> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.suby.fi/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Disputes & Chargebacks: Overview

> What a dispute is, why it's fundamentally a customer-relationship problem, and how favoring refunds keeps you off Suby's monitoring thresholds.

<Note>
  A **dispute** (chargeback) isn't just a refund. It's a formal complaint filed with the card network. This guide walks through how Suby watches your dispute rate, what it costs you when one is opened, and how that risk is shared between you and Suby depending on whether you run **Merchant of Record (MoR)** or **PayFac**.
</Note>

## What counts as a dispute

A dispute is opened when a cardholder contacts their **issuing bank**, not you, not Suby, to reject a charge: fraud, "I didn't authorize this," "I canceled and was still billed," "goods/services not as described." The issuer pulls the funds back immediately and the amount is provisionally reversed. You can **represent** the case with evidence, but the dispute itself has already been counted against your rate, win or lose.

This is different from a **refund**, which you or Suby initiate voluntarily before the cardholder escalates. A timely refund never touches your dispute rate. A dispute always does, even one you go on to win.

## It's a customer relationship before it's a ratio

Almost no dispute starts as fraud. It starts as a customer who didn't get what they expected, couldn't find how to cancel, or didn't recognize the charge, and calling their bank felt faster than dealing with you. By the time it's a dispute, they've already given up on reaching a human on your side.

That's why the single biggest lever on your rate isn't a setting or a policy document. It's how easy you make it to get a refund **before** the customer picks up the phone. A refund is always the cheaper, faster, and more repairable outcome, for both of you.

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="You refund" icon="circle-check">
    * No dispute fee
    * Doesn't touch your 0.7 / 0.9 / 1.0% thresholds at all
    * Resolved in minutes. The customer often stays a customer
    * **You** stay in control of the outcome
  </Card>

  <Card title="It becomes a dispute" icon="circle-xmark">
    * \$25 (Visa), \$50 (Mastercard) fee, win or lose
    * Counts against your rate immediately
    * The relationship already broke: they chose their bank over you
    * The **issuer** decides the outcome, not you
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

<Tip>
  **Rule of thumb:** the cheapest chargeback is the one that never happens because you refunded first. A generous, visible refund policy and a support team that responds fast aren't just good customer service. They're your most effective dispute-prevention tool, well ahead of anything technical.
</Tip>

A few habits go a long way: make refunds and cancellation self-serve wherever you can, respond to support requests before a customer has time to get frustrated, and if something breaks on your end (an outage, a billing bug, a delayed delivery), proactively refund or credit the affected customers rather than waiting for them to notice and complain.