Managing payment disputes can be a frustrating experience. Each payment network has their own processes and timelines that dictate things like when payments can be disputed, how much time businesses have to respond, and what information must be provided in a response. This guide is intended to provide Momentus Payments customers with best practices to successfully challenge disputes.
Contents
- Credit/Debit Card Disputes
- Challenging a Dispute
- Building Your Case
- Detailed Case Evidence
- Visa Disputes
1. Credit/Debit Card Disputes
Credit/Debit Card disputes also known as “Chargebacks” occur when your customer contacts their bank to dispute a transaction. Customers generally have up to 120 days from the later of the payment date or event date to create a dispute. When a dispute is created, your account balance is reduced by the disputed amount and the customer is credited the disputed amount by their bank. Momentus will notify you whenever a chargeback is received. If you feel the payment is valid, you can challenge the chargeback by contacting Customer Support and providing evidence to support your case.
Important Notes
- There is a limited amount of time to submit a response to a dispute. To ensure your response is reviewed by the bank, you should submit it to Momentus within 5 days of the dispute being received.
- Once a response is submitted, it is final and cannot be updated. Be sure to check that all relevant information is included.
- The outcome of a dispute is determined at the discretion of your customer’s bank and can take up to 80 days from when your response was provided.
2. Challenging a Dispute
To challenge a dispute, you will need to compile evidence that the payment was valid. When assembling your documentation, note the following requirements and best practices.
Required Formatting
- The combined size of all information provided in your response should not exceed 4.5MB.
- Files must be PDF, JPEG, or PNG
- The combined page count must be less than 50 pages
Items not to include
Banks evaluating the dispute won’t review any external content. Never include any of the following in your submission.
- Audio or video files
- Requests to call or email for more information
- Links to click for further information
Best Practices
The following are recommended best practices to improve your chance of winning a dispute.
- Use 12-point font or larger
- Avoid using color highlighting
- Crop screenshots to the area of interest and circle any key components
3. Building Your Case
All responses to credit/debit card disputes should contain the following information.
- Momentus Payments Reference Number
- A brief statement why you should win the dispute. For example,
- Customer was previously refunded.
- Purchase was made by an authorized cardholder.
- Cardholder claims to have withdrawn the dispute.
- A brief description of the product or service provided.
- A description or example of how the service was described/presented to the customer at time of purchase.
- Documentation showing a credit voucher was offered to the customer, if applicable.
- Detailed Case Evidence (see Section 5 below).
4. Detailed Case Evidence
To win a dispute, you will need to provide evidence that supports one of the following:
- Demonstrate the customer has already been refunded
- Provide proof that you already compensated the customer before they initiated the dispute.
- Show the customer claimed to have withdrawn the dispute
- Provide any documentation of the customer informing you of their intention to withdraw the dispute
- Make an argument invalidating the dispute reason
- Provide any relevant communication with the customer regarding the transaction
- Provide any relevant contract’s showing the customer’s signature
5. Visa Disputes
In addition to the evidence discussed above, Visa requires specific information be provided to overturn disputes based on the dispute reason. While the items below are only required for Visa disputes, customers are encouraged to include as much evidence as possible for disputes received from other card networks (ex. American Express, MasterCard etc.). The sections below describe each of the Visa dispute reasons and the information required to be submitted for each.
Dispute Reason - Credit Not Processed
Description
The customer claims they’re entitled to a full or partial refund because they returned the purchased product or didn’t fully use it, or the transaction was otherwise canceled or not fully fulfilled, but you haven’t yet provided a refund or credit. You must demonstrate the customer isn’t entitled to a refund Examples of information to provide:
- The language of your refund policy.
- An explanation of how and where the applicable policy was provided to your customer prior to purchase.
- Your explanation for why the customer isn’t entitled to a refund, or no further refund, if you already issued a partial refund.
- Whether or not the customer attempted to resolve the issue with you prior to filing a dispute. If they didn’t reach out to you before the dispute, state that clearly. E. If you did communicate with them prior to the dispute, or if later conversations shed light on the facts of the case, submit this with your evidence.
Dispute Reason - Duplicate
Description
The customer claims they were charged multiple times for the same product or service. You must demonstrate each payment was for a separate product or service Information to provide:
- An explanation of the difference between the disputed payment and the one the customer believes it’s a duplicate of.
- A copy of a service agreement or documentation for the disputed payment.
