Customers can dispute charges to their credit card or digital wallet (e.g. PayPal) for various reasons, such as unauthorized transactions or non-performance. If the dispute is upheld, the funds are returned to the customer automatically by the payment provider and deducted from the merchant’s account. This is different from a traditional refund where the customer and merchant resolve the matter directly.
Disputes can be both legitimate and illegitimate. Merchants can choose whether to accept a dispute (and issue a refund) or challenge the dispute by providing supporting evidence that the dispute is illegitimate.
What is the difference between a dispute and a chargeback?
What is the difference between a legitimate and illegitimate dispute?
What is friendly fraud?
What can merchants do if there is a dispute?
How can merchants reduce the number of disputes?