The evidence Stripe wants when a customer disputes a purchase
Prepare a compact record of delivery, communication, consent and usage before a dispute arrives.
A customer opens a dispute a month after buying your workshop. The payment looked normal, the customer received access and you have exchanged several friendly messages. Now Stripe asks you to explain what happened, often within a limited response window. The useful evidence is not a long defence written in a hurry. It is a compact record showing what was bought, what the customer agreed to, how you delivered it and what happened afterwards.
Start with the transaction, not the story
When a dispute arrives, begin with the payment itself. Record the transaction reference, payment date, amount, currency, customer name and email address, and the product or service attached to the payment. If the customer bought a bundle, name every included item rather than using a vague label such as “digital purchase”. The aim is to let someone match your evidence to the disputed payment without guessing.
Keep the product page or checkout description that applied at the time of purchase. It should show what the customer was promised: the format, contents, delivery method, access period, important conditions and any cancellation or refund wording. A current product page may have changed, so save a dated copy of the relevant text in your own records. This is particularly important when you update a course, membership or coaching offer after people have bought it.
Build a delivery record
- 1Identify the delivery method: download link, course access, membership access, community invitation, webinar details or scheduled coaching call.
- 2Record when access or instructions were sent, and the email address or account to which they were sent.
- 3Keep the relevant confirmation email, receipt, download page or welcome message.
- 4If the product is delivered in stages, list each delivery event separately rather than treating the whole order as one event.
- 5Add any customer reply confirming receipt, asking a product question or discussing how they used the material.
The evidence should describe delivery in a way that a person outside your business can understand. “Fulfilled” is less useful than “the customer received the course welcome email on 14 March and signed in to the first module on 15 March”. For a download, keep the access event or download record if your tools provide one. For a live service, keep the booking confirmation, meeting details, attendance record or follow-up message.
Show consent and the customer’s understanding
A dispute may involve a customer saying they did not authorise the payment, did not recognise the business or did not receive what they expected. Your response can address those questions with the records you already collect: the checkout email, billing details, order confirmation, product title and the terms shown before purchase. Do not present more personal data than is necessary. Share the relevant record, not an entire customer file.
| Question to answer | Useful record |
|---|---|
| What did the customer buy? | The dated product or checkout description, price, currency and order reference |
| How did they agree to the purchase? | Checkout record, order confirmation and the terms or policies shown at purchase |
| Where was it delivered? | Delivery email, account invitation, download event or booking details |
| Did the customer receive or use it? | Access, attendance, download or course activity records, where available |
| What happened after the purchase? | Support emails, refund discussions, rescheduling messages and your resolution offered |
Include usage without overstating it
Usage can help explain that access was available and that the account interacted with the product. For a hosted course, this might be module access or lesson progress. For a membership or community, it might be a sign-in or participation record. For a coaching call, it might be the scheduled appointment and attendance. For a digital download, it might be a download event. Treat these records as supporting evidence, not automatic proof that the customer was satisfied or that the payment was authorised.
Write the response in a short timeline. For example: the customer purchased on one date; the confirmation and access instructions were sent on another; the customer accessed the material or attended the service; they contacted you about a specific issue; you offered a stated next step. Attach only the documents that support those sentences. A clear sequence is easier to review than a folder of unrelated screenshots.
Make your records easier to maintain
Create one dispute folder or record for each order, using a consistent name such as the payment reference and purchase date. Save the offer, order details, delivery record, usage evidence and correspondence in that order. Keep dates and times visible, and note the time zone when it could affect a live event or deadline. Do not edit a message or screenshot to make it look cleaner; preserve the original and add your explanation separately.
A storefront can reduce the number of places you need to check. With store.fan payments, money goes straight to your own Stripe account, while Stripe’s own processing fee still applies. If you sell files, digital downloads can keep the product and delivery path together. For teaching, hosted online courses give you a clearer place to organise access and course activity.
What to do before you have a dispute
- Review your product pages and make the offer, format, access rules and refund terms easy to find before payment.
- Send a useful confirmation message that names the product and explains the next step, rather than sending only a generic receipt.
- Use a support address that you monitor, and keep replies attached to the relevant order.
- Check that a customer can reach the promised file, course, booking or community after buying.
- Export or retain the records your tools provide before changing a product, closing an account or moving systems.
- Check Stripe and your storefront regularly so you do not miss a dispute notification or response deadline.
Submit enough to answer the dispute reason and establish the timeline, but avoid a large bundle of unrelated material. A concise transaction record, product description, delivery proof, relevant usage record and customer correspondence is usually easier to assess than dozens of screenshots.
No. It can support the claim that access was delivered or used, but it does not by itself prove who made the payment or resolve every possible dispute reason. Match each piece of evidence to the question it actually answers.
No platform can remove the possibility of disputes. store.fan can give you a storefront for selling and, on paid plans, features such as email marketing and customer tools, but you still need accurate offers, responsive support and organised records.
Set up a storefront with a clearer path from payment to delivery on store.fan.
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