Nearly lost a client over a $47 bank fee I missed

I was sitting in my home office in Portland last Tuesday when a regular client called furious about an extra fee on their invoice. Turns out my payment processor added a surcharge for international transfers that I never noticed in the fine print. I had to refund the fee from my own pocket and switch to Wise right then to keep the contract. Has anyone else dealt with surprise payment processor fees sneaking into their invoices?

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3 Comments

annas874mo ago

Respectfully, I see it a little differently. If the client was that angry over $47, it sounds more like a trust issue with you specifically than just the fee. A good client would bring it up calmly first. How long had you even been working with this client before the blow up?

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xena15mo ago

That exact thing happened to me last spring with a client in Canada. I had no idea my processor was adding 3% for cross-border payments until they flagged it on a $200 invoice. I switched to TransferWise too and haven't looked back since. Did the client forgive you pretty quick after the refund?

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adam_adams5mo ago

The 3% thing hit me on a $150 payment from a client in Berlin last year and I didn't notice for three months because my invoicing software didn't separate fees clearly. It wasn't until I did my yearly audit that I saw the pattern and realized I'd lost almost $50 total. What nobody talks about is that some processors actually hide these fees in the exchange rate too, not just a line item. I refunded the client the difference plus a little extra and they were cool about it, but it took some trust rebuilding. Nowadays I always send a screenshot of the fee breakdown with my invoices so there's no surprises.

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