A chargeback occurs when a customer disputes a payment with their bank or credit card company and requests a refund for the payment.
When your customer initiates a chargeback with their credit card company, that company then notifies Wave.
Wave cannot assist with chargebacks on payments made using EFT or ACH bank transfers.
If you choose to dispute a chargeback, the entire process can take up to 90 days.
Day 1: Wave notifies you of a chargeback
When a chargeback is initiated, Wave sends you an email titled “[Action Required] - You have a disputed charge.” This email outlines the details of the chargeback and the next steps.
If your business is using the new online payment experience, you can also review the information within your Wave account. Learn how to review and respond to a chargeback.
Learn how to respond to a chargeback.
Day 2: Funds are withdrawn from your bank account
The full chargeback amount, plus a fee between $7 to $15, will be withdrawn from the bank account connected for payouts in Wave. The funds are held by the cardholder’s bank until the chargeback is dropped, accepted, or a decision is made by the bank about a dispute.
Day 10: Deadline to submit your dispute documents
You have 5 days from when the chargeback is initiated to submit your documentation to Wave to either fight the claim or prove that the customer dropped their chargeback.
If Wave doesn’t receive your documents in time, the chargeback can no longer be disputed.
For help preparing your dispute documents, see Put together your chargeback documents.
If your customer has dropped their chargeback, see What to do if your customer wants to drop a chargeback.
Days 10-80: Your document package is created and sent to your customer’s bank
After Wave receives your documents, our dispute team puts together a document package and sends it to your customer’s bank. Wave will notify you by email when this package has been sent.
Your customer’s bank has up to 60 days from the date of document submission to review the information. The bank makes a final decision regarding whether or not the cardholder’s chargeback is legitimate. It’s common for banks to take the full 60 days to respond to a dispute claim. Wave will provide an update via email as soon as the banks have reached their decision on your claim.
Days 80-90: The cardholder’s bank decides the outcome
Wave will provide an update via email as soon as the banks have reached their decision on your claim.
If your business is using the new online payment experience, you can also view the decision on the chargeback payment in your Wave account on the Payments page.
If your customer drops their dispute, it can still take up to 60 days for your customer’s bank to close the case and return the disputed funds.
If the bank rules in your favor, your customer’s bank reimburses Wave for the chargeback. Wave will redeposit the withdrawn funds into your bank account, less the dispute fee. It can take up to 2 business days for you to receive the funds.
If the bank rules in your customer’s favor, Wave will notify you of the bank’s decision and any reasoning the bank has provided. The funds will not be returned to you.
The final decision cannot be overturned, and a chargeback cannot be disputed twice.