Learn how to effectively respond to disputes.

When an account owner files a dispute against a payment, you will be alerted through your account

Each dispute notification provides a link to the dispute’s details page in your account where you can learn more about the reason for the dispute and take appropriate action.

When you receive a dispute notification, take action to resolve it before the deadline. Failing to respond to a dispute results in irretrievable refund to the account holder and a dispute fee charged to your account.

1. Review the dispute category.
   1. Each dispute category specifies different response requirements and recommendations to make it effective in addressing the root claim from the cardholder, so your first step is to review the response guidelines for the category of your dispute so you can collect the best set of evidence to counter the dispute claim.
2. Work with the account owner
   1. When possible, the Dispute details page provides you with a copy of the bank’s submission to Stripe, based on the account owner’s claim, and a means to email the account owner. Reviewing the claim and contacting the account owner may give you insight to better understand the complaint and help you decide how to proceed.
   2. Be sure to keep a record of all communication with your customer during this process, as it can be helpful evidence to submit with your response.
3. Decide to accept or challenge the dispute
   1. When you have a clear picture of the dispute details, decide whether you will accept or challenge the dispute. Consider the following questions in your determination:
      1. Is the account owner’s claim valid?
      2. If not, do I have the evidence required to disprove the claim?
      3. Can I convince the account owner to withdraw their dispute if I resolve their complaint amicably, for example, by offering a store credit or a replacement item?
   2. When you’ve decided how to respond, select the corresponding button on the Dispute details page in your account
      1. Accept dispute submits a response to the issuing bank affirming that you agree to refund the customer for the disputed payment and pay the dispute fee.
      2. Counter dispute opens a form that guides you through the submission process, prompts you for evidence that is relevant to the dispute type and your response type, and allows you to easily upload supporting files.
   3. Handle disputes through your account You can’t address a formally disputed payment (such as by refunding the customer directly) outside this process because the issuing bank has already refunded the account owner through the chargeback process and you risk refunding the customer twice.
4. Submit evidence through your account
   1. You only have one opportunity to submit your response. Your response and all supporting files are immediately forwarded to the issuing bank and you can’t edit the response or submit additional files, so make sure you’ve assembled all your evidence before you submit.
      1. Click Counter dispute to open the dispute response form.
      2. Tell us about the dispute: In the first page of the form, tell us why you believe the dispute is in error and the product type of the original purchase. This information along with the dispute category helps recommend the most relevant evidence to support your challenge on the next page of the form. For example, if your counter to a customer’s claim that they canceled a subscription for an online service is that the customer agreed to a minimum term, it doesn’t make sense to ask you for shipping and tracking details.
      3. Assemble your evidence. The second page of the form has a dynamic set of sections representing the most relevant details you can provide for your individual case. In the Supporting Files section, use the File Upload tool to attach evidence that matches the checklist of evidence types relevant to your dispute type and counter argument. For each uploaded file, specify which type of evidence it satisfies. You can only submit one file per type of evidence, so if you have several files representing one type of evidence, combine them into a single, multi-page file. Consider the following guidelines to make sure your supporting files are effective:
         1. Consult the evidence recommendations for your specific dispute category.
         2. Organize each piece of evidence according to the evidence type it satisfies - be as succinct as possible.
         3. Combine items of the same evidence type into a single file.
         4. Check that your evidence files don’t exceed the combined size limit of 4.5 MB.
         5. Banks evaluating the dispute won’t review any external content, so don’t include:
            1. Audio or video files
            2. Requests to call or email for more information
            3. Links to click for further information (for example, file downloads or links to tracking information)
      4. Background evidence. The other sections of the second page vary depending on the dispute type and your answers in the first page. Include as much as you can before you submit your response. These sections can include:
         1. Shipping details
         2. Refund policy details
         3. Customer details
         4. Product details
      5. Submit evidence. Click the checkbox to acknowledge your understanding that your response is final. Once you click to submit, the evidence is automatically put into a format accepted by the issuing bank and submitted for consideration. At this point, you can’t amend what you’ve submitted or provide any additional information, so make sure you have included every relevant detail.
5. Check the dispute status
   1. After you submit a response, the status of the dispute changes to under_review. When the issuer makes a final decision, you will be informed of the outcome by email and by an update to the dispute status of the dispute in question to one of the following:
      1. Won indicates that the bank decided in your favor and overturned the dispute. In this case, the issuing bank returns the debited chargeback amount and the funds are passed back to you. The dispute fee is not returned.
      2. Lost indicates that the bank decided in the account owner’s favor and upheld the dispute. In this case, the refund is permanent and the dispute fee is not returned.