Item Not Received Chargebacks (Visa 13.1): What Evidence Merchants Need

Chargeback Evidence at a Glance

Before you assemble anything, know what each piece of evidence can and cannot prove. Merchants often submit a thick file where every document says the same weak thing.

Read the table as a stack, not a checklist. A file with the order record, a dated carrier history and a verified support conversation is far stronger than the same order record plus five screenshots of the tracking page. Each row is worth more when the dates and details match the rows around it.

What Visa 13.1 Is Actually Asking

Reason code 13.1 is the card network's label for merchandise or services not received. The cardholder's bank is not adjudicating whether your store is honest. It is comparing two accounts of the same transaction and deciding which one is better supported by records. That framing changes what you should send.

• It is a documentation contest, not a fairness contest

  The reviewer was not there. They see a cardholder statement and a merchant response. If your response is a tracking link with no explanation, they have very little to work with. If it is a dated narrative that walks from order to shipment to customer contact, they can follow it. Write for a stranger who has ninety seconds.

• The cardholder's claim is specific until you answer it

  "I never received it" can mean many things: the parcel went to a neighbor, the address was wrong, the tracking stalled, the customer moved, or the customer is disputing a purchase they made. Your evidence should address the most likely version of the claim rather than restating that you shipped something. If the carrier marked it delivered, say where and when and what happened next.

• Your own policies are part of the record

  Shipping windows, handling times and refund terms that were visible at checkout help show the customer knew what to expect. For stores shipping from overseas suppliers, a stated delivery window matters more than almost anything else, because a customer who expected 30 days and filed on day 12 looks different from one who waited past the window. See our guide to dropshipping customer support for how to set expectations that hold up later.

• Timing rules belong to your processor

  How long you have to respond, whether you can counter, and what happens at each stage depend on the network and the acquirer. These change. Check your processor's current timelines rather than trusting a blog post, including this one. Shopify's own documentation on chargebacks and inquiries is a reasonable starting point if you use Shopify Payments.

What Makes Evidence Credible

Credibility comes from four things: timestamps that line up, identity that was actually checked, the customer's own words in the record, and carrier events with dates attached. A document missing all four reads as a merchant asserting something. A document with all four reads as a record.

• Timestamps that agree with each other

  The order date, the fulfillment date, the first carrier scan, the delivery scan and the support conversation should form a sequence that makes sense. If the customer wrote in on the 4th, the label was created on the 6th and the delivery scan says the 2nd, something is wrong and the reviewer will notice. Export timestamps in one time zone and keep them consistent across every page of your file.

• Verified identity, not just a name on a form

  Anyone can type an order number. What strengthens a file is evidence that the person you spoke with could confirm details only the buyer would know, such as the ZIP code on the order or the email on file. A verification record is more persuasive than a chat log where the customer simply claimed an order number. Keep the verification step visible in the transcript you submit.

• The customer's own words, quoted

  A transcript where the customer says "the tracking has said 'in transit' for three weeks" is worth more than your summary of it. Reviewers weigh the cardholder's statements heavily; when those statements appear in your own records and are consistent with your account, the case changes shape. Do not edit or paraphrase. Attach the log.

• Carrier events with dates, not a status label

  "Delivered" on its own is a word. A dated scan history showing acceptance, transit, arrival in the destination city and a final delivery event, with the carrier's name and the tracking number on every page, is a record. Include the carrier's own tracking page or export if you can. If the last event is "label created," say so plainly instead of implying more.

Handling an Item-Not-Received Dispute Step by Step

This is the order that keeps a file coherent. Start as soon as you see the dispute, not the day before the deadline.

