This guide explains what a dispute is, what the most common dispute response codes mean, and what to submit in LMN.
In this article:
What is a Dispute?
A dispute, sometimes called a chargeback, happens when a customer contacts their bank to question a charge instead of contacting the business directly.
When a dispute is opened:
The bank notifies Stripe.
The disputed amount is temporarily removed from the merchant’s bank account
The business has a deadline to respond.
The bank reviews the evidence and makes a final decision.
Strong evidence usually includes approved estimates or signed work orders, invoices with clear service descriptions, before-and-after photos, crew notes or service logs, emails or texts confirming approval or completion, and records showing the customer continued service after the charge.
Dispute Response Codes
The dispute reason tells you what the customer is claiming and what evidence matters most.
Category | Customer Says | What to Collect: |
Fraudulent or Unauthorized
| The customer says they did not approve the charge. | ✔ Approved estimate or invoice |
Product or Service Not Received | The customer says the work was never completed. | ✔ Visit records, timesheets |
Product or Service Unacceptable | The customer says the work did not match what was promised. | ✔ Signed estimate with scope of work |
Canceled Recurring Service | The customer says they canceled before the charge. | ✔ Service agreement with cancellation terms |
Credit Not Processed | The customer says they were promised a refund or credit but did not receive it. | ✔ Refund or credit policy |
Duplicate Charge | The customer says they were billed twice. | ✔ Separate invoices with different dates or scopes |
General or Unrecognized | The customer does not recognize the charge. | ✔ Clear invoice and service details |
What to Submit for Evidence and How to Do It in LMN
When responding in LMN, the goal is to make it easy for the reviewer to understand what was purchased, what the customer is claiming, and why the charge is valid.
What evidence to submit
Include as many of the following as apply:
Signed proposal or approved estimate
Itemized invoice
Service description and property address
Crew notes, service logs, or visit records
Before-and-after photos
Timestamps or timesheets, if available
Emails or texts confirming approval, scheduling, or completion
Cancellation or refund policy
Prior successful payments
Proof the customer continued service after the disputed charge
How to organize it
Keep the submission simple and easy to review:
Summary of the charge
What the customer is claiming
Why the claim is incorrect
Supporting evidence
💡Tips for Uploading
Combine evidence into one document when possible
Label sections clearly
Highlight the key details
Keep the explanation short and direct
Include only evidence relevant to that dispute
How to Respond in LMN
Option 1: Respond via Dispute Tab in LMN
Once you receive communication that a Dispute has been created, navigate to the Payments tab in LMN, and then click on Disputes
From here, you can see any and all disputes on your account. You will be able to clearly see the Response due date, the date it was disputed on, status of Dispute, reason, customer email and amount. Stripe will debit your bank account for the total amount of the dispute while the investigation happens.
⚠️ If you lose the dispute, Stripe will return funds back to the original processor. If you win the Dispute, Stripe will deposit the amount back into your bank account.
Click into the Dispute to see more details. You will need to decide if you would like to Respond to the Inquiry (with evidence) or accept liability and Refund the customer. If you need assistance, there is a step-by-step guide available to you.
Option 2: Respond from directly inside the payment in LMN
Once you receive an email notifying you of a new dispute, you can go to your Payments List, and find the payment in question under Transactions. The status of the payment will clearly state “Dispute Warning Needs Response”
Click into the payment to see dispute reason, due date, response code, and options to either Respond to the dispute inquiry, or accept liability and Begin refund. There will be a step-by-step guide available to you if you need it.
Responding to Dispute Inquiry
If you choose to counter the dispute (either from the payment itself or the Dispute tab in LMN) click on Respond to Inquiry. From here, there will be 4 steps to complete.
Step 1: Tell us about the dispute:
Review this section carefully, and write a short summary explaining why you are challenging the dispute. Include what was purchased, when the service(s) happened, what the customer is claiming and why the charge is valid.
Think of the Product Description box as an opportunity to defend the services you completed.
Once finished, click Next.
💡The information here will save and can be changed up until you hit the final Submit in Step 3.
Step 2: Provide Additional Details
Fill out the details about the customer to help with your claim.
Once completed, Click Next.
Step 3: Collect Evidence
Refer to the top of this article, under the section “What to Submit for Evidence” for a thorough review for what type of evidence is the most compelling in challenging a dispute (signed proposals, communication, timesheets, photos). A lot of this information can be found directly in LMN.
Any information entered, or uploaded in this section will stay saved for you to come back to until you submit evidence in the final step.
For each document uploaded, you will need to assign a Category (customer communication, receipt, signature etc..) and you can only use a category once in a dispute challenge. If you have multiple files for communication, we recommend attaching them all into one PDF to make the upload easier.
Once you have added everything you need to, click on the Review button
Step 4: Review Evidence & Submit
The final review page will review the compelling items you uploaded, and which pieces of compelling evidence you left out. If you need to go back and upload more, you can do so by clicking the Back button.
If everything has been uploaded, you will need to check the box that states “I understand I can only submit evidence to the customer’s bank once” then click Submit.
🛑 Failure to submit evidence by the due date listed on the Dispute will result in an automatic loss
You will be able to monitor the Status of your disputes directly in the Dispute Tab in LMN under Payments in LMN.
Troubleshooting Evidence Upload Errors
If you receive an error message when attempting to upload a PDF document, try this troubleshooting step:
Download Google Chrome
Open PDF in Google Chrome
Select Print option
Select Destination as Save as PDF
Click Save
Try re-uploading the file to the evidence submission form
💡We would also recommend clearing the cache and cookies on your browser. This can help make things run more smoothly
If you need assistance, please reach out to our support team via Support Chat or by emailing lmn-pay@graum.com
Need more help? Contact our Support Team by email at lmn-support@granum.com, through Live Chat, or by phone at (888) 347-9864
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