In a perfect world, when a creator and their agency partner decide to part ways, it's a friendly farewell. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case. The creator may dispute charges processed via Melon with their bank instead of discussing the charges with their agency or directly with Melon.
To prevent disputes, it's important to proactively communicate when a split needs to be canceled. Melon Support can be reached at any time ([email protected]) to get ahead of potential issues.
Why Disputes Are Bad
To remain in good standing with our payment partners, such as Stripe, it's critical to maintain a strong track record of successful payments through Melon. Disputes are official marks against that track record which, in our case, cannot be contested.
There are 3 primary risks when a dispute is issued against a Melon charge...
Financial impact: each dispute comes with associated fees and penalties that we share with our customers
Melon's Stripe account: since Melon is the facilitator of payments from a creator to their agency team, too many disputes on our network may lead to increased fees or, in the worst case, a permanent account closure on Stripe.
The agency's Stripe account: as the recipient of funds on Melon's network, Stripe may issue restrictions or bans on an individual agency's account.
Account rejections and closures on Stripe are notoriously difficult to appeal so it's critically important to remain in great standing.
How Melon Handles Disputes
When Melon receives notification that a creator has disputed one or multiple charges, we take the following actions:
Step 1
We immediately pause the split so no further charges are assessed to the creator.
Stripe ACH charges can be disputed for up to 60 days from the date of the charge. So even if we prevent future charges from occurring, the creator can still retroactively assess disputes.
Step 2
We immediately notify the agency partner working with the creator who issued the dispute via email. At this point, our team will ask about the status of the client relationship and provide details about the next steps.
Step 3
Melon will invoice the agency for the amount that was charged back to the creator as well as any additional fees incurred by Melon as part of the dispute process. This may include:
The original payout amount
Stripe processing fees
Stripe dispute fees
To prevent future risk, a failure by the agency to shore up the balance owed to Melon as a result of the dispute may be cause for termination of that agency's Melon account.
Step 4
We will only re-activate the impacted Split after the balance owed to Melon is paid in full and both the creator and agency have confirmed their intention to continue working together amicably on the platform.
Alternatively, we will permanently cancel the split and the agency/client relationship.