1. Read the reason code and the claim. Confirm it is 13.1 and note exactly what the cardholder said. The claim text tells you which version of "not received" you are answering. If the reason code is something else, do not answer it with delivery evidence.
2. Pull the order record first. Order number, date, items, amounts, shipping address, billing address if available, and the fulfillment record. This is the spine of the file. Everything else attaches to it.
3. Attach the full carrier history. Not a screenshot of a status badge. The dated event list, the carrier name, the tracking number and, if the carrier offers one, a delivery photo or signature. If delivery was recorded, note the exact date and time and whether it went to the address on the order.
4. Find every support conversation about this order. Search by order number and by the customer's email. Include the transcript with timestamps and any verification step. If the customer never contacted you before disputing, say nothing about it and let the records speak; do not invent contact.
5. Check your own policies against what happened. Did the order ship inside your stated handling window? Did it arrive inside the delivery estimate the customer saw? If you missed your own promise, the dispute may be one you should refund rather than fight.
6. Decide whether to fight or accept. If the carrier marked delivery to the correct address and you have a verified conversation, submit. If the parcel never moved past label creation, or the customer waited past your stated window, a refund is often the cheaper and more honest outcome.
7. Write a short cover summary. One page: order date, ship date, delivery event, what the customer reported, what you did, what the attached documents show. Put it first. Reviewers read the summary before the exhibits.
8. Submit before the deadline and keep a copy. Check your processor's current timelines for the response window and any counter-evidence stage. Save the exact PDF or file set you submitted, so a second dispute on the same order starts from a known record.

Mistakes That Weaken an Otherwise Good Case

Most lost item-not-received disputes are not lost on facts. They are lost on presentation, timing or a promise the merchant could not keep.

• Treating a tracking scan as proof of delivery

  "It says delivered" is the most common sentence in merchant responses and one of the weakest. It invites the obvious reply: delivered where, to whom? If you have only a scan, present it as a scan. Overstating your evidence costs credibility on the parts that are solid.

• Submitting screenshots instead of records

  Cropped phone screenshots with no visible date, order number or URL are hard to verify. Prefer exported PDFs or full-page captures that show the source. Every page should identify the order it belongs to.

• Ignoring the customer until the dispute arrives

  A customer who wrote three times and got no answer looks like a customer with a real problem. Even a short reply that acknowledges the delay changes the record. If your support volume makes that impossible, that is a staffing problem worth solving before it becomes a dispute problem; our guide to preventing chargebacks covers the front end of this.

• Refunding and fighting at the same time

  If you have already refunded the customer, do not submit delivery evidence as if the dispute were still live without checking with your processor. Mixed signals slow the case and can leave you out of pocket twice.

• Assuming every dispute is winnable

  Some are not. A chargeback for item delivered but not received, where the carrier marked delivery and the customer says the box was stolen from the porch, is often decided against the merchant no matter how tidy the file is. Know which cases to contest and which to absorb.

How rezlo Fits In

rezlo is a Shopify app that answers customers on storefront chat and on a real phone line, and it keeps the conversation record that item-not-received cases depend on. When a chargeback is filed, one click on a verified order produces a PDF evidence pack: the order record, fulfillment and tracking events, and the timestamped conversation log including the verification record. It is built for 13.1 cases, and it is evidence, not an outcome. rezlo does not promise to win disputes.

• The verification record is already there

  Before sharing any order detail, the chat agent asks for the order number plus a verification detail the merchant chooses, ZIP code by default or email. Verification is all-or-nothing and a failed match reveals nothing. That check is logged, so the file shows the customer was identified rather than assumed.

• The customer's own words are timestamped

  Chats and phone calls are recorded in the conversation log with times attached. When a customer says the tracking stalled, or that they never got the parcel, that statement exists in the record with a date. Phone calls can be recorded with a spoken notice if the store turns it on.

• The pack stays honest about what a scan means

  The dispute evidence pack presents fulfillment and tracking events as what they are. It does not claim a tracking event proves delivery. That restraint is deliberate: a file that overstates itself is easier to pick apart than one that states the facts and stops.

• Escalations land in front of a person

  Refund, cancellation and chargeback topics escalate to the merchant, with a ticket in the inbox and an instant Slack notification. rezlo never cancels, refunds or changes an order; it has no order-write permission on Shopify by design. You decide in Shopify. Plans start at $7.99/month with a 14-day free trial, and you can see the details on the pricing page or watch the product walkthrough.

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