What it means
The dispute doesn't fit any of Stripe's other categories. Stripe shows the reason General and says it should be fairly rare for card payments. The network code tells you more. For online businesses it's often a processing claim, such as Visa 12.5 (Incorrect Amount), Visa 12.1 (Late Presentment), Visa 11.3 (No Authorization), Mastercard 4808 or American Express P07 (Late Submission).
Stripe's first advice for General disputes is to contact the customer and find out why they disputed.
Read the claim first
Open the dispute in your Stripe Dashboard and read the documents from the bank. They often include the cardholder's own description of the complaint, which tells you what you're answering:
- A different amount than agreed. Show the price at checkout, any taxes or currency conversion, and the invoice.
- A charge taken long after the purchase. Show when the payment was authorised and captured.
- No valid authorisation. Show the authorisation for the payment, which Stripe has.
- A complaint about the product or service. Answer it like a Product unacceptable dispute: description, usage and your replies.
What wins it
There's no fixed checklist, so match the evidence to the claim:
| Claim | Evidence | Stripe field |
|---|---|---|
| Wrong amount | Checkout price, invoice and tax or currency details | uncategorized_text, uncategorized_file |
| Product complaint | Description, usage, your replies | product_description, access_activity_log, customer_communication |
| Unknown | Your conversation with the customer, and a summary of the purchase | customer_communication, uncategorized_text |
Whatever the claim, explain it plainly and briefly: who bought what, when, for how much, and what they did with it.
What doesn't work, and when to accept
- A generic evidence pack that doesn't address the actual complaint.
- Guessing. If you can't tell what the claim is, contact the customer before you submit; you only get one submission.
If the claim is right, such as a charge for the wrong amount, accept the dispute. Don't refund separately as well: the bank has already returned the money.
How Flatfight handles it
Flatfight builds a general response from everything it has: the receipt and invoice from Stripe, the customer's usage, your refund policy and their messages. Review it against the bank's claim before you submit, because General disputes rarely follow a pattern.
FAQ
How do I find out what the customer is claiming?
Open the dispute in Stripe and look for the documents from the issuing bank. If there are none, ask the customer directly, and keep a record of the conversation.