E-commerce News

Ecommerce Junkie is thrilled to announce that BadCustomer.com has been named the first ever recipient of a Junkie, our monthly award series that recognizes the very best in the world of e-commerce and online shopping.

Regular readers will remember that we featured BadCustomer.com a little over a month ago, highlighting how their database service assists retailers in combating customer chargebacks.

Chargebacks—a process by which consumers go through credit card companies for refunds, rather than following proper return and credit protocols with retailers directly— are a pretty common practice and extremely damaging to many a retailers’ bottom line.  The National Retail Federation estimates that  chargebacks cost U.S. retailers more than $11.8 billion last year alone.  While they may not grab the  headlines, chargebacks are clearly a major issue of concern for all retailers. And BadCustomer.com is doing something about it.

Their database works much like a customer blacklist, logging and tracking frequent and known chargeback consumers in a simple and accessible format.   Participating merchants contribute to the BadCustomer.com database with details and information on customers that have carried out chargebacks in the past, thus keeping the blacklist current and up-to-date.  As of this writing, BadCustomer was boasting more than 13 million shopper records in its database.

When a shopper tries to carry out a sale on the site of a participating BadCustomer merchant, their contact data is automatically checked against the database.  If they’re a known chargeback risk, the purchase is cancelled and the customer is given notice of their inclusion on the list, as well as instructions on how to be removed.

Customers can contest their inclusion in the database directly through BadCustomer.com, which also staffs a mediation department to help settle disputes between retailers and customers.

For building a user-friendly site and a service that can provide tangible value to retailers who lose money every year as a result of customer chargebacks, BadCustomer.com is a worthy choice for the April 2010 Junkie Award.

Visit their homepage to learn more about what they can do for you.