Disputes: Answer Chargebacks Before the Deadline

Overview

When a shopper disputes a card payment with their bank, the bank takes the money back from your Stripe account and gives you a deadline to answer. Disputes (Orders → Disputes) collects every dispute on your connected Stripe account in one list and helps you answer each one.

• Kept current by Stripe. Stripe tells us when a dispute is opened, changes or closes, and the list updates on its own. Sync with Stripe reads the last 180 days, for disputes from before your account was connected.
• Linked to the order. A dispute on a storefront payment is linked to its order and customer, so you can see what was bought, where it went and what was said.
• Evidence from your records. Fill from records drafts the evidence from the order, its shipments and tracking, your messages with the customer, your refund policy and the card checks Stripe ran at payment. You check and edit every field.
• Submitted through Stripe. Your evidence goes to the card issuer through your own Stripe account. BestWebby never holds the money in a dispute.
• Reminders. Owners, admins and managers are told 72 hours and 24 hours before a deadline if nothing has been submitted.

Who can use it. Disputes is included from the Growth plan up. Owners, admins and accountants can see disputes and act on them. Submitting evidence and accepting a dispute ask for a 2FA code if you have two-factor authentication on, the same as a refund.

The automatic hold

Nothing changes about what happens the moment a dispute opens: the order is put on hold so it is not shipped while the money is withdrawn, the amount is recorded against the order in your finance records, and you are notified. If you win, the hold is released and the amount is recorded as returned. If you lose, the hold stays so you can decide what to do with the order.

Step 1: Open the dispute

Go to Orders → Disputes. Open disputes are listed with the soonest deadline first. Each shows the amount, Stripe's reason (for example Product not received or Fraudulent) and how long you have left.

The top of each dispute explains what the card issuer usually needs for that reason. For Product not received that is tracking with a delivery confirmation; for Fraudulent it is details that show the cardholder made the purchase.

Step 2: Build the evidence

Click Fill from records. We fill in only what your records support, and say where each fact came from:

• the customer's name, email and shipping address from the order
• what was sold, with quantities, SKUs and prices
• carrier, tracking number and ship date from your shipments, and the delivery date when the carrier confirmed it
• your refund policy text from Settings → Legal → Shop settings
• how many messages you exchanged with the customer in your inbox
• the CVC and address checks Stripe ran on the card, when Stripe has them
• how many other orders the same customer has placed with you

Fields filled this way are marked From your records. Edit anything; once you change a field, filling again will not overwrite it. Your draft is saved in BestWebby and nothing reaches Stripe until you submit. Show every evidence field lists everything Stripe accepts.

Step 3: Attach files

Attach PDFs, JPEGs or PNGs, and say what each shows (proof of delivery, a receipt, your policy, and so on). Card networks accept about 4.5 MB in total.

If you do not attach your own receipt, we attach a receipt PDF made from the order. If you do not attach your own copy of your messages, we attach a PDF of your messages with the customer. Untick either option to leave it out.

Step 4: Submit or accept

• Submit evidence sends it to the card issuer through Stripe. Stripe accepts one submission per dispute, so check it first. The issuer usually decides within 60 to 75 days, and the outcome appears on the dispute.
• Accept dispute means you will not contest it: the money stays with the cardholder and the dispute closes as lost. Use it when the customer is right, for example when an order really did not arrive.

Inquiries

Some card networks start with an inquiry: the issuer asks questions before deciding whether to open a chargeback, and no money has been taken yet. Answer an inquiry the same way; a good answer often stops it becoming a chargeback.

Good to know

• A dispute raised on a Stripe account that is no longer connected to your store has to be answered in that account's own Stripe dashboard.
• Test-mode disputes are labelled Test.