📍 Bolt Help / Fraud & Risk / Chargebacks & Disputes
Chargebacks & Disputes
Learn about chargebacks and understand what to expect when representing a dispute.

Chargebacks exist to help cardholders in the following ways:

  • Keep consumers financially secure
  • Stop criminal fraud
  • Encourage transparent business practices and excellent customer service

INFO

Chargeback: A cardholder-forced reversal of a transaction, usually due to claims of fraud or complaints about the order or merchant.

While many chargebacks are initiated for valid reasons, cardholders sometimes dispute legitimate purchases for invalid reasons including buyer’s remorse, friendly fraud, avoiding return fees, or attempting to receive an item for free.

No matter the reason, we’ll help you understand how to proceed.

Cycles

Cycle Description
Retrieval request Sometimes the first step of a chargeback. This is a request from the issuing bank for more information about the transaction. This is your opportunity to collaborate with the issuing bank and, possibly, avoid the dispute process altogether. You’ll need to respond in a timely fashion and provide documentation.
First chargeback Notification from the issuing bank on behalf of the cardholder, who intends to recover funds. The contested funds are debited from your account upon notification. You can accept the chargeback to assume liability, or if you disagree with the chargeback reason, you can enter into a dispute with the cardholder.
Dispute outcome The issuing bank reviews your evidence and renders a decision. If you win, the funds are credited back to your account.
Pre-arbitration or Arbitration Any involved party can re-open a chargeback if they disagree with the initial decision. During arbitration the bank involves a neutral party to decide the case, which is often the card network. The reason code might change, and you may need to submit additional evidence. Each card network has their own rules for how arbitration cycles work.

Involved Parties

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Terminology

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What to Expect

How to handle chargebacks depends which payment processing model you use and whether you have Bolt’s Fraud Protection.

Liability

For users of Fraud Protection, fraudulent chargebacks that meet certain criteria are indemnified by Bolt, meaning we’ll reimburse you for the disputed funds. Learn more at Determining Liability

Representment

Bolt’s chargebacks team can help qualifying merchants win disputes. You’ll submit evidence via email, and we’ll represent your case.

Bolt’s dispute representment is available to the following users:

Payment processing model With Fraud Protection Not protected
Bolt Payments Qualifies for Bolt’s Dispute Representment Qualifies for Bolt’s Dispute Representment
Gateway processing Qualifies for Bolt’s Dispute Representment Go to your payment processor dashboard and follow their dispute representment process.

Resources

Learn how to manage chargebacks and disputes with the articles in this section.

Bolt's Dispute Representment
Learn about Bolt's dispute representment process. The information in this article applies if you use Bolt Payments or Fraud Protection.
Determining Chargeback Liability
Learn how Bolt determines who is liable for a chargeback. The information in this article applies if you use Fraud Protection.
Provide Documentation for Bolt's Dispute Representment
Learn what types of documents to provide for effective dispute representment. The information in this article applies if you use Bolt Payments or Fraud Protection.
Access Disputes Dashboard (Beta)
View disputes and take action from the Disputes dashboard.
Download and Review Dispute Statements
Learn how to download and review dispute statements. The information in this article applies if you use Bolt Payments.
Manage Disputes via Webhook
Learn how to manage your disputes using webhooks.
Self-Service Disputes Guide
Learn how to upload dispute documentation to use the Self-Service Disputes feature.
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