Valid Dispute?

We have a customer who disputed a $300 Verizon debit card charge. The customer states that she authorized the payment; however, she states the payment was charged on her debit card on the wrong date. She made the payment by phone on December 14th, and the charge was in presentments as a POS debit on the same day. The customer stated that the charge was supposed to be a future payment on her debit card on December 27th.

My take on this is that she authorized it, and if it was charged on the wrong date, that's between her and Verizon. Are we correct in denying this as authorized?

Thanks

Would a transfer/payment that occured earlier than authorized not be an incorrect transaction from the customers account? I think this would still be a valid dispute but the timing of when this is occuring might come into play.

Let's say the customer authorized the payment for the 25th but was charged on the 5th and came to dispute on the 6th then this transaction wasn't actually authorized yet. However is the customer comes in on the 30th then it still might be a dispute but it might make no difference unless there were fees assessed because the transaction occured too early.

Just my thoughts. Seems like timing should matter when saying something is authorized or not.

I too am confused on the "unauthorized" aspect of this. I have these from time to time, and find myself falling into a rabbit hole as to whether the customer was current in their payments when this occurs. To get an answer requires using the dispute system and we will never get a timely answer - by the time we get a response, the next payment is due. I always feel like we've made an off the books loan.

(m) “Unauthorized electronic fund transfer” means an electronic fund transfer from a consumer's account initiated by a person other than the consumer without actual authority to initiate the transfer and from which the consumer receives no benefit.

This transaction does not meet the definition of an unauthorized transaction, since the customer initiated the payment. At best, this may be considered an error:

(a) Definition of error. (1) Types of transfers or inquiries covered. The term “error” means: (ii) An incorrect electronic fund transfer to or from the consumer's account;

But consider the information you have. A) The customer initiated the authorization. B) The bill is coming due. C) The customer receives the benefit of the payment. If you proceed with a chargeback, what happens next? Possible late fees, possible disconnect, best case scenario is that your customer is going to have 2 payments due on the next billing cycle (the payment that Verizon is going to lose due to chargeback, plus the normal bill due).

Your best course of action (and in the best interest of your customer as well, really) is to deny the dispute based on customer benefit. Document the facts, send your notification letter, and refund any OD/RI fees that occur as a result.

Thank you Burkemi!