It’s important that you know how to respond to the various dispute stages of the chargeback process. Addressing disputes promptly with the best available evidence helps minimize the number of transaction reversals.
Prerequisites
Before responding to a dispute raised by a cardholder, you must understand the specifics of disputes, their different stages, and the overall chargeback process. Review the following dispute category definitions:
Dispute Stages
Dispute Created: A customer is disputing a transaction from your business.
Retrieval: The customer’s card brand (for example, Visa) will contact you to request evidence about the validity of the transaction. Your available actions include uploading requested evidence or accepting liability. See the guide below this section for more information about available options.
First Chargeback: Either the evidence provided during retrieval was not submitted, was insufficient, or the dispute did not meet the criteria to be a Retrieval and was initiated as a First Chargeback. Your available actions include representment (uploading additional evidence) or accepting liability.
Pre-Arbitration: In the event that you win the first chargeback, the customer may submit new evidence to pursue a second chargeback, also known as pre-arbitration. Your available actions include viewing the pre-arbitration statement from the cardholder and awaiting a new decision. In this round, a merchant can accept or decline the arbitration case, and submit additional documents to pursue the case further.
Arbitration: If you win the pre-arbitration phase, the customer can choose to further escalate the dispute by moving to arbitration. The platform will show the chargeback has reached Arbitration, and the card brand will decide in favor of a party in the dispute arbitration for a fee determined by the card brand. No action is available at this stage.
Dispute Actions
Upload Evidence: Supply evidence to the card brand.
Accept Liability: Accept responsibility for the dispute and lose the funds.
Await Dispute Decision: No action. Wait for the card brand to respond to the latest actions or evidence.
Dispute Decisions
Won: The card brand decides in your favor during any phase of the dispute resolution process. If you win the dispute, the funds will be credited back to your account.
Lost: The card brand decides in favor of the cardholder during any phase of the dispute resolution process. If you lose the dispute, the funds will be debited from your account.
{Next Step}: The previous status and action resulted in a continuation of the dispute from the cardholder.
Disputes: Key Terms
Cardholder: The customer that is disputing a transaction
Merchant: The business that provided the goods or services being disputed
Issuing Bank: The bank that issued the card to the customer (in other words, the cardholder’s bank)
Card Brand: The card brand that is associated with the customer’s card (such as Visa, Mastercard, or American Express)
Representment: The response a merchant sends to the issuing bank when a transaction is disputed
For more information about chargebacks, see the following:
Access the Dispute Details Page
When a new dispute is created, you will receive an email notification. Click the link to go to the Dispute Details page.
Alternatively, you can:
Select Disputes in the left navigation panel to access the Disputes page.
Find the dispute in the table and click Dispute Details to open the Dispute Details page.
Review the Dispute
Review the following information about the dispute:
The dispute status: The current status is displayed in the dispute details tracker at the top of the Dispute Details page.
The Dispute Summary section: This section provides a comprehensive overview of the dispute, including the original transaction ID and chargeback date.
The Dispute Details section: This section provides all information related to the dispute, including past response details, associated costs, and customer payment method details. Review the following information from this section:
Case ID: The unique identifier for the chargeback case, indicating its current dispute stage.
Reason for Dispute: The sub-reason categorized under major card brand dispute codes, such as Fraud, Authorization, or Customer Dispute.
Reason Code: The chargeback codes that describe the dispute according to the card brand network system.
Response Due Date: The deadline for the merchant to submit their response.
Important!
A decision made during any stage of the dispute process must be reviewed by card brands. The amount of time to review a decision varies and can result in a lengthy review process.
You have a limited amount of time to respond during each stage of the dispute process. The due date for each of your responses is displayed in the Response By column on the Disputes page and below the dispute tracker on the Dispute Details page. Failure to respond by the due date can result in the dispute being awarded automatically to the cardholder.
Respond to the Dispute
The following sections describe the actions you can take in each dispute stage.
Retrieval
During retrieval, you have the option to submit evidence against the dispute or to accept liability. The following sections provide instructions for each option.
Important!
If you don’t respond to a retrieval request within the designated timeframe, the case will become an irreversible chargeback, resulting in an automatic loss of the case.
Submit Evidence Against the Dispute
From the dispute details tracker, click Upload Evidence.
Click Upload File to open a system file upload window, or drag the document or image into the designated area.
Click Upload to send the evidence to the card brand.
Wait for a dispute decision from the card brand. If the dispute is decided in your favor, the dispute details tracker displays Won, and the disputed funds are credited to your account. Note that the customer can choose to pursue further action (see the First Chargeback section). If the decision is Lost, the disputed funds are debited from your account back to the customer.
Accept Liability for the Dispute
Click Accept Liability in the dispute details tracker.
Click Confirm to accept liability for the dispute.
The dispute details tracker displays Lost. The disputed funds are debited from your account back to the customer, and the dispute is closed.
First Chargeback
If the evidence provided during Retrieval resulted in a decision in your favor, the cardholder has the option to continue to dispute the charge. If this happens, you have the option to submit additional evidence, known as representment, or you can accept liability. The following sections provide instructions for each option.
Submit Evidence Against the Dispute
From the dispute details tracker, click Upload Evidence.
Click Upload File to open a system file upload window, or drag the document or image into the designated area.
Click Upload to send the evidence to the card brand responding to the first chargeback.
Wait for a dispute decision from the card brand. If the dispute is decided in your favor, the dispute details tracker displays Won, and the disputed funds are credited to your account. Note that the customer can choose to pursue further action (see the Pre-Arbitration section). If the decision is Lost, the disputed funds are debited from your account back to the customer.
Accept Liability for the Dispute
Click Accept Liability in the dispute details tracker.
Click Confirm to accept liability for the dispute.
The dispute details tracker displays Lost. The disputed funds are debited from your account back to the customer, and the dispute is closed.
Pre-Arbitration
Pre-arbitration is also known as a Second Chargeback. If the dispute is decided in your favor during the first chargeback, the customer has the option to submit new evidence and re-open the dispute.
Submit Evidence Against the Dispute
From the dispute details tracker, click Upload Evidence.
Click Upload File to open a system file upload window, or drag the document or image into the designated area.
Click Upload to send the evidence to the card brand responding to the first chargeback.
Wait for a dispute decision from the card brand. If the dispute is decided in your favor, the dispute details tracker displays Won, and the disputed funds are credited to your account. Note that the customer can choose to pursue further action (see the Arbitration section). If the decision is Lost, the disputed funds are debited from your account back to the customer.
Arbitration
If Pre-Arbitration evidence is not sufficient, or if the cardholder chooses to continue the dispute, then the dispute will go to arbitration. In this case, you must accept arbitration and allow the card brand to handle the dispute arbitration for a fee determined by the card brand.