Whenever we charge credit cards, there is a small risk of a payment being disputed. During the dispute process, the client’s credit card issuer will request evidence from the merchant (you!) to prove the validity of the payment. Since we can’t go back in time and create evidence, it’s important to have business practices in place that ensure we have our ducks in a row if and when a dispute arises.
While Jane is not in a position to represent our customers or guarantee particular outcomes when disputes arise, we have collected some ideas for best practices over the years which may be helpful.
📌 Never provide service without a signed intake form.
Jane’s Intake Forms are a powerful tool that allow you to collect Patient Information, Health History, and Signed Consents all at once. It’s a good idea for your intake form to include a Financial Policy that indicates when a client can expect to be charged in relation to an appointment, especially if you will be billing to insurance, and a Cancellation Policy that specifies amounts to be charged for late cancellations and no-shows.
It’s also recommended for your intake form to clearly indicate whether or not there is a guarantee of particular outcomes. If there is no guarantee, then it may be prudent to state that refunds are not provided for services rendered due to the fact that outcomes are not guaranteed. For example, laser hair removal is often successful, but sometimes is not a good fit for everyone. Since you will understandably expect to receive payment (for your time, use of your facility, and any costs associated with the use of your tools) whether or not your patient experiences a reduction in hair growth, it can be helpful to protect yourself by clearly stating this in your consents.
📌 Add your cancellation policy to your Online Booking Site.
Many card issuers require merchants to clearly display their cancellation policy in a way that allows their cardholders to review it before booking an appointment. Since Intake Forms are sent after an appointment is already booked, it can be helpful to add your cancellation policy to the banner at the top of your Online Booking Site.
📌 Ensure the credit card used to pay belongs to the person attending the appointment.
When a dispute is filed, the card issuer will require you to provide the cardholder’s identifying information such as name, email, and billing address. If the information on file is for another person, then the information shared with the bank will mismatch and result in the dispute automatically being ruled in the cardholder’s favour.
If the credit card belongs to a family member, then Jane’s Relationships feature will allow you to create a linked profile for them and select permissions for payments. You’ll want to collect the family member’s email and address for the profile.
You can also have cardholder sign a credit card authorization form indicating they agree to have the card charged for this particular person’s appointments at your business. This can be set up as an intake form that is sent manually.
📌 Clearly communicate about every transaction.
Did a client no-show an appointment? Did you find an old outstanding balance on your Accounts Receivable report? Maybe a client’s insurance denied their claim, leaving them with an unexpected balance. Before charging the client’s credit card on file, let them know about the balance in writing (by sending a Pay Balance email, for example) so that they can choose to pay via a different method if they so choose.
If you’re concerned that you will not receive a payment, you can always provide a deadline and a clear head’s up that you will charge the card on file if no payment is received by that date. It can be helpful to let the client know the last 4 digits of the card on file so that they know which account to expect to see the funds withdrawn from. All of these steps also create a detailed paper trail that you can reference and provide for review in a dispute scenario, should one come up.
📌 Add an abbreviated financial policy to the fine print of invoices.
Did you know you can add fine print to your billing documents? Adding a brief description of your financial policies can help further prove to the card issuer that you have clearly conveyed them to your client.
Head to Settings > Billing Settings. In the Financial Documents section, you will see an option for Fine print on invoices, statements & receipts. You can add your policy here and then click Save Billing Information.
This note will now show up at the bottom of your receipts, statements, and invoices.
📌 Write detailed chart notes for every interaction.
While a recollection of an event is helpful in the absence of notes, service documentation and documentation of external communications are important tools that allow banks to see timestamped and officially signed records of your interactions with their cardholder.
📌 Communicate via email.
Having all communication in writing allows you to directly reference information shared between you and your client. Recorded phone conversations can’t be shared with the bank, since supporting documentation is sent via fax. You may wish to have conversations over the phone with your client and then send a quick recap via email for posterity.
As always, the Jane Team is here to help - if you have any questions about these tips or any additional suggestions for the Jane Community, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Just click the Need Help? button in the upper-right of Jane and we’re only a call, email, or chat away!