The goal of your documentation package is to have the reviewer at your cardholder's bank quickly understand what they are looking at and how it supports your claim. We supply payment details and a copy of the invoice associated with the payment being disputed. We also generate a cover letter with file descriptions for the dispute package based on the information that you submit.
Follow the tips below, to ensure that the information you are submitting is the best it can be to fight your chargeback.
Creating a merchant statement of events
Adding notes to your documentation
Reducing the size of your PDFs
Evidence limitations
- All of your documents must not exceed a total of 8 MB.
- Each file you submit must be 1 MB or smaller.
- We can submit up to 15 pages to the cardholder’s bank on your behalf. This includes the cover page & invoice information.
What is not permitted
- Banks do not accept videos.
- Banks do not accept audio files.
- Banks do not accept outside links.
Please do not send us a link to a file sharing service (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud) requesting that we download more evidence. - Banks do not accept documentation in languages other than English.
Creating a merchant statement of events
It is important to provide the cardholder’s bank with a written statement of events. The statement is used to tell the credit card company what the situation is, and why the dispute should be ruled in your favor. Included in this should be a brief explanation of the services and/or merchandise that the cardholder purchased from you.
An example of a merchant statement:
Statement:
Sally hired my company to create 15 custom plant pots in early October and she requested that I deliver them to her home. She paid the full amount before I started the work and when I completed the pots I delivered them to her home. Upon receiving them she smashed one in front of me and demanded a refund. I declined the refund and left the remaining 14 pots at her house
Sequence of Events
October 1, 2022 - Sally contacted me via email through my website’s commission request page. She specified that she wanted 15 plant pots custom sculpted into the shape of frogs. She also asked for me to deliver them to her home and she gave me her address.
October 2, 2022 - I sent Sally a hand-drawn design which was approved by her. She then paid the Wave invoice that I sent to her. On custom products, I do not offer refunds and require payment in full. This refund policy is listed on my invoice and she accepted those terms before she submitted the payment.
October 23, 2022 - I notified Sally through email that the pots were ready and I asked when she would be available for delivery. She replied the same day and told me I could drop them off the following day.
October 24, 2022 - I arrived at Sally’s home with the plant pots and brought them to her door. She smashed one of them, telling me that they were supposed to be shaped like panda bears and she then demanded a refund. As she had approved the hand-drawn design and the custom-made pots are non-refundable, I declined the refund and explained the reasoning. I left the remaining 14 pots with her.
Adding notes to your documentation
It is important to add notes, arrows, boxes, circles, and other attention drawing marks on your evidence. This helps provide additional context to the reviewing agent about what they are looking at and where to focus their attention.
Make sure to block out sensitive information, such as full credit card numbers. If you need to include this info, only leave the last 4 digits of the number visible.
Adding notes, highlights, arrows, and boxes to your PDFs will vary depending on the type of device that you use. If your device does not have a built-in PDF editing tool, check out a free option available online.
Converting files into PDFs
When you have multiple images such as email screenshots, web page screenshots, pictures of work being finished, text messages, etc. you can put multiple images on one PDF page.
Some tips to help you when arranging your files for PDF conversion:
- You can assemble multiple images onto a text editor such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs. Reduce the size of the images so that you can fit more than one picture on a page at a time, and ensure that the image is large enough that it is clearly legible. Once you have the layout the way you want it, you can save the file as a PDF.
- For text message screenshots or similar-sized communications, Wave recommends a maximum of 6 images per page. If you try to include more than 6 images, the text on the images may become difficult to read.
- To give yourself more room on a Microsoft Word or Google Doc file, you can reduce the size of your margins. Make sure to leave a small margin so that if the documents need to be printed or faxed at any point, you won’t have important information cut off.
- If you need to take a picture of something on your laptop, computer, or phone, make sure that you take a screenshot from the device itself. The image will come out clearer this way.
There are different ways you can take a screenshot which depend on the device that you are using.
- For an Apple computer, you can take a screenshot using Command + Shift + 4, then selecting the area you want to capture.
- For a Windows computer, you can use the Print Screen button or the built in snipping (snip & select) tool.
No matter what you are including, make sure that the final version is legible, clear, and focuses on the areas that you want to highlight.
Reducing the size of your PDFs
Key points to remember:
- If you don’t think that your reasoning is clear within 2-5 minutes of looking at your documentation package, go back and adjust your notes to cut them down further.
- Only include the most relevant information. When including your contract, the most important pages are often the first page, the signature page, an online signature log if the signature is digital, the pages that include payment details, refund and cancellation policies, and/or the services or merchandise being provided. Ensure that the most relevant pages are included with the reason code.
- You are the subject matter expert for your business and the dispute agent at the cardholder’s bank is not familiar with how you run it. Try to avoid jargon or evidence that someone else will not understand. If you need to include something that may not be easily recognized, add notes and brief explanations of what the reviewer is looking at, what the document is showing, and where they should be paying attention.