1. Podium
  2. Payments
  3. Managing Payments

In-App Dispute Management

Merchants may now handle any disputed charge directly through Podium rather than dealing with financial third parties directly.

Understanding disputes

A dispute, or chargeback, occurs when a cardholder questions a payment with their card issuer.  This can be caused by a number of issues - fraud, damaged goods, products not being received, duplicate charges, and more.

When a dispute is started, the money from the disputed charge is removed from the merchant's bank account with a fee and frozen until the dispute is resolved.  While the dispute is active, the merchant cannot issue a refund through Podium.

As the merchant, you have the ability to accept or fight the dispute by submitting evidence proving the charge's validity.  And now, the entire dispute management process can be handled directly in Podium.

Managing disputes in Podium

If a charge is disputed, you will be notified on the Payments homepage.  Click View Disputes to see the disputed charge in more detail, along with any other disputed charges.

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All disputed charges can be viewed and managed in the Disputed tab of the Payment Activity page. You can see the status of each disputed charge in the far right column of the table. Z2.png

Click on a specific disputed charge to learn more about it. You’ll be shown details around the purchase, as well as the main reason the customer has disputed the charge. Z3.png

 After reviewing the disputed charge, you have two options:

  • You can Accept the dispute in Podium on the Payment Details page for the disputed transaction. By Accepting the dispute, you are agreeing to lose the disputed amount and the $15 dispute fee.
  • You can choose to fight the dispute by submitting evidence.  The email and the in-app notification will take you to the disputed transaction page where you can see the reason for the dispute, the disputed amount, the evidence due date, and an option to submit evidence. 

Note: if you take no action by the stated “Evidence Due” date, the dispute will be considered accepted and you will lost the disputed amount and the $15 dispute fee.

Submitting evidence against a disputed charge

 If you choose to fight a disputed charge, you must submit your evidence for the bank’s review.

To submit your evidence, click Submit evidence, which will bring you to the evidence submission form.

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Banks and card issuers have different expectations for evidence that they find compelling, and Stripe will only allow submissions of 1 item per type of evidence and has a file size limit, so it’s important to use the best evidence for the best result. The evidence submission page will have a list of documents you can submit to have the best chance of winning the dispute. 

Common pieces of evidence you can include to make a strong case are:

  • Receipts
  • Screenshots of customer communication in Podium 
  • Proof of product or service delivery 

Depending on the dispute reason, other types of evidence in addition to the list above will also help make a strong case:

Dispute Reason Evidence Type

Duplicate
  • Duplicate charge documentation
  • Shipping & tracking details
Product Not Received
  • Shipping Documentation
Product Unacceptable
  • Shipping Documentation
Fraudulent
  • Customer Signature 
  • Service documentation 
  • Shipping & tracking details 
  • Refund policy & terms of service

If evidence contains sensitive information such as health information, or personal customer information, the information disclosed must be kept to a minimum, and any reasonable request for confidential communication should be honored.

For more information on best practices when submitting evidence, see our help center article on Dispute Concepts.

Once you’ve completed the form, click Submit evidence, confirm your choice, and close the modal when prompted. 

After your evidence has been submitted, the disputed charge's status will change to "Under review".  You will receive an email notification and in-app notification letting you know the outcome of the dispute.  The process takes up to 90 days after evidence submission, but you can check the Payment Activity Table and Disputes tab to see the statues of the dispute.

Helpful Resources