When a cardholder disputes a payment via their bank, they have to submit evidence to back up their claim. As the merchant, you can respond to that claim and give the bank evidence supporting your position.
While WooPayments cannot affect the bank’s decision, we can help you decide what evidence to submit. This page explains what to gather for each situation.
To submit the best evidence against a dispute, you need to keep two things in mind: the product type that the customer is disputing, and the dispute reason they gave.
Product types and dispute reasons
↑ Back to topBefore you upload evidence, the dispute challenge form asks a few questions about the order. Answer accurately, since they determine which evidence fields you’ll see.
Product or service type
↑ Back to topThe first question is about what kind of thing was purchased. There are six options:
- Physical product: Material goods that are shipped or handed to the customer.
- Digital product or service: Virtual goods or services, like file downloads, software, online courses, or subscriptions with online access.
- Offline service: In-person or intangible services. Haircuts, tutoring, home repair, etc.
- Booking/reservation: Purchases made in advance for a future date, like hotels, equipment rentals, and restaurant reservations.
- Event: Tickets or admissions for a specific event.
- Other: Anything that doesn’t fit cleanly into a category above.
Pick the closest match. If an order included multiple product types, use Other.
Dispute reason
↑ Back to topThe reason comes from the cardholder’s bank and appears on the dispute details page. You can’t change it, but what you’re responding to depends entirely on the reason given. The dispute reason will be one of these:
- Credit not processed: Customer claims you owe them a refund but haven’t issued it.
- Duplicate: Customer states they were charged more than once for the same order.
- Transaction unauthorized: Cardholder says they didn’t authorize the payment.
- Product not received: Customer claims they never got what they paid for.
- Product unacceptable: Customer says their order was defective or not as described.
- Subscription cancelled: Customer states they were charged after cancelling.
- Unrecognized: Customer doesn’t recognize the order or remember placing it. This is basically the same as “Transaction unauthorized.”
- Non-compliant: The card-issuing bank (not the customer!) claims the transaction violates Visa’s network rules. These are very rare. See the Visa compliance disputes section of our disputes documentation.
Two of those reasons will prompt a follow-up question:
- If you choose Credit not processed, the form will ask whether a refund has already been issued, or if one isn’t owed. If a refund was issued, you’ll upload proof. If no refund was owed, you’ll need to explain why.
- If you choose Duplicate, the form asks if the second charge actually was a duplicate, or if it was for a separate order. If it was a duplicate, you’ll prove you refunded one of them. If it wasn’t, you’ll prove the two charges are distinct.
What to prove
↑ Back to topEach section below covers the core strategy for a dispute reason, then the evidence fields the form prompts you for. The fields vary by product type.
Two rules apply before you start:
- Every form includes a Customer communication field and an Other documents field. Use these for anything relevant that doesn’t fit elsewhere.
- WooPayments automatically fills in a few fields, e.g. the customer’s billing address, name, email, IP address, and any receipt sent for the order. Review these rather than assuming that they’re correct.
Credit not processed
↑ Back to topYour goal is to show one of the following:
- You already issued the refund the customer is entitled to, or…
- The customer isn’t entitled to a refund under your published policy, or…
- The customer withdrew the dispute.
If a refund was issued, the form prompts you for an order receipt and a refund receipt. Physical products also prompt for return tracking and the customer’s signature.
If a refund is not owed, the form asks for a screenshot showing where the customer agreed to or acknowledged your refund policy. That goes in the “Proof of acceptance” field. Also include your refund policy itself, plus any relevant customer communications.
Duplicate
↑ Back to topYour goal is to show one of the following:
- Each payment was for a separate product or service, or…
- You already issued a refund for one of them, or…
- The customer withdrew the dispute.
If the second charge was actually a duplicate, upload the order receipt along with a refund receipt confirming that the refund was issued. The form also prompts for your refund policy and terms of service.
If the two charges were legitimately separate, upload the receipt for the disputed charge along with any additional receipts, i.e. receipts for the customer’s other orders. The objective is to make it obvious that the two transactions are distinct.
If your receipts don’t itemize what was in each order, include a separate itemized list. For physical goods, separate shipping labels or packing lists help too. Write a short explanation of how the two transactions differ.
Transaction unauthorized
↑ Back to topYour goal is to show one of the following:
- The legitimate cardholder (or someone acting on their behalf, like a family member or employee) did make the payment, or…
- The payment was successfully authenticated with 3D Secure, or…
- You already issued a refund, or…
- The customer acknowledged they recognize the charge, or…
- The customer withdrew the dispute.
