Overview

A dispute, also known as a chargeback, occurs when a client contacts their bank to reverse a payment made using their account. They can do this for a number of reasons, such as not recognizing the charge or not receiving an expected refund. When someone files a dispute, the process varies slightly across different card networks, but typically follows a standard pattern:

1. The cardholder disputes the charge with their bank
2. The bank retrieves the funds, and our payment processor assesses a dispute fee
3. We forward the notification of the dispute to your email address on file
4. You choose to submit evidence, accept the dispute, or take no action
5. The cardholder's bank reviews evidence, if applicable
6. The cardholder's bank upholds or overturns the dispute

When a client disputes a charge, TravelJoy shares all available information about the dispute via email. This information is also available in the Reports → Disputes section of your account. 

Throughout this process, the TravelJoy platform helps you build your challenge and keeps you informed of the latest updates but we do not have influence over the outcome. The outcome is at the sole discretion of the client's bank.

The best way to fight disputes is to avoid them in the first place. You can learn how to proactively protect your business against disputes in this guide. 

Timing

Clients typically have 120 days to dispute their payment. However, because payments might be made long before a booking occurs, the travel industry is often subject to a wider dispute window. Generally speaking, when a customer makes a payment for something that will happen in the future (like a vacation reservation), the clock starts on the date of the event, not the date of the payment.

Following the creation of the dispute, you have a limited amount of time (usually 7-21 days, depending on the card network) to respond to the card issuer.

If you submit evidence, the issuer also has a limited amount of time (usually 60–90 days, depending on the card network) to evaluate the evidence and decide the outcome.

The full lifecycle of a dispute, from initiation to the final decision from the issuer, can take as long as four months to complete. Other than accepting the dispute or obtaining proof that the client has cancelled the dispute, this process cannot be expedited.

At the completion of the dispute process, the issuer either overturns the dispute in your favor or upholds the dispute in their cardholder’s favor.

If the issuer decides in your favor, the disputed funds and $15 of the dispute fee will be returned to you automatically. Otherwise, the funds will be returned to the client.

Responding to a dispute

In most cases, you can challenge a disputed payment as long as you submit strong evidence to the card issuer that invalidates the dispute claim before the deadline. TravelJoy will help you through this process.

As soon as a dispute is active, the only way to overturn it is by submitting evidence in a response. Even in cases where your client claims to have withdrawn the dispute, you must respond with evidence for the dispute to be closed in your favor. Submitting evidence is what signals to the issuer that you don’t accept the dispute and want to have the funds returned to you.

See our guide "Respond to a dispute" for information on how to:

• Review the cardholder’s claim
• Evaluate whether to accept or challenge the dispute
• Gather appropriate evidence to respond to the dispute
• Submit your response

Note: If you work with your client to cancel the initial dispute, evidence must still be submitted. This evidence is typically provided in the form of a confirmation number or screenshot of the reprocessing of payment. See this guide for more information.

In rare cases, a dispute cannot be challenged under the rules of the card network it was processed on. These disputes are considered "closed" when we notify you about them, and you have no opportunity to present evidence to the issuer.

After the decision

After you submit your evidence, the next notification from the card issuer is the final decision. When this decision is received, TravelJoy notifies you automatically via email.

This outcome is final for all parties. You can’t overturn a lost dispute, but your client also can’t overturn a dispute decided in your favor.

In rare cases, card networks may support an arbitration phase for lost disputes that carries a substantial fee. This is separate from the standard dispute and challenge process, and TravelJoy does not provide support for this dispute phase.

For a more in-depth overview of the dispute process described in this guide, you can visit this page from Stripe, our payment processor.