access accounts business buyer buyers causing checking contact correct cost customers didn digital disable don download downloadable few file google google-checkout immediately information links minutes order orders payment placed prior problem processor product products purchase questions recommend refer sell spike steps sudden suddenly tells usual

I'm receiving quite a few canceled orders this month (far more than usual). They're all coming from Google Checkout orders. A few questions:

1) What might be causing this sudden spike in cancelled orders? A few customers had complained that they never placed those orders, which points to fraud. But other cancellations didn't contact me. They just canceled minutes after placing the order. Any ideas what's going on??

2) What steps should I be taking to combat this problem?

3) I sell digital products that customers download immediately after purchase. I assume that these canceled orders have access to the downloadable product prior to canceling. Is that correct?

Hmm, I'm afraid we don't have any additional light to shed on why those buyers are suddenly canceling via Google Checkout. It's possible that several Google Checkout accounts were compromised and used to place fraudulent orders but I'd recommend checking with Google about that. We've not heard anything.

If a payment processor tells us an order has been refunded, reversed or canceled we do disable the download links associated with that order at that time, but it would be true that the buyer had access to the file before canceling. It is an unfortunate cost of business in e-commerce. For more information on what you can do to dispute a payment that is being reversed by any given processor you will need to refer to their policies on reversals.