Area · Selling online
Chargebacks & EU refund rules
Out-of-court legal support for online sellers: refund and cancellation policies that hold, chargebacks answered with the right evidence, and the EU withdrawal right limited where — and only where — the law allows. In English, remotely.
Who it’s for
Who turns to the practice
E-commerce merchants
Sellers hit by payment disputes, abusive return requests or “item not received” claims — discovering that the platform won’t defend them.
Digital products, courses & SaaS
Creators and subscription businesses facing strategic withdrawals: the customer consumes the content, then asks for the money back.
Non-EU merchants selling to Europe
Businesses based outside the EU that sell to European consumers and must comply with the withdrawal right, the 2026 withdrawal button, geo-blocking rules and pre-contract information duties.
Quick check: do your terms still mention the EU ODR platform? It was discontinued on 20 July 2025 — outdated references should be removed. It’s one of the first things we audit.
- A customer filed a chargeback and the amount is already gone: you have days, not weeks, to respond with evidence.
- An EU customer completed your course — then exercised the 14-day withdrawal right. Your consent flow decides who wins.
- Your withdrawal information is copied from a template: if it is defective, the cooling-off period stretches up to 12 months.
- The EU withdrawal button became mandatory on 19 June 2026 — and your checkout doesn’t have it yet.
- Subscriptions renew automatically, but renewal notices and cancellation terms wouldn’t survive a consumer-authority review.
The output is always concrete: a policy written for your product, a consent flow that holds, a dispute response with its evidence pack.
The services
From prevention to the single dispute
Chargeback response (representment)
Analysis of the reason code and a documented rebuttal within the deadline: delivery proof, access logs, checkout consents, communications — including Visa Compelling Evidence 3.0 where it applies.
EU-proof refund & cancellation policy
Refund, return and cancellation terms aligned with EU consumer law — with the withdrawal-right exceptions your product qualifies for, implemented through the correct consent flow.
Sell-to-EU compliance audit
The full picture for foreign merchants: pre-contract information, withdrawal button (mandatory since June 2026), geo-blocking rules, ODR cleanup, B2B/B2C segmentation of your terms.
Subscriptions & auto-renewals
Renewal notices, reasonable cancellation windows, fair terms: the structure that prevents disputes and consumer-authority scrutiny.
Evidence by design
We define which data to collect and retain (GDPR-compliant) so that every future dispute finds its proof ready: logins, IPs, device data, consent records, delivery logs.
Legal references
Directive 2011/83/EU (Consumer Rights) and the Italian Consumer Code (Legislative Decree 206/2005, Articles 45-67); Directive (EU) 2023/2673 (online withdrawal function, from 19 June 2026); Regulation (EU) 2018/302 (geo-blocking); PSD2 and strong customer authentication; Visa and Mastercard dispute rules; PayPal and Stripe dispute procedures.
An explicit commitment: we don’t promise “zero refunds”. EU consumer rights cannot be waived, and obstructing them is an unfair practice. We limit the withdrawal right only where the law allows — which is more often than you might think — and we fight disputes with evidence, not shortcuts.
How it works
Three steps, remotely
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Request
Tell us what you sell and what the problem is: an open dispute, a contested withdrawal, policies to fix. A few lines and your website address are enough.
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Analysis
We review your checkout, terms and actual flows — or the dispute file — and agree scope, timing and fee in writing.
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Delivery
You receive documents ready to use: policies and terms, the consent flow to implement, or the dispute response with its evidence pack.
Dispute deadlines are short (often 7-21 days): flag any pending deadline in your first message and we prioritise it. Based in Rome (CET), working in English.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Can I limit the EU 14-day right of withdrawal?
- Yes — but only within the exceptions listed by EU consumer law (Article 16 of Directive 2011/83/EU, Article 59 of the Italian Consumer Code): fully performed services, digital content, custom-made or sealed goods, among others. The services and digital-content exceptions require a precise consent flow (express request or consent, acknowledgement of losing the right); the custom-made and sealed-goods exceptions apply by the nature of the goods, if properly disclosed. Outside those cases, the right cannot be waived — a blanket “no refunds” clause is void.
- Does the withdrawal right apply to digital products and online courses?
- Not if the flow is built correctly: for digital content the consumer must expressly consent to immediate delivery and acknowledge losing the withdrawal right before download or streaming starts. Without that double step, EU customers keep 14 days to a full refund — whatever your refund policy says.
- What is the EU “withdrawal button” required from June 2026?
- From 19 June 2026, online traders selling to EU consumers — including businesses based outside the EU — must provide a digital withdrawal function that lets the customer cancel in a few clicks (Directive (EU) 2023/2673 — in Italy, Article 54-bis of the Consumer Code, introduced by Legislative Decree 209/2025). A missing button exposes the trader to fines and injunctions; where the withdrawal information itself is defective, the withdrawal period stretches up to 12 months.
- How do I fight a chargeback as a merchant?
- You respond within the network deadline (typically 7-21 days) with evidence matched to the reason code: tracked delivery, access logs, checkout consent records, customer communications. Visa’s Compelling Evidence 3.0 also lets you rebut “fraud” disputes with matching data from the customer’s past undisputed orders, where its criteria are met.
- Are you a law firm?
- No: GF Lex Consulting is the legal consultancy of Dr. Giuseppe Foti, legal consultant. The work is strictly out-of-court: policies, contracts, consent flows and dispute responses. For litigation we refer you to qualified lawyers.
Contact
An open dispute or a policy to fix?
Tell us about your case — if a deadline is running, say so in the first line: with disputes, days matter.
First reply within one business day. The first contact is free and carries no obligation.