- Whether or not the customer attempted to resolve the issue with you prior to filing a dispute. If they didn’t reach out to you before the dispute, state that clearly. If you did communicate with them prior to the dispute, or if later conversations shed light on the facts of the case, submit this with your evidence. This could look like:
-
- A screenshot of a text conversation
- A PDF of an email exchange
- A PDF of your written account of a phone conversation, including dates of contact
-
Dispute Reason - Fraudulent
Description
Cardholder claims that they didn’t authorize the payment. The cardholder might have made an error and failed to recognize a legitimate charge on their credit card statement, or they might have genuinely been a victim of someone using their card fraudulently. You must demonstrate that the legitimate cardholder—or an authorized representative (such as an employee or family member)—did in fact make the payment.
Information to provide:
- Evidence (for example, photographs or emails) to prove a link between the person receiving the service and the cardholder, or proving that the cardholder disputing the transaction has used or is still using the service.
- Evidence that the person who signed for the service was authorized to sign for—or is known by—the cardholder.
- Documentation showing that the service was provided to the cardholder, including the date that the cardholder received or began receiving the purchased service in a clear, human-readable format. This could include a copy of a signed contract, work order, or other form of written agreement.
Dispute Reason - Product Not Received
Description
The customer claims they did not receive the products or services purchased. You must demonstrate the product/service was in fact delivered or isn’t expected to have been delivered yet (for example, the agreed-upon delivery date is still in the future) Information to provide:
- Evidence proving that the cardholder disputing the transaction received the service.
- Whether or not the customer attempted to resolve the issue with you prior to filing a dispute. If they didn’t reach out to you before the dispute, state that clearly. If you did communicate with them prior to the dispute, or if later conversations shed light on the facts of the case, submit this with your evidence. For example:
- A screenshot of a text conversation
- A PDF of an email exchange
- A PDF of your written account of a phone conversation, including dates of contact
- Evidence that the service was signed for. If possible, you should provide:
- Cardholder signature
- A copy of identification presented by the cardholder
- Details of identification presented by the cardholder
- Documentation showing that the service was provided to the cardholder, including the date that the cardholder received or began receiving the purchased service in a clear, human-readable format. This could include a copy of a signed contract, work order, or other form of written agreement.
Dispute Reason - Product Unacceptable
Description
The customer received the product/service but claims it was defective or damaged in some way, or was not described or represented in an accurate manner prior to purchase. You must demonstrate that either the product/service was accurately presented prior to purchase or that the product wasn’t damaged.
Information to provide:
- A description of the service as you represented it to the customer, or images that display how you advertised the service to the customer prior to purchase.
- Whether or not the customer attempted to resolve the issue with you prior to filing a dispute. If they didn’t reach out to you before the dispute, state that clearly. If you did communicate with them prior to the dispute, or if later conversations shed light on the facts of the case, submit this with your evidence. For example:
- A screenshot of a text conversation
- A PDF of an email exchange
- A PDF of your written account of a phone conversation, including dates of contact
- The language of your refund policy and how it was disclosed to the customer prior to purchase
Dispute Reason - Subscription Cancelled
Description
The customer claims that you continued to charge them after a subscription was cancelled. You must demonstrate the subscription was still active and that the customer was aware of, and did not follow, your cancellation procedure.
Information to provide:
- Your subscription cancellation policy, as shown to the customer.
- An explanation of how and when the customer was shown your cancellation policy prior to purchase.
- A justification for why the customer’s subscription wasn’t cancelled, or if it was cancelled, why this particular payment is still valid.
- The date on which the cardholder received or began receiving the purchased service in a clear, human-readable format.
- Documentation showing proof that a service was provided to the cardholder. This could include a copy of a signed contract, work order, or other form of written agreement.
- A notification sent to the customer of a renewal or continuation of the subscription, or an acknowledgement from the customer of their continued use of the product or service after the date they claim they cancelled the subscription (if available).
Dispute Reason - Unrecognized
Description
The customer doesn’t recognize the payment appearing on their card statement. You must demonstrate that the legitimate cardholder—or an authorized representative (such as an employee or family member)—did in fact make the payment
Information to provide:
- Evidence (for example, photographs or emails) to prove a link between the person receiving the service and the cardholder or proving that the cardholder disputing the transaction has used or is still using the service.
- Evidence that the person who signed for the service was authorized to sign for—or is known by—the cardholder.
- Documentation showing that the service was provided to the cardholder, including the date that the cardholder received or began receiving the purchased service in a clear, human-readable format. This could include a copy of a signed contract, work order, or other form of written agreement.