RESOURCES

Which chargeback reason codes you can actually win

And the evidence each one needs. Some disputes are worth fighting hard. Some you will lose no matter how good your paperwork is. Knowing which is which saves you the time and the false hope.

Every chargeback shows up with a reason code, and most merchants ignore it. That's a mistake, because the reason code tells you your odds before you spend an hour building a response.

Here's the honest breakdown. Reason code names and numbers vary between Visa, Mastercard, and the rest, so this groups disputes by what the customer is actually claiming rather than citing a specific code. If you want the code-by-code reference, that's the full reason-code guide.

The winnable ones

"I never got it."

Product or service not received

This is one of the most winnable disputes, because it's a factual claim and facts have receipts. What wins it: proof of delivery tied to the order. Tracking number with a delivered status, the carrier's delivery confirmation, and ideally the address matching what the customer gave you. For digital goods, access logs, download timestamps, or login records.

The catch is that this evidence has to already exist. You can't create a delivery confirmation after the fact, which is why the merchants who win these are the ones capturing it at the time of sale.

"It showed up broken / not as described."

Product unacceptable

More subjective, still winnable. What helps: your original product description or listing, photos, the customer's own messages (especially if they said they were happy, or never contacted you before disputing), and your return policy that they agreed to.

The strongest version of this response shows the customer had a path to a refund or replacement and skipped it to go straight to their bank.

"I was charged twice / I already got a refund."

Duplicate / credit not processed

Often winnable with plain records. Pull the transaction history and show the two charges are for different orders, or show the refund you actually issued and when. These come down to reconciliation, not persuasion.

"I canceled that subscription."

Subscription canceled

Winnable if your trail is clean. What you need: the terms they accepted at signup, the cancellation policy, usage logs showing they kept using the service through the disputed period, and the actual cancellation date if there was one.

Free-trial disputes live or die on whether you can show clear consent to the recurring charge.

The hard one

"I didn't make this purchase."

Fraud / unauthorized

This is the one to be realistic about. If the transaction did not go through 3D Secure, the liability usually sits with you, and AVS matches, CVC checks, and device fingerprints help but rarely carry it on their own.

You can still respond, and you should when you have real signal (a returning customer, matching address, a delivered high-value item), but go in knowing the deck is stacked.

The real lever on unauthorized fraud is prevention, not defense. Turning on 3D Secure shifts the liability on covered transactions, and that does more for your bottom line than any response you write after the fact.

The two things that decide most disputes

1. The evidence has to exist before the chargeback arrives

Almost every winnable case above depends on something you captured at the time of the sale: the delivery confirmation, the consent, the policy they agreed to, the messages. Merchants lose winnable disputes all the time because the proof was never captured, not because they argued badly.

2. Timing

You get a limited window to respond, often a couple of weeks, and a late or half-complete submission is a loss by default. Decide fast whether a dispute is worth fighting, and when it is, submit a complete package the first time. You usually don't get a second try at adding the tracking number you forgot. The exact windows are in the response time-limits reference.

If you sort your incoming disputes by reason code and be honest about which bucket each one is in, you'll stop pouring effort into the unwinnable fraud cases and start winning the delivery and subscription ones you were letting slide.

CertNode builds self-authenticating evidence for exactly these moments, captured at the time of the sale and timestamped so it holds up when the dispute comes weeks later. But the reason-code triage above works no matter what tools you use.

Capture the evidence before the dispute exists

CertNode Reflex reads the reason code, gathers the evidence that matters for that specific claim, and submits a complete response. You only pay when you win.

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$0/month. 15% success fee only when you win a dispute.