How to fight a chargeback, and win the ones worth fighting.
A chargeback is decided by a bank that has never met you, reading one bundle of evidence you get one chance to send. Most of the work happened, or did not, on the day you took the money.
The first sign is usually an email from your processor and money missing from your balance. The customer has gone to their bank instead of to you, and the bank has already taken their side provisionally. You now have a short window to persuade a reviewer at that bank, who sees thousands of these, that the charge was valid.
For a service business this is harder than for a shop that ships boxes. There is no tracking number that proves delivery. What you have instead is whatever you recorded: the estimate, the approval, the photos, the pickup. This guide covers how the process runs, what evidence a reviewer actually weighs, and how to make the next one less likely.
How a chargeback works
- The cardholder contacts their bank and disputes the charge, giving a reason such as fraud, service not provided, or not as described.
- The bank pulls the money back through the card network. Your processor takes the disputed amount from your balance, or from your bank account if the balance is short, and holds it for the duration.
- You decide whether to accept or to contest. Contesting means submitting evidence through your processor before its deadline.
- The issuing bank reviews your evidence and decides. Your processor passes on the result. It does not decide the case and cannot influence it.
Some disputes begin as an inquiry instead: the bank asks for information before raising a formal chargeback. Stripe notes that American Express and Discover most often use this stage. Answer inquiries promptly. An unanswered inquiry can turn into a formal dispute that is very hard to win.
Deadlines are set by the processor and the network
The clock is short and it is not the same everywhere. Read the deadline on the dispute itself, not on a blog post, including this one.
| Stripe | Square | |
|---|---|---|
| Time to respond | Usually 7 to 21 days, depending on the card network. The exact date is on the dispute | 7 days from the first notification email |
| Where to respond | The Disputes list in the Dashboard, then Counter dispute on the dispute | Dashboard, Orders & payments, then Disputes |
| Fee (October 2026) | 15 dollars per dispute received, plus 15 dollars if you counter it, refunded if you win | No dispute fee |
| How long a decision takes | Usually 60 to 75 days after you submit, 2 to 3 months overall | Up to 90 days from the start of the dispute |
| Second chances | One submission. It cannot be edited or added to | Submit everything the request form asks for at once |
Miss the deadline and you lose automatically. Put the date in a calendar the day the email arrives, and give yourself two days of margin.
Decide first: is this one worth fighting?
Read the reason code and the cardholder's claim before anything else. Then be honest. If the customer has a point, or the amount is small and your records are thin, accepting is often the better use of your time. On Stripe, accepting is not treated as an admission of wrongdoing, though the received fee still applies.
Two things to know. You cannot simply refund the charge while a dispute is open; the dispute process is now the only route. And if the customer tells you they will withdraw it, still submit your evidence. Stripe advises this because a withdrawal does not by itself close the case in your favour.
The evidence that wins a service dispute
Match the evidence to the reason. A brilliant refund policy is irrelevant to a claim that the card was stolen. The reviewer wants a short answer to the specific claim, with proof.
| If the claim is | Send |
|---|---|
| Fraud, "I did not make this payment" | Proof the real cardholder authorised it: a signed estimate or authorisation, the card taken in person, address and security code checks for cards typed in, prior undisputed payments from the same customer |
| Service not provided | The work order, dated before and after photos, the completion record, and a signature or message confirming collection or completion |
| Not as described, or unsatisfactory | The estimate the customer approved, showing what was agreed, the record of what was done against it, and your messages offering to put it right |
| Cancelled, or credit not processed | Your cancellation or refund policy as the customer saw it at the time of payment, and the date and amount of any partial refund you already gave |
- Write a short cover summary in plain sentences: who paid, when, for what, what was delivered, and why the claim does not hold. Neutral tone. No anger at the customer.
- Order everything chronologically. Approval, payment, work, completion, communications.
- Send only the relevant excerpts. Paste the one clause of your policy that applies, not your whole terms. Trim long email threads to the messages that matter.
- Keep it inside the limits. On Stripe, PDF, JPEG or PNG only, one file per evidence type, 4.5 MB combined and under 19 pages for Mastercard. Combine several texts and emails into one communication file.
- Do not include links, audio, video or "call us for more detail". The reviewer will not follow them.
Partial refunds and customers who already got money back
A customer sometimes disputes the full amount after you already refunded part of it. Always respond to these. Include the amount and date of the refund and a screenshot of it from your dashboard. Stripe notes that issuers are generally willing to correct this.
How to prevent the next one
Card networks count the disputes you receive, not the ones you win. Stripe is explicit that a withdrawn dispute still counts. So prevention matters more than winning, and most of it is cheap.
- Make the charge recognisable. Check how your business name appears on the customer's card statement. A descriptor the customer does not recognise is a common source of "I do not know this charge" disputes.
- Get written approval before work starts, with a timestamp, and store it against the job.
- Take cards in person where you can. A card tapped at the counter is far easier to defend against a fraud claim than one read out over the phone.
- Send a receipt every time, and a message when work completes. Both become evidence later.
- Answer complaints quickly. A customer who reaches you, and gets a reply, usually does not go to the bank. If you would refund it anyway, refund it before they dispute it.
How to take and record a deposit so it survives a dispute is covered separately in the note on taking a deposit on a repair.
What to do next
If a dispute is open now: put the deadline in your calendar, read the reason code, collect the evidence that was created at the time, write a short summary, and submit once. If not: check your statement descriptor and how you record approvals today, because those two decide most cases before they start. If you want approvals, photos and payments tied to the job automatically, the studio builds that into the systems you already use. And if the amount is large or the customer is threatening more than a dispute, that is a question for a lawyer.
Questions
How long do I have to respond to a chargeback?
It depends on the processor and the card network. Stripe usually gives 7 to 21 days and shows the exact deadline on the dispute. Square gives 7 days from its first notification email. If you miss the deadline you lose automatically.
What evidence wins a chargeback for a service business?
Evidence created at the time of the job and matched to the dispute reason: the signed or timestamped approval of the estimate, dated before and after photos, the completion or pickup record with a signature or message, your policy as the customer saw it, and relevant messages. Add a short neutral summary in date order.
Can I submit more evidence later?
On Stripe, no. You get one submission, it goes straight to the issuing bank, and it cannot be edited or added to. Assemble everything before you submit.
Does Stripe or Square charge a fee for chargebacks?
At the time of writing (October 2026), Stripe charges 15 dollars when a dispute is received and another 15 dollars if you counter it, with the second fee returned if you win. Square does not charge a dispute fee, though processing fees on a lost payment are not refunded.
Should I just refund instead of fighting?
Before a dispute is filed, refunding a customer who has a point is usually cheaper than a dispute, because networks count disputes received rather than won. Once a dispute is open you cannot refund outside the process, but you can accept the dispute, which on Stripe is not treated as an admission of wrongdoing.