ChargebackDesk · Guides · Credit not processed

Responding to a Stripe "credit_not_processed" dispute

The customer says a refund was promised — or owed — and never arrived (in our mapping: Visa 13.6/13.7, Mastercard 4860 — check the code Stripe shows on your dispute). This category has exactly two winnable stories. Your first job is deciding, from records, which one is true. There is no third story, and telling both at once loses.

The two stories

Story A — the refund WAS processed. Prove it with the refund record: refund ID, amount, timestamp, dated before the dispute. This record is nearly the whole case; lead with it and say so in the first sentence of your narrative.
Story B — no refund was owed, and the request was properly denied. Prove it with the refund policy as shown to the customer, how and when it was disclosed, and the written denial tied to a specific clause and the facts of this case.

Story A — check Stripe's own option first. Where the charge was fully refunded through Stripe before the dispute, Stripe's Smart Disputes can build the refund defense for you, with no Smart Dispute fee, where Stripe offers it — whether a dispute qualifies is Stripe's call, so check the dispute in your Dashboard. When Stripe submits through Smart Disputes, there's no countered fee either. If Stripe offers it on your dispute, you may not need a packet from anyone, including us.

If neither story is true — a refund was promised and never sent, or support said yes and finance shows nothing — the cardholder is right. Don't fight it: accept the dispute in Stripe. The customer already has the money back through the dispute, and Stripe doesn't allow a refund outside the dispute process while it's open. If this is still an inquiry (warning_needs_response) rather than a chargeback, the answer is different: issue the full refund now — that resolves an inquiry with no Stripe dispute fee, and accepting an inquiry doesn't resolve it.

Deadline rules

The authoritative deadline is the evidence due-by date on the dispute in Stripe. If you don't respond by then, you automatically lose the dispute. Submit at least 72 hours early.
Amex/Discover may start as inquiries (warning_needs_response); unanswered Discover inquiries can become unchallengeable disputes.

What evidence wins

(Story A) The refund record — Stripe refund ID, amount, timestamp, pre-dating the dispute.
(Story B) Policy as-shown + disclosure + written denial — all three, together. Any one missing and Story B collapses.
(Either story) The complete refund-request thread — or its documented absence, with the systems searched and date range stated.
Exact math. If the refund was partial, show the proration: amounts must reconcile exactly, or the packet doesn't ship. An unexplained partial credit reads as an admission.

The minimum checklist

ME-C1 — the true story is determined from records before anything is written.
ME-C2 (Story A) — refund ID, amount (matches, or documented proration), timestamp pre-dating the dispute.
ME-C3 (Story B) — policy as-shown + disclosure + written denial referencing the policy.
ME-C4 — refund-request communication (or documented absence) characterized with a search basis.

Common mistakes that lose winnable cases

Hedging both stories. "We refunded it, and also no refund was owed" tells the issuer at least one is false.
Guessing about a refund you can't explain. If a refund object exists in Stripe and nobody can say what it is, verify against the records before submitting anything. Never guess.
Claiming Story B without the as-shown policy. A policy page you edited last month doesn't prove what this customer agreed to.
Sending internal finance chatter. Internal emails and chat logs are not evidence. The refund record and the customer-facing thread are.
Fighting instead of accepting. When the refund was genuinely owed and never processed, every day spent drafting a response is wasted — accept the dispute in Stripe. The dispute has already returned the money to the customer, so don't send the refund as well.

Answering an inquiry? Amex and Discover can open a case as an inquiry (warning_needs_response) before any chargeback. Answer it with your narrative plus the single deciding document — the refund record (Story A) or the policy capture (Story B). Don't leave it unanswered: an unanswered Discover inquiry can escalate into a dispute you can't challenge. If the refund was owed and never sent, a full refund resolves an inquiry with no Stripe dispute fee; accepting an inquiry doesn't resolve it.