the card holderThe Complainant is welcome to reach out at support.stripe.com/email for refund reference information
I would highly discourage merchants from using this serviceStripe and their partner bank will facilitate your business getting ripped off through fraudulent charge backsYour chances of resolving a dispute are and they will dip into your bank account instead of taking responsibility or doing any due diligenceDo not allow these people access to your bank account
Disputes can be a frustrating part of accepting credit card payments, and Stripe does everything possible to make sure our users have an advantage during the disputes processUsing Stripe as a payments processor does not relieve the complainant of their contractual obligations to bear the responsibility for preventing fraud on their accountStripe is very clear as to what happens in the case that a dispute is initiated against a merchantThis procedure is in accordance with the following sections of our Terms of Service, which can also be found at https://stripe.com/us/terms and more specifically https://stripe.com/us/terms#receiving-your-funds-from-card-transactions ("You are responsible for refunds, returns, and liable for customer disputes (chargebacks).") Specifically in regards to the complaint: Section Cof Stripes Terms of Service states: "When a Chargeback is issued, you are immediately liable to Stripe for the full amount of payment of the Chargeback plus any associated Fees, fines, expenses or penalties (including those assessed by the Card Networks or our payment processors)You agree that Stripe may recover these amounts by debiting by means of ACH debit of your Bank Account associated with your Stripe Account, debiting your Reserve Account, or setting off any amounts owed to you by usIf we are unable to recover funds related to a Chargeback for which you are liable, you will pay us the full amount of the Chargeback immediately upon demandYou agree to pay all costs and expenses, including without limitation attorneys' fees and other legal expenses, incurred by or on behalf of us in connection with the collection of any unpaid Chargebacks unpaid by you." Additional relevant terms agreed to by the complainant: https://stripe.com/us/terms#payment-methods https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks We also pride ourselves on having as much documentation for our users as we possibly canOne area of focus is fraud and dispute prevention, and we clearly mention steps for our users to take in order to prevent this exact type of situation: https://support.stripe.com/questions/avoiding-fraud-and-disputes#identifying-pot...⇄ While we understand the stress this situation has caused the complainant, our Terms of Service and documentation are very clear that the ultimate responsibility for preventing fraud and covering the expenses in a dispute fall on our users In regards to the complainant's case, to this date there are disputes filed against the complainant's businessFor the first dispute, the credit card company deliberated for several weeks and decided in the complainant's favor (the dispute was withdrawn by the customer)As a result, the complainant is due to receive full payment of the sale as well as the dispute fee withheld by StripeThe second dispute is still open, which was filed against another charge dating back in [redacted] by a different customerThe funds from the said charge and handling fees are currently being held back while the customer's bank is deliberating the caseThe bank has up to days from the duedate of response from the complainantWhile the complainant may feel this is not and feel unfairly targeted, this is a part of a routine flow of how disputes are handledIf the credit card bank decides this case in the complainant's favor, then all funds will be returned to the complainant, following due process
Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by [redacted] (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on June 7, *** Stripe Overview As background, Stripe provides a technology platform that allows merchants selling permissible goods or services online, or through a mobile device, to quickly and simply accept credit card payments.[1] Merchants register for an account by providing contact information, some information about their business and its principals, and bank account informationThis information is submitted through an electronic application process and additional information, such as ID scans, may be requested by Stripe after submission Merchants have control over what information is provided to Stripe – for credit card charges, this must minimally contain the card number and expiration dateMost merchants also elect to provide the name, CVC, ZIP code as an anti-fraud measure, but are not required toIt is important to note that funds are briefly held in an aggregated clearing account at a bank before being deposited into the merchant's bank account It is important to note that merchants identify the account into which funds are ultimately deposited through the Stripe management interfaceMerchants consent to Stripe’s Services Agreement when establishing their accountA current version of the Stripe Services Agreement is available at https://stripe.com/us/legal [1] https://stripe.com/us/payments Merchant Account Overview The Complainant submitted an account with Stripe on March 8, under the name MYNEWCOMPANY.COMStripe