Updated December 12, 2024
A dispute (also called a chargeback) occurs when a client disagrees with a transaction and requests a refund from their bank or credit card company. One of the most common reasons for a dispute is if your client doesn’t recognize the charge on their bank statement.
With Dubsado Payments, disputes will follow how Stripe handles their disputes. The process may look like:
Your client disputes a charge that they see on their credit card
Stripe sends you an email regarding the dispute
You choose to challenge or accept the dispute
If you challenge the dispute, you’ll need to provide documentation to Stripe
After Stripe evaluates the documentation, Stripe will provide a decision on the dispute
Challenging or accepting the dispute
If you believe the dispute reason is incorrect and want to challenge it, you can upload evidence supporting why the payment was valid through your Stripe Dashboard. After you submit evidence, Stripe will send it to the card issuer for their review.
Accepting the dispute means you are agreeing that the dispute is valid and that you don't plan on challenging it. For more information, see Stripe’s FAQ page on accepting disputes.
⛔ Heads up! If you want to challenge a dispute, make sure you respond promptly. The exact timeframe depends on your client’s card issuer, but most require a response within 7-21 days.
Final decisions on disputes
When Stripe makes a decision, the status of the dispute will be updated in your Stripe dashboard as “won” or “lost”. This outcome is final, so while you can’t overturn the dispute, that also means your client can’t overturn the dispute either.
Dispute fees
Dispute fees are commonly used by most payment processors to help offset the time, cost, and resources that are put into settling the dispute.
Stripe’s dispute fee is 15 USD per dispute. If your currency is not USD, then the dispute will be 15 in your local currency. This amount is not refundable even if you win the dispute. For more information, see our article on processing fees.
Dispute average timelines
Disputes take around 2-3 months to complete, starting from when your client initiates the dispute to the final decision being made. The only way to speed up this timeline would be to accept the dispute. For more details, see Stripe’s documentation on dispute timing.