How to Respond to a Chargeback

A dispute notice has a deadline and a reason code. This guide summarizes what Visa’s merchant guidelines (June 2024, read 2026-10-16) say about responding, with examples for the conditions small merchants meet most. Your processor sets the actual deadline and submission method; ask it first. This is general information, not legal advice.

Start with the basics

• Respond promptly with everything you have. Visa says it is essential to promptly supply all available details, including relevant documentation, at the initial dispute notification.
• Make the evidence readable. Evidence must be legible and in English or accompanied by an English translation.
• Watch the clock. Each step has a defined time limit that may vary depending on your acquirer. Missing it may potentially lead to an unfavorable outcome.
• Accept when you should. Visa says some disputes cannot be remedied, and accepting those may save time and expense.
• Know what you agreed to. In most cases the extent of your liability is in your merchant agreement.

For how the process works end to end, see how a Visa card dispute works.

Examples by condition

Visa’s guidelines give response options per condition. A few that small merchants often meet:

13.1 Merchandise/Services Not Received. Visa lists, among other responses: provide documentation that the merchandise was delivered or picked up by the agreed date or to the agreed location; if the specified delivery date has not yet passed, provide documentation to support the expected delivery date; if the cardholder cancelled before the expected date, show that you were able to provide the merchandise or service and that they cancelled first; for a partial payment with balance due, show the additional payments due. If the item was never delivered, Visa says to accept the dispute.

13.6 Credit Not Processed. Visa says the most common causes are not issuing a credit, issuing it too late to appear on the next statement, or leaving a receipt that should have been voided. If the sale is valid and no credit is due, provide documentation and refute the cardholder’s bank’s documentation. If a refund is due but not yet processed, accept. If a credit was already processed, provide documentation including the amount and date. To avoid it, process credits and reversals promptly.

13.7 Cancelled Merchandise/Services. Visa lists, among responses, documentation that your return, refund and cancellation policies were properly disclosed and agreed to. Visa says causes include no credit for returned or cancelled items and return policies that were not properly disclosed.

10.4 Other Fraud – Card-Absent Environment. Visa says for card-absent transactions to consider using all available tools, such as Visa Secure, CVV2 and the Address Verification Service (AVS). For responses, it points to previous undisputed transactions and, where available, compelling evidence.

10.1 and 10.2 EMV liability shift. If the transaction took place at a chip terminal, provide documentation that it was chip read and that the full chip data was transmitted; if it did not take place at a chip terminal, accept. See EMV chip cards and liability.

Across several conditions the guidelines add two common responses: a credit or reversal has already been processed (send documentation with the amount and date), and the cardholder no longer disputes (send a letter or email from the cardholder stating that).

Compelling evidence

Visa says merchants have a right to provide compelling evidence for conditions 10.1, 10.3 and 10.4. Its chart of allowable evidence includes, for example: photographic or email evidence linking the person who received merchandise or services to the cardholder; for merchandise delivered to the same physical address for which the merchant received an AVS match of Y or M, evidence that it was delivered (a signature is not required); a signed order form for a mail or phone order; and evidence that the cardholder’s undisputed prior transactions used the same device or identifiers. Visa’s chart specifies which items apply to which condition, and has changed over time, so read it in Section 4 of the guidelines before relying on it.

After you respond

The issuer may reply with more information or its own certification, and further steps exist, including arbitration. We did not read those parts in detail. Ask your acquirer or processor what happens next and what each step costs; see chargeback fees by provider for what providers publish, and how to prevent chargebacks to reduce the next one.

What we did not verify

We did not verify other networks’ evidence rules, your processor’s submission portal or deadlines, or the outcome rates of any approach. This guide quotes none, since Visa’s guidelines publish none.