How to Manage Disputed Payments

Introduction to dispute terminology

It's important to familiarise yourself with the terminology used when handling disputed payments. The video below gives a brief outline of what a dispute is, and a brief intro into why/ when disputes can arise.

Dispute Best Practice

Disputes should be managed on a case by case basis. No dispute is the same and each time one is received they should be treated as unique cases. This video helps explain what to do when a dispute is received.

Chargeback and Inquiry Life Cycles

The video below gives a little more context around the lifecycle of a dispute. Not only is it important to provide detail in your dispute response, but it's vitally important to meet the deadlines imposed by Stripe.

*Note, inquiries cannot currently be answered via the Platform.

Why are payments disputed?

There are a number of reasons a customer may dispute a payment. Most commonly,  the customer doesn't recognise the payment (usually when an auto-renewal payment has been processed) and so they instruct the bank to begin the dispute process.

Other reasons include:

• They believe the payment to be fraudulent
• The payment is deemed to be a duplicate 

Who can manage disputes?

The Platform triggers a notification to users that hold a 'Finance Admin' role at the organisation responsible for the payment merchant (if no 'Finance Admin' is assigned, this email will be sent to the 'Super Admins'):

• Payments made to the NGB - the NGB is notified
• Payments made for 3rd party events - the 3rd party/ event organiser is notified*

*Note, only 1 merchant can be responsible for disputed payments so where payment splits are administered at the point of sale, the NGB are deemed the manager of the dispute.

How to access the dispute admin panel

Access to the dispute admin panel is restricted to users that have access to the 'Finance Admin Panel'. To get to the admin area to track disputes, follow these steps:

• Log in
• Switch into your organisation account
• Click 'Finance Admin'
• Click 'Stripe Dispute'

This area will detail all outstanding and resolved disputes. The filter tool at the top can be used to help you organise this information.

What information should be inputted in the form?

Please refer to the table below for further information on what information to provide on the Dispute Payment Form:

Form Field	Information
Access Activity Log	Provide evidence of the user actioning the payment. This can be in the form of log in details (see example below) or email and payment history. Example of log in history: (User ID: 6586128, Date: 2022-08-25, T13:35:57+00:00, Login Success: Yes, IP: 193.28.37.170, Country: GB)
Cancellation Policy	A screenshot or PDF of your cancellation policy that is available on your website and proof that it was agreed to by your customer.
Cancellation Policy Disclosure	Explain how and when the customer was presented with your cancellation policy prior to their purchase.
Cancellation Rebuttal	Provide key information and context on why the payment dispute should not be awarded to the customer. Keep this brief and to the point. This field only has capacity for up to 255 characters.
Customer Communication	Any communication with the customer that you feel is relevant to your case (e.g. emails proving that they received the product or service, or screenshots demonstrating their use of or satisfaction with the product or service). If you have multiple items of this type, consolidate them into a single file.
Customer Purchase IP	Providing server or activity logs will help prove that the customer accessed or your product. These logs should include IP addresses, corresponding timestamps, and any detailed recorded activity.
Product Description	The name of the event/ add on purchased
Receipt	Any receipt or message sent to the customer notifying them about the transaction.
Refund Policy	A screenshot or PDF of your cancellation policy that's available on your website and has been agreed to by the customer.
Refund Policy Disclosure	When was the customer presented with the refund policy? You are more likely to win this dispute when you provide proof that a customer has previously viewed and accepted your Terms of Service during checkout, or has clearly violated your return or refund policies.