The evidence fields vary significantly by product type:
- Physical product: Order receipt, prior undisputed transaction history, customer’s signature (signed proof of delivery), and your refund policy.
- Digital product or service: Login or usage records (server logs, IP addresses, timestamps) and prior undisputed transaction history.
- Other product types: Prior undisputed transaction history is the main field here, since less documentation is typically available.
Prior undisputed order history is the most important field for transaction unauthorized disputes. You’re looking for at least two prior transactions from the same customer that were not disputed, with a matching billing address, email, or IP address.
Product not received
↑ Back to topYour goal is to show one of the following:
- The product was delivered, or isn’t expected to have been delivered yet (e.g. the agreed delivery date is still in the future), or…
- You already issued a refund, or…
- The customer withdrew the dispute.
Evidence fields vary by product type:
- Physical product: The order receipt and the customer’s signature for signed delivery or pickup. Also complete the separate shipping fields: carrier, tracking number, ship date, and delivery address. For “empty package” claims, include the shipping weight.
- Digital product or service: The receipt and login or usage records showing the customer accessed or downloaded the product after payment, e.g. server logs with IP addresses and timestamps.
- Offline service: The order receipt and any proof of service completion.
- Booking/reservation: The order receipt, a reservation or booking confirmation, and a cancellation confirmation if applicable.
- Event: The order receipt and an attendance confirmation.
- Other: The order receipt and service completion records.
If the agreed delivery or service date is still in the future, say so plainly in the “Customer communication” field.
Product unacceptable
↑ Back to topYour goal is to show one of the following:
- The product or service was accurately represented before purchase, or…
- The product wasn’t damaged or defective, or…
- You already issued a refund, or…
- The customer withdrew the dispute.
The evidence fields vary by product type:
- Physical product: The order receipt, customer’s signature, refund policy, and photos of the item’s condition before shipping.
- Digital product or service: Proof of delivered service (images showing the product was delivered), the order receipt, login or usage records, and your refund policy.
- Offline service: Proof of delivered service, the order receipt, and your refund policy.
- Booking/reservation and Event: Event or booking documentation (the details, plus confirmation it occurred), the order receipt, and your refund policy.
- Other: The order receipt and terms of service.
Marketing materials, listings, or product photos showing how the item was represented at purchase are useful to include in “Other documents” if they’re relevant.
Subscription cancelled
↑ Back to topYour goal is to show one of the following:
- The subscription was still active, and the customer was aware of (but did not follow) your cancellation procedure, or…
- You already issued a refund, or…
- The customer withdrew the dispute.
For every product type, the form asks for the order receipt, cancellation logs (records showing no cancellation request was made before the charge), and terms of service. Physical products also prompt for your refund policy. Digital product or service also prompts for login or usage records.
Unrecognized
↑ Back to topThis reason is handled much like Transaction unauthorized. Your goal is to connect the legitimate cardholder to the transaction.
General evidence practices
↑ Back to topThe customer’s bank reviews your response by hand. Reviewers see thousands of disputes per day, so quality matters more than the quantity here.
Be relevant and concise
↑ Back to topA clear 2-3 sentence summary paired with targeted evidence is better than a 20-page information dump. Stay factual and neutral. Emotional appeals do not help.
For example, here’s a summary for a “Product not received” dispute on a physical product:
Jane Doe purchased [product] on [date] using a Visa credit card. We shipped her order on [date] to the address she provided at checkout, and it was delivered on [date] according to the tracking information included here. Her claim that the product was not received does not hold up against the delivery records.
Upload only what’s relevant
↑ Back to top- If your terms are 40 pages and only one section applies, paste that section into the evidence and highlight it. Don’t upload overly long documents.
- Similarly, crop screenshots to the area that matters most. Use boxes or arrows to draw attention to important information.
- You can upload only one file per evidence field. If you have several screenshots of a conversation with the customer, combine them into a single PDF.
File format and size limits
↑ Back to top- PDF, JPEG, or PNG only.
- Combined file size must be under 4.5 MB.
- Combined page count must be under 50 pages (19 for Mastercard disputes).
- Use a 12-point font or larger.
- US Letter or A4 size, portrait orientation.
The bank won’t click external links, follow file downloads, or review audio or video. Put everything the bank needs to see directly in the uploaded files.
Show the checkout experience
↑ Back to topFor refund or cancellation disputes, a screenshot of your checkout showing that the customer acknowledged the policy can be more persuasive than the policy itself. The bank cares about what the customer saw and agreed to, not just that a policy exists.