processed payments for the account owner until March 9, During a routine review, Stripe determined that the complainant's business had a high level of disputes and was at risk for incurring more disputesOn March 9, 2017, Stripe contacted the Complainant, informing them that their dispute rate was over industry standard, at 49.37%; we are unable to accept payments for businesses we determine to be at high risk for a dispute rate of over 1%, as mentioned here: "High chargeback rates (typically those exceeding 1%) may result in your inability to use the Payment ServicesFailure to timely and effectively manage Disputes with your Customers may ultimately result in your inability to accept payment cards for your business." https://stripe.com/us/legal#specific-payment-methods As these chargebacks accumulated, pursuant to the Complaint's agreement with Stripe and as described in further detail below, Stripe debited these funds from the ComplainantSpecifically, as further described below, we debited the amount that was charged back and a fee of $ [redacted] for each chargeback that we processed Reserve Terms In order to mitigate future losses to Stripe as a result of chargebacks on the Complainant's account, a reserve was set in place that will last for daysFunds will be transferred to the complainant's bank account on June 7, These funds have been transferred out as of todayThis is in accordance to Stripe's Terms of Service: "We may impose a Reserve on you for any reason if we determine that the risk of loss to Stripe, Customers, or others associated with your Stripe Account is higher than normalFor example, we may hold a Reserve if: (i) your or your Customers’ activities increase the risk of loss to us or to your Customers, (ii) you have violated or are likely to violate this Agreement, and (iii) your Stripe Account has an elevated or abnormally high number of Disputes." https://stripe.com/us/legal#clearing-funds-and-reserves For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless
Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (2000, 6, 2014/07/17) */ Issue has been resolved
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 7, 2015/11/05) */ Disputes can be a frustrating part of accepting credit card payments, and Stripe does everything possible to make sure our users have an advantage during the disputes processThat said, Stripe does not have the ability to resolve disputes for our users, or make decisions about who wins or losesStripe provides tools to our users for submitting evidence to their customers' card-issuer, but that issuer is the entity who arbitrates the process, not Stripe The complainant ultimately bears the responsibility for preventing fraud and disputes on their accountThis procedure is in accordance with the following sections of our Terms of Service, which can also be found at https://stripe.com/us/terms and more specifically https://stripe.com/us/terms#receiving-your-funds-from-card-transactions ("You are responsible for refunds, returns, and liable for customer disputes (chargebacks).") Additional relevant terms agreed to by the complainant: https://stripe.com/us/terms#payment-methods https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks Section Cof Stripes Terms of Service states: "When a Chargeback is issued, you are immediately liable to Stripe for the full amount of payment of the Chargeback plus any associated Fees, fines, expenses or penalties (including those assessed by the Card Networks or our payment processors)You agree that Stripe may recover these amounts by debiting by means of ACH debit of your Bank Account associated with your Stripe Account, debiting your Reserve Account, or setting off any amounts owed to you by usIf we are unable to recover funds related to a Chargeback for which you are liable, you will pay us the full amount of the Chargeback immediately upon demandYou agree to pay all costs and expenses, including without limitation attorneys' fees and other legal expenses, incurred by or on behalf of us in connection with the collection of any unpaid Chargebacks unpaid by you." We also pride ourselves on having as much documentation for our users as we possibly canOne area of focus is fraud and dispute prevention, and we clearly mention steps for our users to take in order to prevent this exact type of situation: https://support.stripe.com/questions/avoiding-fraud-and-disputes#identifying-pot...⇄ While we understand the stress this situation has caused the complainant, our Terms of Service and documentation are very clear that the ultimate responsibility for preventing fraud falls on our usersThe complainant has provided evidence for many of the disputes and we are waiting on responses from the relevant banks before marking these as won or lostThe complainant will be informed of the outcome of these disputes as soon as we hear back from the banks Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 9, 2015/11/06) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) This is the same General answer they have on their websites help page this does not explain why I've lost cases that I have this conclusive evidence showing I should be the winner of that dispute I've requested to talk to someone on the phone about my disputes and I get these general answers I could have looked up online for this company has a very bad review for stealing people's money without giving them a clear reason why