⚖️ Money & Payments

Chargeback & Dispute Handling

When a customer disputes a charge, Freebo has the paper trail ready.

Shipped February 5, 2026

✦ Key takeaways

  • Chargeback notifications from Stripe are surfaced in Freebo’s dashboard automatically — you don’t need to log into Stripe to find out about disputes.
  • Every piece of evidence a bank needs to evaluate a chargeback dispute is stored on the reservation: confirmation, quote, payment details, and signed waiver.
  • Whether the dispute is won or lost, the outcome posts to the accounting ledger so your books stay accurate.

Chargebacks are rare in tour and charter operations — but when they happen, they’re stressful and time-sensitive. You typically have 7–10 days to respond to Stripe with evidence, and if you can’t locate the booking confirmation, the payment record, and the waiver fast enough, you lose by default.

Freebo stores the evidence automatically. Because every booking flows through Freebo’s booking engine, the full paper trail exists by the time the customer’s card is charged: the immutable quote version, the Stripe payment confirmation, the waiver signature record, and the reservation details.

When Stripe sends a dispute webhook, Freebo:

  1. Creates a dispute record linked to the original reservation
  2. Assembles the evidence package from the reservation’s records
  3. Surfaces the dispute in the operator dashboard with the response deadline

Responding to a dispute

  1. Dispute appears in your dashboard

    Freebo receives the Stripe dispute webhook and creates a dispute record. You see it in the Disputes section with the deadline and the disputed amount.

  2. Review the evidence package

    Freebo assembles the reservation confirmation, quote details, payment receipt, and signed waiver (if applicable) into a single evidence view.

  3. Submit your response

    You can add a rebuttal statement and submit the evidence package to Stripe directly from Freebo — no need to switch to the Stripe dashboard to upload files.

  4. Outcome posts to ledger

    When Stripe issues a ruling, the outcome (dispute won or charge reversed) posts to Freebo’s ledger as a chargeback event so your accounts stay current.

Does Freebo automatically submit evidence to Stripe, or do I have to do that?
Freebo assembles the evidence and shows you a preview, but you review and submit it. Automatically submitting dispute evidence without operator review would risk submitting an incomplete or incorrect response.
What happens to my payout if a dispute is open?
Stripe puts a hold on the disputed amount while the case is open. Freebo's ledger reflects this hold so your reported balance stays accurate. When the dispute resolves, the held amount is either returned to you (dispute won) or deducted as a chargeback (dispute lost).