How to use customer contact in your response
- Search every channelEmail, chat, social messages and order notes for this customer and order.
- Record what you findEach message, its date and your reply, or the fact that there was none.
- Show how they could reach youYour contact page and the policy shown at checkout.
- Tie it to the reason codeFor Mastercard 4853 or Visa 13.3, show the cardholder didn't give you the chance to fix it; for fraud codes, focus on proof they made the purchase.
When contact or a return is expected
- Mastercard 4853 Cardholder Dispute: the cardholder must have tried to resolve it with the merchant, so show your response to them, or that none was asked for.
- Visa 13.3 Not as Described: the cardholder generally must have tried to return the goods first.
- Visa 13.6 and 13.7: the issuer generally waits 15 days after the credit receipt, return or cancellation date before filing, which leaves time to issue a credit that is owed.
When it isn't
Fraud claims such as Visa 10.4 are about who authorized the payment: the cardholder says it wasn't them, so there was nothing to contact you about. A not-received claim (Visa 13.1) can't be raised before the expected delivery date, or 15 days after purchase if none was given, but it doesn't require a message to you first.
Example: straight to the bank
A customer disputes a $75 order as not as described (Mastercard 4853) without ever writing to the store. The helpdesk shows no message and no return request. The response says so, attaches the contact page and the return policy shown at checkout, and leads with the product page as the customer saw it. "The customer never contacted us" on its own, without those records, adds little.
Reason codes this answer covers
- Mastercard 4853: Cardholder Dispute: sometimes winnable
- Visa 13.3: Not as Described or Defective Merchandise/Services: sometimes winnable
- Visa 10.4: Other Fraud: Card-Absent Environment: sometimes winnable
- Visa 13.1: Merchandise/Services Not Received: often winnable
More questions
Can I win a chargeback because the customer never contacted me?
Rarely on that alone. It helps when the reason code expects contact or a return attempt, such as Mastercard 4853 or Visa 13.3, and you can show the channels they could have used. For fraud codes it doesn't answer the claim; proof that the cardholder made the purchase does.
Do customer messages count as chargeback evidence?
Yes. Stripe recommends keeping a record of all communication with the customer because it becomes evidence, and the reason-code playbooks list customer messages for most claims: receipt acknowledged, a return offered, or a cancellation request, or the lack of one.
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Sources
- Shopify Help Center: Chargeback process (checked October 5, 2026)
- Mastercard Chargeback Guide, Merchant Edition (13 May 2025) (checked October 5, 2026)
- Visa Core Rules and Visa Product and Service Rules (18 April 2026), Chapter 11 Dispute Resolution (checked October 5, 2026)
- Stripe Docs: Respond to disputes (checked October 16, 2026)
Last reviewed by Verdikx Research.