Does dispute always go against merchants?

[darklord]

I read somewhere that square disputes always go against merchants. I faced my first instance today.

My store is online only and I sell subscriptions to online resources on tradingview.com platform. A guy bought monthly subscription and raised dispute with his bank after few days. I challenged it as I had all the required documents (At least thats what I thought).

So I provided following things.

1. Conversation history where the user provided order number and requested access to his tradingview account.

2. Proof of providing access to the user

3. Product details and return policy

4. Other email exchange and conversation history.

Despite all these, decision went against me. Wonder what else I could have done? Not that this one instance matters. But, it is vulnerability which I don't prefer to have. He neither responded to my emails or pings after he raised dispute. Considering my sales channels are only online, what are my options?

[Seamus · Accepted solution]

Hey @darklord,

Sorry to hear about your chargeback.

While we're not able to look into or comment on chargeback/dispute decisions, the decision gets made by the credit issuer (eg Visa, Mastercard, American Express) after looking at submissions from both parties.

While I'm not able to provide any specific advice as to what you might have needed to have done to win your case, you can find more information from Square about the process and best practices here:

• Credit Card Chargebacks Explained

• Preventing Disputes

• Protect Yourself From Scams and Fraud

• Payment Disputes Walkthrough

• How to Protect Your Business from Non-Fraud Chargebacks

I'd also encourage you to also seek out general information from other sources on best practices for protecting yourself from chargebacks and disputes, especially if you're selling online.

The chargeback process doesn't really change between payment providers, and anything you can learn about protecting yourself from chargebacks will usually apply universally.