Dispute Management

Dispute Management brings the chargeback workflow into one DEUNA Admin workspace. Operations teams can prioritize deadlines, connect a case to its original payment, prepare a response, organize evidence, obtain approval, submit an available provider action, and follow the confirmed outcome.

How a dispute moves through DEUNA

Four state tracks answer different questions

DEUNA keeps each type of state separate so that a change in one track does not silently advance another.

Access and setup

Before using Dispute Management, confirm that:

• DEUNA has enabled the feature for your merchant account.
• Your role has permission to view disputes.
• Your role has any additional permission required to register cases, edit responses, upload evidence, approve reviews, or submit actions.
• The original processor connection is configured for the dispute operations you need.
• The case stays linked to the processor account that handled the original payment. DEUNA does not reroute an existing dispute to another processor.

If the feature is not enabled, Admin displays an early-access screen with the contact path for your account.

Availability

Dispute Management availability varies by merchant.

Work from the dispute queue

Open Payments > Disputes to see cases that need attention. The command center summarizes:

• Cases that require operator action.
• Cases due within seven days.
• Cases awaiting provider follow-up.
• Cases with a recorded outcome.

Use the queue to compare the disputed amount, reason, preparation state, provider state, next action, and response deadline before opening a case.

You can filter by order token, provider payment ID, processor account, status, or creation date. You can also refresh the results, choose visible columns, change table density, and move through result pages.

Register an existing dispute

Register a case when an existing provider chargeback has not entered the workspace through an enabled automated intake.

1. Select Register dispute from the queue.
2. Enter the provider case ID and your merchant reference.
3. Select the processor account that handled the original payment.
4. Add the case kind, stage, round, opening time, and response deadline.
5. Enter an order token and select Load order when the payment exists in DEUNA. Otherwise, provide the required external payment information.
6. Confirm the provider payment ID, amount, currency, payment method, country, and processing time.
7. Add the claim reason and any available internal context.
8. Review the case and create it.

Loading an order can fill known payment and order details. You still need to supply facts that DEUNA cannot verify, such as delivery records, service usage, accepted terms, cancellation details, or customer communications.

Understand the case workspace

The case overview brings together the claim, lifecycle, payment, financial observations, order items, and next action. Start here before changing the response.

Check the following information:

• Provider case ID and merchant reference.
• Disputed amount and currency.
• Normalized reason and original provider or network code.
• Case kind, claim stage, and round.
• Response deadline and the time zone used to display it.
• Original payment, captures, refunds, and related order items.
• Identity, preparation, action execution, and provider lifecycle states.
• Recommended next action and any blocking information requests.

If a provider fact conflicts with the original payment or merchant record, resolve the discrepancy before review or submission.

Prepare an evidence-backed response

Build the response

Open Response and use the guided builder to describe the merchant's position. The required content changes with the claim, provider, account, case stage, round, and selected action.

The response can include:

• Customer and order information tied to the disputed transaction.
• A permitted defense reason and a clear operator narrative.
• The order items and amounts covered by the dispute.
• A dated sequence of purchase, authentication, fulfillment, contact, cancellation, or refund events.
• Delivery or service-use details.
• Subscription terms, renewal notices, and cancellation information.
• Refund references and confirmed refund state.
• Relevant customer communications.

Use plain, factual language. Reference dates, amounts, and supporting evidence. Do not use assumptions as proof.

Upload and organize evidence

Open Evidence to add supporting files. Admin shows the permitted formats, file-size limit, and remaining file slots for the case.

For each file:

1. Upload a new evidence item or a new version of an existing item.
2. Choose the evidence category.
3. Add the event date and a useful description.
4. Link the file to the response fields and order items it supports.
5. Wait for validation and security checks to finish.
6. Confirm that the version is Ready before creating a review.

Files have immutable versions. Replacing a file creates a new version instead of changing the bytes referenced by an older review or submission. A review always locks the exact versions included at that moment.

Resolve missing information

An information request identifies a missing, unreadable, or conflicting fact. It can point to a specific response path, evidence role, order item, or requirement.

To respond:

1. Open Information requests.
2. Review the requested item, severity, assignee, and response path.
3. Enter the missing value, upload a new evidence version, or explain the conflict.
4. Add a response or resolution note.
5. Send the response for revalidation.

A response does not automatically resolve the request or approve the case. DEUNA revalidates the updated content. The provider deadline continues to run while the team collects information.

Review the exact package

A review freezes the selected provider action, structured response, requirements, and exact evidence versions. An authorized reviewer can compare the locked package with the current draft before approval.

