Dispute Evidence Report
4 min read
The Dispute Evidence Report is Pro’s print-ready, processor-ready behavioral risk report. When a dispute lands and you’re preparing the response evidence package, the report bundles everything TrustLens knows about the customer — trust score, all signals, full order history, return analysis vs store average, linked accounts, complete event timeline — into a single professional document you can submit to your processor as part of your dispute response. This page covers what’s in the report, when to use it, and how processors use the information.
What’s in the Report #
A typical Dispute Evidence Report is a single-page (sometimes multi-page for high-history customers) PDF with the following sections:
Header #
- Store name, address, contact
- Report generation date
- Dispute ID and date filed
- Order ID and order date
- Disputed amount and card brand
Trust Score Summary #
- Customer’s current trust score and segment
- Trust score at time of order (if different)
- One-line interpretation: “This customer’s score of 12 (Critical) places them in the lowest 5% of our customer base.”
Behavioral Signal Breakdown #
Every signal that contributed to the customer’s current score, with the contributing magnitude and human-readable reason. Example rows:
- “Return rate 67% (-40)”
- “90%+ full refunds — wardrobing pattern (-10)”
- “3 coupon orders refunded (abuse pattern) (-25)”
- “Linked to 3 other accounts (-30)”
Order History Summary #
- Total orders placed with your store
- Total order value
- Total refund count and value
- Cancellation history
Return Analysis vs Store Average #
A comparison table:
- This customer’s return rate vs your store-wide average
- This customer’s refund value vs your store-wide average refund value per customer
- This customer’s wardrobing ratio (full vs partial refunds) vs your store-wide
Helps a dispute adjudicator quickly see “this customer’s pattern is X standard deviations from your normal customer.”
Linked Accounts #
If the customer has linked accounts:
- Number of linked accounts
- Which fingerprint(s) produced the links (address, IP, payment, device)
- The risk segment of each linked account
Strong fraud-ring evidence when present.
Event Timeline #
Chronological list of significant events on the customer’s record from account creation through the disputed order:
- Each order placed (date, amount, status)
- Each refund (date, amount, full vs partial)
- Each coupon application (date, code)
- Linked-account detection events
- Card-testing events tied to the customer’s fingerprints
- Any prior disputes
Footer #
- TrustLens version and report version
- Methodology note: how the trust score is computed, link to documentation
- Statement that all data is generated from store-internal records
How to Generate #
Two paths:
From the Customer Detail Page #
- Open the customer’s profile
- Click the “Generate Dispute Evidence Report” button
- Select the specific dispute to focus on (if the customer has multiple)
- Click Generate — the PDF is produced and downloaded
From the Chargeback Monitor #
- Open the Chargeback Monitor page
- In the Top-Disputed Customers list, click the report icon next to any customer
- The report generates for that customer’s most recent open dispute
Reports take a few seconds to generate. PDF is downloaded immediately; nothing is stored on the server.
How Processors Use the Report #
Dispute adjudicators at card networks and processors evaluate evidence on three axes:
- Did the merchant deliver what was ordered? Standard evidence: tracking, signed delivery, etc.
- Does the customer’s claim hold up? Standard evidence: communications, refund policy, etc.
- Is there a pattern of bad-faith disputes? This is where the Dispute Evidence Report shines.
A customer’s behavioral history isn’t standard evidence — most merchants can’t provide it. The TrustLens report makes it possible, and adjudicators (especially at Visa and Mastercard) have signaled in dispute reason-code policy that behavioral patterns are increasingly considered.
For friendly-fraud disputes specifically (where the customer received the product and is claiming otherwise), behavioral history is the most compelling evidence available.
When to Use the Report #
Generate a Dispute Evidence Report for:
- Every friendly-fraud dispute on a Caution/Risk/Critical customer. Their behavioral pattern is the strongest argument.
- Disputes where the customer has prior disputes or refunds. Pattern evidence.
- Disputes connected to known fraud rings. Linked-accounts section is decisive.
- High-value disputes. The marginal effort is worth it for larger amounts.
Reports may not be necessary for low-value disputes or for clear product-issue disputes (where standard tracking/communication evidence handles the case). Save effort for cases where behavioral pattern matters.
Submitting the Report #
Each gateway has its own dispute response workflow. Generally:
- Stripe: Attach the PDF in the Stripe Dashboard’s Dispute Evidence section
- WooPayments: Similar to Stripe, via the WooPayments dashboard
- PayPal: Upload in PayPal’s Resolution Center
- Other gateways: Follow your gateway’s evidence-submission process
Submit the Dispute Evidence Report alongside (not instead of) standard evidence — tracking, communications, refund policy. The behavioral report is supplementary, not replacement.
Tone and Wording #
The report is written in factual, neutral language. It says “This customer’s return rate is 67%” rather than “This customer is a fraudster.” The methodology footer cites how the score is computed, so a reviewer can evaluate the credibility of the numbers.
Don’t edit the report before submitting — its authority comes from being a generated audit document, not a hand-crafted narrative. If you need to add narrative, attach a separate cover letter.
Privacy in the Report #
The report includes the customer’s email address, since dispute responses require customer identification. Other PII (full name, address) is included only when relevant to the case (e.g. for linked-accounts evidence). The report is intended for submission to your processor — not for sharing externally.
If a customer files a GDPR request after a dispute, any generated reports about them are subject to export. The reports themselves aren’t stored, but the underlying signal/event data is.
Win-Rate Impact #
Dispute win rates vary widely by industry, reason code, and store. Anecdotal data from Pro users: incorporating Dispute Evidence Reports into responses on behavioral-pattern-relevant cases improves win rates substantially for friendly-fraud and pattern-of-abuse claims. The mechanism: the report provides evidence adjudicators rarely see, shifting the burden of proof back toward the cardholder.
For cases where the dispute is legitimate (genuine product issue, fraud claim with no behavioral red flags), the report doesn’t help — and shouldn’t. The point isn’t to win every dispute; it’s to win the right ones.
