Handle charge disputes

A customer has opened a charge dispute for $1,250 from last Tuesday. I need it closed this week to avoid reserve increases. Gather the transaction record, signed merchant terms, delivery confirmation, and any chat transcripts. Then submit the evidence to the payments platform with a clear chronology and a one-paragraph rebuttal for the reviewer, and confirm submission to finance and the founder by Friday.

Before I submit evidence for this dispute, make the merchant’s strongest facts obvious: show payment date and card last four at top, highlight the signed terms and delivery proof, and surface any contradictory customer messages. Flag any missing items that would make the reviewer rule for the customer and suggest a one-sentence gap-closing action I can take now.

A customer just filed a chargeback claiming the $320 charge was unauthorized for an order we shipped last month. The operations lead, Sarah, thinks the tracking proves delivery but the customer claims never to have received it. I’m worried submitting weak evidence will cost us the fee and raise our dispute rate. What is the likely outcome and what single next action gives us the best chance to win?

Over the last quarter we’ve lost time chasing weak dispute evidence and lost several cases because delivery confirmation or explicit cardholder consent was missing. I handle this twice a week and it costs founder credibility with finance. What three habits should we change in order intake, fulfillment, and messaging so disputes arrive with a complete packet and we stop burning time on avoidable cases?