If a relevant field or selected evidence version changes, the old approval becomes stale. Create and approve a new review before submitting. Unrelated local notes do not replace the need to inspect the provider-bound content.

Submit an available action

When the package is complete, approved, and still eligible:

1. Open the review and approval controls in Response.
2. Confirm the provider action and its effect. Depending on the case, the available action can include defending, supplementing, accepting liability, or withdrawing a response.
3. Verify the response deadline and all provider requirements.
4. Select Submit to provider.
5. Follow the action status until the result is conclusive.

A queued or transmitting action confirms only that DEUNA accepted the operation for processing. If the action reaches Outcome unknown, reconcile the original attempt before trying again. A blind retry could send the same action twice.

Follow activity and provider outcomes

Open Activity to see the append-only case history. The timeline records registration, provider observations, draft changes, evidence completion, information requests, reviews, approvals, submission attempts, and outcome changes with their actor and timestamp.

Activity history remains available when the current draft changes. Submission history also keeps the exact action, attempts, receipt, and execution result.

Status reference

Preparation

• Draft: The response can still be edited and may be incomplete.
• Needs information: A blocking requirement or information request remains open.
• Under review / Ready: The response is complete enough to create or inspect a review.
• Approved: An authorized reviewer approved an exact package. Submission remains a separate action.
• Submitted: DEUNA has created the provider action and is tracking it.
• Completed: Preparation has finished for the current case path.

Action execution

• Queued: DEUNA durably accepted the action.
• Transmitting: DEUNA is sending the action or completing a certified handoff.
• Succeeded: The provider action completed with a confirmed receipt or result.
• Rejected: The action failed conclusively and includes a reason or next step.
• Outcome unknown: The action may have reached the provider. Reconcile it before retrying.

Provider lifecycle

• Unknown: DEUNA does not have an authoritative provider state.
• Needs response: The provider expects merchant action.
• Under review: The provider is evaluating the response.
• Won: The provider confirmed a favorable outcome.
• Lost: The provider confirmed an unfavorable outcome.
• Accepted: The provider confirmed the merchant's acceptance of liability for the chargeback.
• Withdrawn: The provider confirmed withdrawal of the defense.
• Closed: The case is closed without a more specific normalized outcome.

The workspace shows the observation source, time, and freshness when available. A missed local deadline is an alert; it does not by itself prove that the provider marked the case as lost.

Open disputes from the original payment

When a payment has related disputes, the order detail page shows each case with its disputed amount, provider state, preparation state, next action, and response deadline.

Select Manage dispute to open a case, or View all disputes for this order to open the queue with the order filter applied. The section appears only when the feature is enabled and your role includes dispute-view permission.

Monitor portfolio performance

Open Portfolio analytics from the dispute queue to understand chargeback exposure and recovery for a selected period and currency.

Metric	Meaning
Chargeback rate	Disputes received in the period divided by eligible payments processed in the same view.
Disputed amount	Total value under dispute for cases received in the selected period and currency.
Win rate	Won cases divided by resolved won and lost cases. Pending cases are excluded.
Recovered amount	Confirmed recovered value associated with won cases in the selected cohort.
Case outcomes	Won, lost, and pending case counts for the selected cohort.
Breakdowns	Dispute volume, amount, win rate, and recovery by provider, plus the mix of dispute reasons.

Choose a 30-day or 90-day period and an available currency. DEUNA displays amounts in the selected currency without converting them. Portfolio filters do not change the queue filters.

Operating checklist

• Start with cases closest to their provider deadline.
• Confirm the provider case ID and original processor account before preparing the response.
• Follow the requirements for the current case instead of applying one generic evidence checklist.
• Link every file to the fact or order item it supports.
• Keep original proof such as carrier records, consent records, service-use records, or refund confirmations.
• Resolve blocking information requests before creating the review.
• Inspect the exact draft and evidence versions covered by the approval.
• Treat action execution, provider acknowledgement, and final case outcome as separate events.
• Reconcile an unknown action outcome before retrying.

Key terms

Term	Meaning
Claim reason	Why the issuer, network, or provider says the payment is disputed.
Defense reason	The merchant's permitted response position.
Evidence	A versioned file that supports one or more response facts.
Information request	A specific question or missing requirement that needs a response or resolution.
Review	A frozen snapshot of the action, response, requirements, and exact evidence versions.
Submission	The request to execute the approved provider action.
Provider outcome	The authoritative decision or closure reported by the provider.