Dispute States
Learn about the disputes, protested charges, and the chargeback lifecycle.
Whether you're managing disputes through the dashboard or API, the response_state and state of the Dispute details what steps to take to move the Dispute forward.
Dispute Responses States
response_state | Description |
|---|---|
NEEDS_RESPONSE | The Merchant needs to respond to the Dispute by Dispute#respond_by. |
RESPONDED | The issuing bank has received the evidence and actively reviewing it. No action needed from the Merchant. |
ACCEPTED | The Merchant has accepted the Dispute. When a Dispute is accepted, you concede that the dispute is not worth challenging or representing. For details on how to accept a Dispute, see Accepting a Dispute. |
NO_RESPONSE_ALLOWED | The final Dispute#response_state when a Dispute is either WON or LOST. |
UNKNOWN | Dispute details couldn't be submitted to the processor. Comes up when testing Disputes in sandbox or on the DUMMY_V1 processor. |
Dispute States
state | Description |
|---|---|
INQUIRY | The Dispute is being reviewed by the buyer's issuing bank. When Dispute#state is INQUIRY no changes can be made. |
PENDING | This Dispute#state change will happen at a later time, after the Dispute accept request is submitted. For a dispute on a sale when accepted the Dispute#state changes to LOST. For a dispute on a refund when accepted the Dispute#state changes to WON. We recommend subscribing to our webhooks, and listening for the Dispute updated event. |
LOST | The Dispute is lost and no further changes can be made. |
WON | The Dispute is won and no further changes can be made. |
Dispute Reasons
The reason of the Dispute provides additional details regarding why the dispute got filed.
reason | Description |
|---|---|
CLERICAL | An error occurred while processing the sale, or the cardholder has an issue with the transaction and refuses the goods. |
FRAUD | The cardholder claims they didn't approve or authorize the transaction. FRAUD is the primary reason disputes get created. |
INQUIRY | The Merchant didn't respond by the respond_by date, or the transaction got flagged for review due to the network's internal standards. |
QUALITY | The cardholder has issues with the quality of the goods or services received. Reasons can include receiving damaged goods or a service that doesn't match what's promised. |
TECHNICAL | A technical issued caused the transaction to process funds incorrectly. |
Disputes get created with a PENDING state. Dispute#state updates with the decision of the issuing bank. The bank's decision is final for all parties. You can’t overturn a lost dispute, and your customer can’t overturn a dispute decided in your favor.
If the Dispute#state gets updated to INQUIRY or PENDING than the issuing bank is requesting additional information, from the seller, showing the transaction was legitimate. For steps on how to upload evidence and respond to the issuing bank, see Responding to Disputes.