When a client disputes a charge, answer with proof, not panic.
Banks decide chargebacks on evidence, and they give you days to produce it. AgencyGenie collects that evidence while you work, so the answer is already written when the notice arrives.
Most disputes are lost on paperwork, not on the work.
The work was delivered. The problem is that the agreement was a chat message, the approval was a phone call, and the delivery was a file sent from someone's personal account. None of that is evidence a bank can read.
What usually gets sent
- A quote in a PDF, unsigned
- Screenshots of a chat agreeing to the price
- A forwarded email with the files attached
- No record of what the client approved, or when
- Assembled by hand, under a deadline
What AgencyGenie already holds
- A signed scope of work with the signer and the time
- The card payment posted against that scope
- Every file the client uploaded, with dates
- Every stage approval, with version and timestamp
- Exported as one PDF when you need it
What the record contains.
The signed scope of work
What the client agreed to buy, for how much, with the signer, the date and the time.
The payment itself
The card payment through your own Stripe account, posted against that client and that scope.
What the client sent you
Every file, logo, manuscript, login or brief they uploaded, with dates.
What you delivered
Each delivered file and which version it was, kept with the task that produced it.
Every approval along the way
Each stage the client accepted in the portal, saved with who approved it, which version and when.
The whole conversation
Messages, project chat and call records kept with the project rather than on someone's phone.
AgencyGenie cannot promise you will win a dispute. Your bank or payment provider decides that. What it can do is make sure you have the record they ask for, without a scramble.
Agencies that take cards up front.
If a client pays a deposit by card before the work exists, you carry the dispute risk for months. Book writing and publishing agencies see it most, but anyone selling retainers or deposits to consumers has the same exposure.
Book writing & publishing
Large deposits, long projects, consumer clients and disputes that arrive months later.
See the setup → RecurringSocial media marketing
Monthly retainers charged by card, and arguments about what was approved.
See the setup → ProjectWebsites & ecommerce
Deposits taken before design starts, and projects that stall on the client.
See the setup → ProjectSoftware houses
Phase payments, change orders and arguments about what done meant.
See the setup →Chargeback questions.
What is a chargeback?
A chargeback is when a client asks their card issuer to reverse a payment instead of asking you for a refund. The bank takes the money back from your account while it investigates, and you have a short window to send evidence.
Can AgencyGenie guarantee I win a dispute?
No. Your bank or payment provider decides every dispute, and nobody can promise the outcome. What AgencyGenie does is make sure the evidence they ask for already exists and is easy to send.
What evidence do card networks usually ask for?
Typically proof that the client agreed to the purchase, proof the money was taken for that purchase, proof the work was delivered, and a record of your communication. AgencyGenie keeps all four as you work.
How do I send the evidence?
Export the trail for the client or the scope of work as one PDF and attach it to the dispute response in your payment provider's dashboard.
Does this work if the client never logged into the portal?
Yes. Proposals, approval requests and deliverables are sent by email as well as shown in the portal, so the record of what was sent and when exists either way.
Which payment providers does this cover?
AgencyGenie records payments taken through your own connected Stripe account. The evidence export is a document, so you can attach it to a dispute with any provider.
See the evidence trail on a real proposal.
Book a 30-minute walkthrough. We build a proposal with you, approve it as the client, and show you the record that comes out the other end.