besides them claiming they have nothing to do with the result of dispute Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 11, 2015/11/14) */ We understand disputes are a frustrating part of running an online businessWe are happy to provide the complainant specific information and feedback on disputes and the evidence they submitted should they email us at [redacted] @stripe.comHowever, we cannot provide that information through the public forum on the Revdex.com websiteAdditionally, Stripe provides tools to help our users submit dispute evidence to banks, but the ultimate decision on a dispute lies with the cardholder's bank and not with Stripe In general, we recommend merchants contact their customers first to try to resolve disputesSpecific recommendations based on dispute type can be found in our comprehensive support documentation, for example: https://stripe.com/help/dispute-types#fraudulent Again, we are happy to answer any specific questions about disputes at: [redacted] @stripe.comOutside of that, our Terms of Service are clear that responsibility for disputes and chargebacks lies with the complainant Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (4200, 13, 2015/11/18) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) I have already spoken to multiple customers who say they have authorized their purchases with us the same orders you guys say we're never authorized by my customer something's not adding up if my customer tells me they authorized the purchase and expecting the purchase there has to be a scam on your end I've made test purchases with my own credit card to see if they would go through a few months later I will receive a dispute from stripe saying that this order was never authorized by the car holder which I am the cardholder which I did authorize that transaction I simply want my money back stripe swindle out of me
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2014/07/17) */ Stripe is a service that sellers use to accept payments onlineAccording to the report, the buyer made a purchase from one of Stripe's users and states that the seller didn't deliver the serviceWhile Stripe facilitates purchases between buyers and sellers, we'd recommend that the customer contact the seller directly for questions about his purchase or to request a refundIf the customer is dissatisfied with the purchase and the seller won't offer a refund, we'd recommend that he contact his card-issuing bank to dispute the purchase
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2015/06/26) */ Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable lawAs a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of ServiceAll users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and servicesStripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceStripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged cardOn May 29, 2015, Stripe reached out to the complainant to advise them of our decision and the closing of the account The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of ServiceOur terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" https://stripe.com/us/terms#termination While we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data Initial Consumer Rebuttal / [redacted] (3000, 7, 2015/06/30) */ (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.) FirstWe do not appreciate Stripe, Incgive us a copy and paste response from their policyWe understood they policy termsHowever, when the fraudulent transaction was made by an unknown customers using stolen informationWe did not know that the transaction was illegal and would have never processed an illegal transactionWhen this transaction was made, it passed [redacted] fraud checks including the CVC, zip code and address checkOn top of all that, we even contact Stripe just to insure they safety of the transaction since it was our first transaction processed through Strip IncA Stripe representative ensured us that the transaction was valid being it passed [redacted] checks so we continued processing the orderStripe "per Policy" waited weeks before depositing our funds because they said it is our first transactionOnce the funds were deposited into our account, we completed the customer's orderA few days later is when we were contacted by Stripe informing us the transaction was a fraudulent purchase and the actual user is disputing the purchaseShortly after another email, followed letting us knows that Stripe will be deducting $from our account to reimburse the customers fundsThe funds were taken and we ( [redacted] s) filed a dispute through Stripe's dispute portalOn June 13th we were notified by Stripe that the dispute was WON in our favor and this is the actual quote from Stripe Inc"We have good news for you! The disputed payment from May was successfully resolved in your favor by your customer's bank or Credit Card CompanyThis means that $and the dispute fee will be returned to your account in the next few days." Now for Stripe to turn around and try to keep our money is wrong! If they do not return our funds back into our account that, they had no problem taking it fromWE WILL SEEK LEGAL ACTION ASAP!!! Final Business Response / [redacted] (4000, 9, 2015/07/07) */ Stripe operates within a variety of constraints imposed by our banking partners, credit card networks and applicable lawAs a result, Stripe must fully understand its users to ensure their businesses