Client Initiated a Chargeback (Dispute)

If a client disputes a payment made through Healthie, it's important to understand how the charge-back process works and what steps you can take to respond. This guide outlines how charge-backs are handled, what actions are required from you as a provider, and how Healthie supports you through the process.

Understanding Client-Initiated Chargebacks

A charge-back occurs when a client disputes a charge directly with their bank, claiming that a payment made to your business is invalid. This dispute is handled between the client’s bank and your linked bank—meaning neither Healthie, nor Stripe can directly influence the final outcome.

However, Healthie leverages Stripe to help you navigate the dispute process. We can submit evidence on your behalf, display available dispute data, and track the status of the charge-back. While we help facilitate the process, the banks ultimately make the decision involved.

If your client initiates a charge-back, you'll have the opportunity to submit evidence to support the validity of the charge. If you do not take action, or if the dispute is resolved in favor of the client, the payment may be reversed and deducted from your future transfers.

Common reasons clients initiate a charge-back include:

• The cardholder does not recognize the charge and reports it as fraudulent (Note: charges through Healthie display your business name and/or the name of a purchased package).
• The cardholder claims they did not receive the services.
• The cardholder believes they canceled services and considers the charge unauthorized.

Notification of a Client-Initiated Dispute

To ensure you're notified of client-initiated charge-backs (disputes), please ensure the following settings are enabled:

1. Permission for Failed Payment Notifications must be turned on.
2. Email notifications for failed payments must be enabled in your personal notification settings.

Additionally, if you want to receive updates on the outcome of a dispute, you’ll need to have a specific permission enabled in your provider profile. If this permission isn’t turned on, you won’t receive the notification.

If you don’t have access to update this setting, an account owner or admin can make the change on your behalf.

For step-by-step instructions, refer to this guide:

[Deep Dive: Team Member Permissions]

If your client initiates a charge-back for a payment processed via Healthie, you will receive an e-mail notification with the next steps that you will need to take. 

Track and View Disputes within Healthie

When a client initiates a dispute, Stripe will pull in the dispute information on the backend, and Healthie will display it within your Payments > Disputes tab. Information displayed includes:

• Client name
• Provider associated with the charge-back
• Invoice ID (if an invoice was created in relation to this payment)
• Dispute amount
• Dispute reason
• Dispute status

Options for Managing a Dispute

Once a dispute has been initiated, the provider is unable to refund the charge back to the client. You may either accept the dispute, or fight the dispute and then refund the amount back to the client if you win.

When a charge is disputed, you have three options:

1. Accept the charge-back: If you accept the charge-back, please e-mail hello@gethealthie.com letting us know, so that we can let your bank know. 
   1. Our payment processor will withdraw the charge amount, plus the charge-back fee of $15 per transaction, from your bank account.
2. Contact your client to withdraw the charge-back: If you believe this is confusion on your client's part, we'll recommend you contact your client to call their bank to withdraw the charge-back, and email hello@gethealthie.com with written evidence that it is withdrawn. From there, you send that to us, and we submit it to our payment processor. 
   1. Once a dispute has been initiated, it is best to have your client call and cancel the dispute on their end, rather than having you run an additional, new charge. The reason for this is that the client's card may have already flagged your business. 
3. Submit evidence of services: If you would like to provide evidence of services, e-mail hello@gethealthie.com with:
   1. The client's e-mail address or their client ID
   2. A consolidated PDF of evidence you would like to share with the client's bank (e.g., a signed agreement or evidence of service provided). Recommended documents for submitting compelling evidence are listed below.
      1. There is a limited amount of time (usually 7–21 days) to respond with evidence. The time given depends on the card network. If you don't submit evidence by the deadline, the cardholder wins the dispute and keeps the funds.
   3. Once you do this, Healthie will submit this on your behalf to the client's bank. During this process, you will see that the funds, minus the charge-back fee of $15 per transaction, is withdrawn from your bank by our payment processor. When the process is resolved, if the client's bank resolves the dispute in your favor, you will receive the funds back in your account. 

We'll need a response from you on how to proceed, and will send you a reminder if needed.

Recommended Evidence to Contest the Chargeback

If you choose to dispute the charge-back, you will need to submit evidence to Healthie. This can be done by replying directly to the charge-back email notification. We recommend providing the following:

• Receipts 
• Last Active Date (found on the client's Overview page)
• Signed Financial Policy 
• Service Description
• Client Communication 
• Service Documentation 
• Shipping Information (if physical product)

Stripe only allows one document for each of their categories. If you would like to submit multiple attachments for the same document type, please combine them into one document. These documents must be under 5MB. Additionally, evidence usually needs to be under 19 pages (this can vary depending on the client’s banking institution).

They allow documentation that fit in the following categories:

• Customer Communication
• Customer Signature
• Duplicate Charge Documentation 
• Receipt
• Refund and Cancellation Policy
• Service Documentation
• Shipping Documentation 
• Credit Voucher 
• Government Order
• Terms Disclosure 
• Other

To help you resolve this dispute quickly and efficiently, we recommend you provide us with information.

Chargeback Resolutions

There are a few resolutions possible once a charge-back has been initiated:

• Dispute won: If you have submitted evidence and win a dispute (the bank has ruled in your favor) you will receive a deposit with the amount of dispute
• Dispute lost: If you have submitted evidence and you do not win a dispute (the bank has not ruled in your favor) money will not be returned to your account
• Dispute partially won: Sometimes the bank returns only part of the disputed amount to you. This may be because 1) they believe the cardholder is entitled to part of the amount, 2) they are accounting for a previous refund you made on the payment, or 3) if the credit card is in a different currency than the charge, exchange rates may have fluctuated during the review period. If this is the case, you will receive the partial payment deposited into your account, and you will see this transaction as expected as a deposit in your bank account.

You'll be notified via email of the dispute status, and you'll also be able to track the dispute within your Payments > Disputes dashboard.

Stripe's Policy on Dispute Fees

When a client initiates a charge-back, Stripe automatically charges a $15 dispute fee. This adjustment is made to cover the costs incurred by Stripe in managing disputes. As Healthie integrates with Stripe as our payment processor, Healthie customers incur any Stripe fees.

Regardless of a dispute outcome (won or lost) the $15 dispute fee will not be returned. This pricing policy change went into effect September 15, 2023 (please refer to Stripe documentation here).