Occasionally one of your customers may file a dispute with their bank challenging a payment they made to your organization. This may occur for any number of reasons. However, once a dispute is filed, you will be notified and be given a chance to respond. The following guide will walk you through the steps to either accept the dispute, thereby granting your customer a refund; or to challenge the dispute by submitting evidence to your customer's bank.
For more information on credit card disputes and how they work, click here.
Navigate To Your LeagueApps Gateway Dashboard
In order to respond to a dispute when you are using LeagueApps Gateway, navigate to the Disputes tab of the LeagueApps Gateway Dashboard.
- Go to Reporting then click LeagueApps Gateway Dashboard.
- Once on the LeagueApps Gateway landing page, click the Disputes tab.
- Here, you will see a listing of the new dispute, and a prompt towards the top of the screen that says Resolve Dispute which you should click to begin your Disputes evidence submission process
Submission Form
Page One
After clicking Resolve Dispute, you are taken to a web form that will collect your evidence. Page One of the form walks you through the basics of the Disputes process and has a link included to the LeagueApps Gateway Disputes Help article, for more high level information on Disputes. It also includes an image showing all of the parties involved in a Dispute and the order in which they come into play.
Page Two
This is a very important step in the Disputes Submission process. This page has the best practices for each dispute type linked. In order to determine which type of dispute you are working with, locate the email you were sent when the Dispute was initiated with the subject line “Action Needed: Submit Evidence for a disputed payment.”
You can also see the dispute type on the Disputes tab of your LeagueApps Gateway Dashboard.
Once you've located the dispute type, click the corresponding link in the form to review the best practices for that category.
Page 3
This page is a simple series of questions about you, the LeagueApps administrator. List your first and last name, your email, and your LeagueApps Site Name.
Your subdomain is what is at the start of any registration URL for your site and will displayed in this format: subdomain.leagueapps.com.
You can also find this in your account by going to Settings then Site Settings.
Page 4
This step in the Dispute process is focused on the Customer’s claims. You can locate the email you were sent with the subject line Action Needed: Submit Evidence for a disputed payment in order to find the Dispute Category, the amount, and the program the Dispute invoice is within.
Page 5
This is the most important page of the evidence submission process. It is important to remember a third party reviewer is reading through this submission and making a ruling on the dispute.
Clearly and concisely explain what type of organization you are, what services/products were sold, and why the customer should not be entitled to a refund based on your terms.
If the customer is requesting a refund that goes against your company's Refund Policy, explain or show the following:
- When and where the customer was shown your Refund Policy. It is helpful to demonstrate that the customer must agree to the policy before being able to submit payment.
- Write out or upload a file of your Refund Policy.
- Explain why your company has a "No Refund Policy."
Document Uploads
- Every Dispute Submission should have an electronically signed refund policy with the IP address on it attached, if one is available
- This can be found by going to the program the registration is within, and then its People tab. On the People tab, navigate to the customer involved in the dispute and click on their name. You should see a pop up with all of their agreed to refund policies / waivers, where you can download them as a PDF.
- Customer Communication
- Here, it is best to upload any email back and forth (with the email address clearly shown in the screenshot) that displays the customer received the product/services they paid for
- Something along the lines of an attendance sheet, a sign in sheet, or a check in sheet would also be helpful for this category
- Text message screenshots can apply to, but only if you are able to clearly show the number they came from matches the phone number tied to the account on LeagueApps
- Shipping Documentation
- This only applies in physical product dispute situations
- Provide proof that the item purchased was shipped to the requested address
- Documentation showing the dispute was withdrawn
- This only applies in “Dispute was Withdrawn” dispute situations
- Provide proof that the customer intended to withdraw the dispute with their bank / card company
- If possible, have the customer provide documentation from their bank / card company showing the Dispute was withdrawn
- To protect yourself, provide screenshots of the email thread with the customer (clearly showing the email address it came from) where they state their intention to withdraw the dispute
- Additional File Upload
- This file upload category is for a document that doesn’t quite fit into the above categories
- If you have multiple of these, please combine them into a single PDF or pick the category the file best applies to
Best Practices By Dispute Type
- Credit Not Processed Dispute
- Duplicate Dispute
- Fraudulent Dispute
- General Dispute
- Product Not Received Dispute
- Product Not Acceptable Dispute
- Subscription Cancelled Dispute
- Unrecognized Dispute
Frequently Asked Questions
What is LeagueApps' role in the dispute process?
LeagueApps serves as an intermediary between you and the customer's bank. As the payment processor, we notify you of a credit card dispute and the details regarding that dispute. We furthermore relay your response and evidence back to the customer's bank for their review.
I followed these steps and still lost a dispute. Why?
Please note that while following these guidelines will put you in the best position to win a dispute, this does not guarantee your customer’s bank will decide in your favor.
How can I appeal a bank's decision?
Submitting evidence for a dispute is the appeal process and the card issuer's response is final.
I submitted evidence but it still says "Needs Response."
Please allow 3 business for a dispute to change from the Needs Response to Under Review status.