are consistent with Stripe's Terms of ServiceAll users agree to these terms when activating Stripe accounts, and the terms are posted here: https://stripe.com/terms Since Stripe bears financial responsibility for all accounts using Stripe to accept payments, Stripe needs to have a high degree of confidence about their legitimacy, and their likelihood of delivering promised goods and servicesStripe periodically reviews accounts to verify that they meet these standards, and reaches out to merchants should any issues arise During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceOn May 28th, Stripe reached out to the complainant to advise them of our decision and the closing of the account There was also a disputed charge on the complainant's account, and funds in the amount of $were held as a matter of standard procedure while the bank reviewed the disputeThis dispute review process typically takes the banks around days After receiving notice that the bank ruled in the complainant's favor on June 13th, 2015, we initiated a thorough review of the account before transferring funds to the userUnfortunately, this review process took much longer than normal, and we are working hard to speed this process up On July 7th, 2015, we released the hold on the complainant's funds and are in the process of transferring funds to the user's bank accountThis transfer is scheduled to be delivered to the complainant on July 9th, 2015, but may take several business days to post to the complainant's bank accountWe sent out an e-mail on July 7th, 2015, to apologize for the delay and to inform the complainant that the funds would be transferred to their bank account on July 9th, While the dispute was ruled in the complainant's favor, the Stripe account associated with the complainant will remain closed as a result of our reviewThe closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of ServiceOur terms very clearly state that Stripe "may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" https://stripe.com/us/terms#termination While we will not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing data Final Consumer Response / [redacted] (2000, 11, 2015/07/10) */ (The consumer indicated he/she ACCEPTED the response from the business.) On July 7th we ( [redacted] Company) received an email from [redacted] @stripe.com (via [redacted] The email reads: "Hi [redacted] , Apologies for the delay on our endI've reviewed the history on this and have released the funds that were being held on your Stripe accountAfter the dispute was ruled in your favor, we should have resolved this much more quicklyMy sincere apologies for the delay on thisThe transfer of $is scheduled for July 9th, but please bear in mind that it may take several business days to post to your account Best, [redacted] " On July 9th we checked with our bank and the funds were released back into our accountAs we do appreciate Strip Increleasing the funds back into our accountFor any future transaction with Stripe Incand other customersWe suggest to Stripe that they should not make it so hard for customers to get back money that belongs to them and not StripeWe also want to ask Stripe Incto take any bank account information belonging to us out of your system because we feel unsafe that Stripe as a company can go in at any time and take money fro our account!
The Complainant's account and transactions have been reviewed several times as the result this complaint, their Revdex.com reviews, the emails they sent containing the invoices, their communications via social media and other review sitesAfter each of these reviews, it was determined that the evidence provided by the Complainant was not sufficient to illustrate that these charges were authorized by the card holdersAs Stripe is unable to process payments that are not authorized by the card holder, these charges will be refunded to the card holders Stripe's ability to do so is outlined in it's Service Agreement, "Until you have submitted, and we have reviewed and approved all required information, your Stripe Account will be available to you on a preliminary basis only, and we may terminate it at any time and for any reason." https://stripe.com/us/legal#your-stripe-account "Stripe is not responsible for or liable to you for authorized and completed Charges that are later the subject of a Dispute, Refund, or Reversal, are submitted without authorization or in error, or violate any Laws." https://stripe.com/us/legal#processing-transactions-disputes For the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless
Below is Stripe's Response to the complaint submitted by Kevin D Reyes (herein referred to as the "Complainant") on March 23, 2018.Stripe OverviewAs background, Stripe provides a technology platform that allows merchants selling permissible goods or services online, or through a mobile device, to quickly and simply accept credit card payments.