I am devastated. I customer just started a dispute through my bank in the amount of $2500. Rent I around the corner and all of my funds are currently frozen I am so disheartened I can’t afford rent now and I feel like I’m going to explode. I completed the work. I am already getting my evidence ready but the bank says it will take up to 60 days. I feel like I don’t want to do this anymore I am struggling alot right now. Other then submit a response with evidence is there anything else I can do to speed up the response?
Not a lawyer but here’s what I would do.
Immediately counter sue for the max small claims court allows.
Then send a settlement agreement to them via certified mail and state that if they sign an attached agreement you’ll stop your suit.
I had this happen on a client who was paying for healthcare services, we now have a document in place that’s very clean about provisions of chargebacks and certifying that they understand the services provided etc. highly recommend putting that in your documents for clients to sign so when the dispute occurs you can then share with the credit card company the document that discloses they knew the payment was charged what the payment was etc
You mentioned “paint job”, I’m assuming you’re a painter? I own a painting company myself and do not accept card as payment. For 1. I don’t want to pay the processing fee and my client saves money by not having to carry that cost either. 2. It’s so easy for someone to claim fraud and you’ll be stuck in limbo, as you found out first hand.
If the customer can only afford my paint job by using credit, those are the clients I do not want to work with. Cash discount, check, or instant online payments(cash app, venmo, etc).
It can help to have insurance for such things - if, of course, it’s something you can afford in the first place. Catch-22.
Maybe look into how long after a transaction that banks will allow disputes to be raised. It might be something along the line of years.