Table of Contents
Overview
Don't know what a dispute or where to start? Check out our article about Jobber Payments disputes or this comprehensive guide to Chargebacks for Field and Home Services Merchants.
There are two ways to move forward on a dispute:
- Accept the dispute to provide the payment back to your client
- Challenge the dispute by submitting evidence the charge was valid
We recommend that you reach out to your client first before choosing to accept or challenge the dispute! Oftentimes disputes occur because of a misunderstanding between the client and the company–it's possible that your client may not have recognized the charge on their credit card statement, or forgotten that they had service done.
If a client confirms that the dispute was made in error, it is still important for you to respond to that dispute with the correct evidence so that the bank knows you are not accepting the dispute.
Once you have decided how you'd like to proceed with the dispute, let our disputes team know at issues@getjobber.com. Please make sure to reply back to emails from our disputes team no matter how you chose to proceed; if we don't receive a reply you may be blocked from using Jobber Payments.
Accepting the dispute
You can accept a dispute if you agree with your client that the dispute was for a valid reason and that the payment should be returned to them. The dispute will then be shown as lost, and the disputed amount and fees will not be returned to you.
If you do not intend to submit evidence for a dispute or respond to it, then it is best to accept the dispute. Accepting a dispute does not negatively affect your business.
Challenging the dispute
To challenge a dispute you must provide evidence to show the bank or card issuer that the charge to your client is valid.
Evidence can be:
- Any records of communication you had with your client, such as emails or text messages, that show that you provided the service or products.
- Any documents the client signed pertaining to the service or product.
- A screenshot of your terms of service and/or refund policy, as would have been seen by the client.
- Any evidence from software other than Jobber to show you provided the service. For example, GPS or Timesheet entries from another software showing your employees performed the service at the time and/or place of the service address.
Our Jobber Payments team can help collect evidence from inside your Jobber account with your written permission to do so. For any evidence you've gathered outside of your account with us, you'll need to make sure to follow the following formatting before sending a copy to us.
Images
If you are sending in images for a dispute, make sure the image is a good enough size and quality to be printed and still be readable. Any text should be 12 pt font or larger. Crop images to the area of interest and use arrows or circle any key areas. Banks may format the image in black and white, so it is best to avoid color highlights.
Documents
If you have documents you are submitting, these are best formatted as PDF files.
Details
Any explanation you provide along with your documentation should be relevant and brief. Banks deal with many disputes each day, so it is important information is clear and concise.
Send all of your evidence in one email to our team at issues@getjobber.com and we will submit this for you along with the evidence from your account. Evidence can only be submitted once, so it's important that you send everything at one time.
What happens after you submit evidence?
After evidence is submitted for a dispute, the bank will review the evidence and make a final decision about the charge. This process can take up to 2½ months. As this is a formal procedure, executed by the client's bank, we are unable to speed up the process. When the dispute is closed you will be emailed with the outcome.
If the dispute is found in your favor, the disputed funds and fees will be returned to your bank account.
If the dispute is found in the client's favor, the disputed funds and fees will not be returned to your account.
Inquiries vs. disputes
An inquiry is when the bank is asking for more information about a charge before they decide to dispute it. Inquiries are also called 'retrievals.' Inquiries appear the same as disputes in your Jobber account, however, in the case of an inquiry, the payment remains in your account unless the bank decides to proceed with a formal dispute.
In the case of an inquiry, you would respond the same as if it were a dispute, as outlined above. If you have questions about an inquiry, you can email us at issues@getjobber.com.
Timelines of a dispute
Once a dispute is reported there will be a due date for when all evidence needs to be submitted by. Typically this is 7-21 days from the date the dispute is reported. Our Jobber Payments team will work with you to gather this evidence and submit it to the bank for review. Once the evidence has been submitted, it can take up to 2½ months for the bank to reach a decision.
All timelines here are dictated by the financial institution that issued the credit card, unfortunately, Jobber cannot control the timeline of a dispute.