Disputes & Chargeback Defense

When a customer disputes a charge with their bank, Stripe notifies Levy Fleets and gives you a window to submit evidence. The platform includes an automated chargeback defense system that compiles evidence from your rental data and submits it to Stripe — often without any manual intervention needed.

How Chargebacks Work

1. Customer contacts their bank — Claims a charge was unauthorized, fraudulent, or for a service not received
2. Bank files a dispute with Stripe — Stripe debits the disputed amount from your account
3. Levy Fleets receives the dispute — Via Stripe webhook
4. Evidence is compiled automatically — Rental agreements, GPS data, device fingerprints, payment history
5. Evidence is submitted to Stripe — Stripe forwards to the bank for review
6. Bank decides — Dispute is resolved as won (charge upheld) or lost (refund stands)

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Dispute Statuses

Stripe Status (from the bank)

Internal Response Status

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Automated Evidence Generation

The system automatically compiles a comprehensive evidence package for each dispute. This includes:

Customer Information

• Full name, email, phone number
• Account registration date
• Card last 4 digits and card brand

Signup Verification

• IP address at signup
• IP geolocation (city, region, country, ISP)
• GPS coordinates at signup

Device Fingerprint

• Device platform (iOS/Android)
• Device brand, model, and OS version
• App version and build number
• Device timezone and locale
• Screen resolution
• Device ID and fingerprint hash

Ride & Trip Data

• Total rides taken on the platform
• Total riding minutes and distance (km)
• Individual ride details: start/end times, duration, distance
• GPS coordinates for ride start and end locations
• Street addresses for ride start and end
• Vehicle numbers for each ride
• Parking proof photos (if available)

Payment History

• All Stripe charges: date, amount, card details, status, description
• Total amount spent on the platform
• Total successful charges
• Disputed charge amount and context
• Failed charge attempts (dates and counts)

Activity Logs

• Push notification history (title, body, type, timestamp, read status)
• Wallet transaction history (amounts, types, descriptions)

Signed Documents

• Rental agreement PDF (the exact agreement the customer signed)
• Customer signature image
• Signing timestamp and device information

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Evidence PDFs

The system generates two PDF documents for each dispute:

1. Customer Consent PDF

Contains the signed rental agreement with:

• Full agreement text
• Customer's digital signature
• Signing metadata (timestamp, IP, device, location)

2. Chargeback Response PDF

A comprehensive document containing:

• Customer identification and verification data
• All rides and trip details with GPS evidence
• Payment history proving prior successful transactions
• Device fingerprint proving the customer's device was used
• Push notification logs proving the customer received communications
• Wallet activity showing account engagement
• Fraud indicators (if any)

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Dispute Reasons

The system tailors its response based on the dispute reason:

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Processing Timeline

Disputes are not responded to immediately. The system uses a waiting period to allow for manual review:

1. Day 0 — Dispute received via Stripe webhook, status set to Pending
2. Day 1–7 — Waiting period for operator review. You can manually skip the dispute if you don't want to contest it.
3. Day 7+ — When response_due_at arrives, status moves to Ready for Response
4. Automated processing — The cron job picks up ready disputes, generates evidence, and submits to Stripe
5. Evidence submitted — Status moves to Evidence Submitted
6. Bank review — Typically takes 60–90 days
7. Resolution — Won or Lost

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Manual Controls

Skipping a Dispute

If you don't want to contest a specific dispute (e.g., you agree the customer deserves a refund), you can skip it:

1. Open the dispute in Dashboard → Disputes
2. Click Skip Auto-Response
3. Enter a reason for skipping
4. The dispute will not receive an automated response

Adding Custom Evidence

Before the automated response is sent, you can attach additional evidence:

• Custom photos or documents
• Email correspondence with the customer
• Additional context or explanations

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Dashboard View

The Dashboard → Disputes page shows all disputes with:

• Dispute amount and reason
• Customer name and associated ride
• Stripe status and internal response status
• Evidence submission status
• Response deadline countdown
• Win/loss outcomes

Filter by status to focus on disputes needing attention (Pending, Ready for Response) or review outcomes (Won, Lost).

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Special Cases

Balance Recovery Disputes

When a customer has an outstanding balance (e.g., from a failed charge after a ride) and the balance recovery charge is disputed, the response includes additional context about the original ride, the failed payment attempts, and the recovery charge justification.

Violation Charge Disputes

When a violation charge is disputed as a chargeback, the violation evidence (ticket photos, toll receipts) is included in the evidence package.