[1] Merchants register for an account by providing contact information, some information about their business and its principals, and bank account informationThis information is submitted through an electronic application process and additional information, such as ID scans, may be requested by Stripe after submissionMerchants have control over what information is provided to Stripe – for credit card charges, this must minimally contain the card number and expiration dateMost merchants also elect to provide the name, CVC, ZIP code as an anti-fraud measure, but are not required toIt is important to note that funds are briefly held in an aggregated clearing account at a bank before being deposited into the merchant's bank account It is important to note that merchants identify the account into which funds are ultimately deposited through the Stripe management interfaceMerchants consent to Stripe’s Services Agreement when establishing their accountA current version of the Stripe Services Agreement is available at [redacted] Merchant Account Overview The Complainant submitted an account with Stripe on March 9, under the name [redacted] Stripe processed payments for the account owner until March 15, During a routine review, Stripe identified strong signals that the Complainant's account was in violation of the Stripe Terms of ServiceSpecifically, Stripe cannot process payments that appear to be unauthorized by the owner of the charged cardThe majority of the Complainant’s business seemed to be driven through unauthorized, fraudulent chargesOn March 15, 2018, Stripe reached to the Complainant to let them know about its concerns and that it could no longer support their business and would be refunded all of the charges on the Complainant's accountAfter a thorough investigation, Stripe closed the Complainant's account and refunded all of their charges.The closing of this account is in accordance with the following section of the Stripe Terms of ServiceStripe's terms very clearly state that Stripe"may suspend your Stripe Account and your access to the Service and any funds in your Stripe Account, or terminate this Agreement, if we determine in our sole discretion that you are ineligible for the Service because of the risk associated with your Stripe Account, including without limitation significant credit or fraud risk, or for any other reason" [redacted] While Stripe is not be able to continue processing transactions on the account, this does not preclude the Complainant from signing into Stripe and accessing any of the account's existing dataFor the reasons explained in detail above, Stripe acted in accordance with its terms of service in the handling of this merchant account and the Complainant's claim for damages is baseless
I have tried two separate times to conduct business with this provider of online merchant services Two separate other companies that I work with use them They provide no assistance in setting up your accounts or when you have problems except by email Anyway their page to set up your account wouldn't accept my information I tried multiple times changing things in order to suit the software but to no avail I emailed multiple times and waiting to receive answers back and received instructions to do what I'd already done over and over I then requested that they call me or allow me to call them Again Oh, we don't do that Well too bad because you lost me as a customer and I will NEVER do business with them And after reading some of the complaints I'm glad the whole thing didn't work out But I sure wasted a lot of hours on itSo spare yourself the headache
Initial Business Response / [redacted] (1000, 5, 2014/11/26) */ While Stripe does provide various tools for fraud protection, the company does not take on liability for disputed chargesIn this case, full liability lies with the complainant When a chargeback is issued, a merchant is liable for the full amount of payment of the chargeback plus any associated fees, fines, expenses or penaltiesStripe charges $per chargeback (note: this fee is dependent upon the currency in which the Stripe user receives funds), though this fee is refunded if the issuing bank decides the dispute in the user's favorIn the event that a Stripe user is able to win a dispute, Stripe returns the full amount of the charge and the $fee to the user, and incurs this costStripe returns that fee because we feel strongly that users shouldn't be penalized for disputes that are resolved in their favor In this case, the complainant lost seven disputes, and is now liable for the full amount of payment of the chargeback, plus the associated $fees for the two disputed charges, totaling $1,Information about how Stripe handles disputes is provided here: https://support.stripe.com/questions/how-does-stripe-handle-chargebacks, and additional information about disputes or chargebacks can be found here: https://stripe.com/help/disputes The relevant section of the Stripe Terms of Service can be found here: https://stripe.com/us/terms#chargebacks When contesting chargebacks, Stripe provides merchants with chargeback assistance, including status notifications and facilitating chargeback responsesHowever, Stripe does not assume liability for this role or assistance in contesting chargebacksThough Stripe did provide these services to the complainant, they unfortunately did not win these disputes, and are now liable for the disputed fundsThe relevant section of the Stripe Terms of Service can be found here: https://stripe.com/us/terms#contesting-your-chargebacks Because Stripe is not liable for the disputed charges, Stripe will not be reimbursing the complainant for these disputed charges nor for the associated feesOur team apologizes for a slow turnaround on any of these queriesHigh volume can impede response times occasionally, but attempts are made in good faith to respond to emails promptly, in the order in which they are received