Use this article to understand how disputes work in the Kustom Portal for every payment method: what the dispute statuses mean, how to accept or challenge a dispute, how refunds work during a dispute and when dispute fees apply.
What is a dispute?
A dispute happens when a customer contests a payment, usually through their bank, card issuer or a payment provider such as Klarna or Billie. Common reasons for a dispute include:
Goods not received. The item never arrived.
Return not processed. The customer returned an item but the refund was not issued.
Incorrect amount. A discount was not applied, or the invoice does not match the order.
Unrecognized or fraudulent charge. The customer does not recognize the charge or reports it as fraud.
Important: Kustom does not decide the outcome of a dispute. The decision is made by the financial institution or payment provider where the customer opened the dispute, for example their bank, card issuer or Klarna. The Kustom Portal is where you track, manage and respond to disputes across all payment methods.
Enquiries and chargebacks
Disputes in the Kustom Portal fall into two categories:
Enquiries. Early stage issues that have not become formal disputes yet. An enquiry does not cost you a fee unless it escalates to a chargeback.
Chargebacks. Formal disputes with financial consequences. You must submit evidence to avoid losing the chargeback automatically.
How long you have to resolve an enquiry before it escalates, and how long you have to submit evidence on a chargeback, depends on the payment method. See the payment method articles at the bottom of this page for exact timelines.
Dispute statuses
The table below explains each dispute status in the Kustom Portal, whether it is an enquiry or a chargeback and whether you need to act:
Status | Type | Description |
| Enquiry | The enquiry is open. You do not need to respond in the Kustom Portal, but you may need to act directly, for example by refunding the order or contacting the customer. If the enquiry is not resolved, it may escalate to a chargeback. |
| Enquiry | The enquiry is closed. No action is needed. |
| Chargeback | The chargeback is open and you need to act. Accept it, or submit evidence before the deadline to avoid losing it automatically. |
| Chargeback | You have submitted evidence and the payment provider is reviewing it. No further action is needed. |
| Chargeback | The chargeback is closed and you lost. |
| Chargeback | The chargeback is closed and you won. |
Finding a dispute in the Kustom Portal
Open the Kustom Portal and select Disputes in the menu to the left.
Make sure the correct store (Merchant ID) is selected, especially if you manage several stores.
Use the Response required tab to see disputes that need action, or switch to Under review, Does not need response, Closed or All.
To find a specific dispute, search by order ID, merchant reference or dispute ID.
Open disputes are also shown on the Kustom Portal home page. Clicking a dispute card takes you straight to the Disputes page. To get email alerts for new disputes, turn on dispute notifications in your notification settings. See User Preferences. To share the work in your team, see How to assign disputes in the Kustom Portal.
Responding to a dispute
You can either accept a dispute or challenge it.
Accept a dispute
Accepting a dispute means you agree with the customer's claim. The customer is refunded the full disputed amount and the dispute closes.
Challenge a dispute
To challenge a dispute with evidence:
Open the dispute and click Counter dispute.
Select the reason you believe you should win the dispute, then click Next.
Upload your supporting evidence. Items marked Recommended are the most effective for that dispute type.
Review your response, tick the verification checkbox to confirm it is accurate and click submit.
Once you submit, the dispute moves to Under review and the payment provider reviews your evidence before making a final decision. After submitting, you can no longer accept the dispute or add more evidence.
Counter dispute error messages
If your counter dispute cannot be submitted, the form shows one of the errors below. Each error includes a correlation ID that you can share with Kustom support if the problem continues.
DISPUTE_DATA_VALIDATION_FAILED. Required information is missing or invalid. Check that all required fields in the form are filled in.
DISPUTE_DEADLINE_PASSED. The deadline to respond has passed, so the dispute can no longer be countered.
DOCUMENT_EXCEEDS_PAGE_LIMIT. The evidence file is longer than 20 pages. Upload a file with 20 pages or fewer.
DOCUMENT_IS_EMPTY. The evidence file is empty, or no file was attached. Attach at least one valid file.
DOCUMENT_IS_NOT_VALID_PDF. The PDF could not be read. It may be corrupted or contain unsupported content. Try uploading a different file.
The maximum evidence file size is 4 MB. Files over this limit show a size error in the counter dispute form as soon as you add them.
Managing refunds during a dispute
You cannot refund an order from the order drawer while it has an open dispute in Response required status. Handle the refund from within the dispute instead:
Full refund. If the customer is owed the full disputed amount, accept the dispute. This refunds the customer automatically.
Partial refund. State the correct amount in your response and include supporting evidence, for example proof that only part of the order was returned.
Ask the customer to withdraw. If the customer is satisfied after a refund, ask them to withdraw the dispute before it reaches its escalation deadline.
Dispute outcomes
Won. The payment provider ruled in your favour. You see a reversal correction on your next payout.
Partially won. The payment provider decided the customer was entitled to a partial refund. The exact amount is shown in the dispute timeline.
Accepted. You accepted the dispute and the customer was refunded the full disputed amount.
Lost. The payment provider ruled in the customer's favour and the customer was refunded the full disputed amount.
All dispute outcomes are final.
Refunding an order after a dispute closes
When a dispute is accepted, lost or partially won, the disputed amount is refunded to the customer automatically and deducted from your next payout. Before you refund the same order yourself, check how much the dispute already covered:
The dispute covered part of the order. You can still refund the rest of the order separately.
The dispute covered the full order amount. You cannot refund the order again, as there is nothing left to refund.
Your refund overlaps with the dispute. The customer receives the overlapping amount twice, and you lose it twice.
Example: Your order is 200 SEK. A dispute for 100 SEK is opened and lost, so 100 SEK is refunded to the customer automatically. If you then also refund 100 SEK yourself, the customer gets 200 SEK back in total, the full order value, across two separate refunds.
Before refunding a disputed order: Open the dispute timeline to see how much has already been refunded through the dispute, and only refund the amount still outstanding.
Evidence guidelines for every dispute
Payment providers review disputes strictly. The outcome is based on whether your evidence clearly proves what happened, not on explanations alone.
Strong evidence connects the customer, the purchase and what happened next. It should include specific, verifiable details such as the customer's name, order reference, dates, delivery address, tracking information and proof that the goods or service were provided as described. If any of these links is missing or unclear, the dispute is usually lost, even if you are in the right.
You can only submit evidence once per dispute. After you upload it, you cannot add more information or respond again. If you miss the deadline, the dispute is automatically marked as lost.
The evidence each payment provider expects and the accepted file formats differ by payment method. See the payment method articles below.
Dispute fees
No fee while a dispute is open. You are not charged when a dispute opens.
Fee only if you lose. A dispute fee is charged when a dispute closes as lost.
No fee if you win. If you win a dispute, no fee is charged.
The dispute fee amount depends on the customer's country and the payment method. See the payment method articles below for exact amounts.
For disputes opened before 12:48 CET on 2 December 2025, a different fee structure applied: the fee was charged when the dispute opened and reimbursed if you won. Disputes opened from that time onward follow the structure described above.
Disputes by payment method
Each payment method has its own dispute timelines, evidence requirements and fees: