Disputes and disagreements regarding payments are a scenario every business processing transactions will likely encounter. Payment disputes (also known as Chargebacks) can be filed by a payer with their credit card company or financial institution anytime, anywhere, and for any type of transaction.
Once filed, the payer's financial institution will investigate to determine if the payer wins (gets their money back) or loses (keeps the funds).
While brightwheel is not a payment processor and has no control over a payer deciding to file a dispute on a charge, we want to ensure you're informed about what happens when a dispute occurs, how it may impact your program, and the steps you can take if it affects you.
Note: If the payment was made via a direct bank transfer (ACH, PADs), providers may not get the chance to defend the funds. Please visit Understanding disputed charges to learn why this is the case.
Challenge credit card disputes
When a payer disputes a credit card transaction, brightwheel will make every effort to support the provider.
If possible, it's ideal for the program and parent to connect offline to resolve the dispute. If a dispute is not dropped, brightwheel will connect with the billing administrator to initiate the next steps:
brightwheel will email the billing administrator with details on the dispute process and request any available evidence to prove the charge is valid..
Note: Evidence must be submitted within 5 business days.The email will include a form requesting the following information:
Details of the disputed charge
A copy of the parent's signature from the handbook/tuition agreement and relevant tuition/charge details (e.g., supplies, meals)
Evidence of services provided, such as check-in/out or activity reports for the disputed days in question
Any communication with the parent about the disputed charge (brightwheel messages, texts, or emails)
Once received, brightwheel will forward the evidence to our payment processor who will submit it to the payer's credit card company.
Once we've provided the evidence, we are not privy to details of the credit card companies investigation but will notify you when they have reached a decision. If the student contact wins the dispute, the funds will be returned to them. You can view the status of a disputed charge to track its progress.
If they lose, the funds would be retained by the provider and not returned to the student contact.
🚩 If you are contemplating taking any actions on a disputed charge such as refunding/providing a credit, please contact disputes@mybrightwheel.com to discuss what is best first.
How deposits & invoices are impacted by disputes
In the instance that a credit card company rules in favor of a parent, that institution could withdraw the money from the service provider. Credit card companies have the power to pull back funds, which in turn will be pulled from future deposits to the deposit account. This may result in a negative deposit.
If any payment on an invoice is disputed, the entire invoice will be voided. Any payments applied to the invoice not involved in the dispute will be applied as Credits to the payer's brightwheel account.