Preventing Disputes
While they don’t happen often, payment disputes are a risk you take when accepting payment cards. If you take the following precautions, you can reduce the likelihood of receiving a dispute and be prepared in the event that you do receive one.
Take a moment to learn about best practices for accepting payment cards and how to prevent fraud.
Present Your Refund, Return, and Cancellation Policies on Your Receipts
Write out and present your return, refund, and cancellation policies on your receipts or any other agreements made at the point of sale. Presenting a no returns/refunds/cancellation sign at the point of sale is not sufficient to verify your business’s policies.
Make the Name on Your Customer’s Bank Statements Recognizable
Make sure your business name reflects the type of goods or service you provide. If you don’t have a business name, include your service followed by the name of the city where you provide your service (eg. Taxi - Ottawa, ON). Do not use your personal name as your business name. Your customer may not recognize this name when it appears on their statement.
Communicate with Your Customers
Initiate and maintain open communication channels with your customers. Clearly communicate expectations around pricing, sales tax, delivery, and shipping.
Keep in mind that you can always re-send a receipt from your mobile device or from the Square Dashboard.
Attach a Contract
One of the best ways to avoid misunderstandings or late payment is to put a contract in place. Contracts allow you and your customer to understand exactly what’s expected from your transaction, minimize your chance of a dispute and help ensure that you get paid.
You may also consider using one of our contract templates to develop your own set of terms. Using contracts can help to build good customer relationships and avoid disputes by setting expectations with your customer at the outset. Take a look at the contracts we have available in the Square Contracts feature.
If you are using Square Invoices to get paid, you can attach a contract right to your customer’s invoice. While contracts aren’t appropriate for every business, they can be invaluable to businesses who work in wholesale or on a project basis.
Using Square Invoices, you can attach a copy of your contract directly to your customer’s invoice. If you aren’t familiar with creating a contract, our team has created two templates that you can use.
Learn more on how to Attach a Contract to your Invoices or Estimates Online.
If you are using Square Appointments to get paid for your services and/or items, you can attach a contract right to your client’s appointment. While contracts aren’t appropriate for every business, they can be invaluable to businesses who work in wholesale or on a project basis.
Learn more on how to Send Digital Customer Contracts with Square Appointments.
If you need help attaching a contract or file to your Invoice or Appointment, our Support Centre can help.
Note: Square is not a law firm, a lawyer or a professional advisor in any industry. Square provides this template to individuals who choose to prepare their own contractual documents and does not constitute legal advice.