Chargeback SOP for small Shopify teams: a one-page routine that works

The dispute arrives on a Friday evening. Your support person is off, the owner is on a train, and the email sits in a shared inbox that three people assume someone else has read. On Tuesday the due date passes and the order is lost.

A chargeback SOP stops that story. It is a one-page standard operating procedure that says who sees a dispute first, who decides, who gathers the evidence, who submits it and who records the result. This guide gives you a chargeback SOP built for small Shopify teams of one to five people, with templates, a checklist and a plan to have it running within a week.

Last updated: 9 October 2026. Written by the ChargeFix team.

The 30-second answer (TL;DR)

• A chargeback SOP is a short written routine that gives every dispute an owner, a due date, a decision rule and a record. For a small team it fits on one page.
• The seven steps are intake, triage, decide, build the evidence pack, submit, record the outcome and review. Each step needs one named person, even if that person is you.
• Shopify gives a response window of 7 to 21 days, and after the due date nothing can be added. Put the due date in a shared calendar the day the dispute arrives.
• Your chargeback SOP should decide fight or refund with a simple rule: order value, strength of proof and cost of your time. A written rule removes the Friday evening debate.
• Your chargeback SOP should log every dispute, including wins. Winning does not remove a dispute from your chargeback rate, according to Shopify's help centre.
• Review the log monthly. Patterns by product, carrier, country or payment method tell you where to fix the process.
• General information, not legal advice. Some points are not covered in the sources we reviewed, such as the time zone of the due date and whether a submitted response can be edited. The post flags each one.

From dispute to decision

Stage	Who owns it	What they do	Output
Intake	Whoever sees it first	Log it and set the due date	A log row and a calendar entry
Triage	Dispute owner	Identify the type, value and proof	A one-line summary
Decision	Owner or delegate	Fight, refund or accept, using the rule	A dated decision
Evidence pack	Support or fulfilment	Gather proof, label it, strongest first	A pack ready to submit
Submit	Dispute owner	Send on the response form before the due date	A confirmation and a screenshot
Record	Dispute owner	Log the outcome, fee and cash effect	A closed row

What is a chargeback SOP, and why do small teams need one?

A chargeback SOP is a short written procedure for handling a dispute from the moment it arrives to the moment it is closed. Small teams need one because disputes have hard deadlines, many hands and no spare capacity. A written routine turns a scramble into five predictable tasks.

The word SOP sounds grand, but it only describes your dispute response process written down. It does not have to be. For a team of one to five, the best chargeback SOP is a single page with a table of owners, a checklist of steps and three templates.

Without a written dispute response process, three things happen:

1. Nobody owns the dispute. Everyone sees the email and assumes someone else is on it.
2. Deadlines slip. Shopify's help centre says that after the due date nothing can be added, and that if nothing is submitted, Shopify's tools prepare a response on the due date. That response is not the one you would have built yourself.
3. The same mistakes repeat. Without a log, you do not see that most of your disputes come from one carrier or one product.

A chargeback SOP is cheap to build and expensive to skip, and it is the best way to make your dispute response process repeatable. The rest of this post is the page itself, with the reasoning behind each line.

For the card side of how disputes work, read our Shopify chargebacks UK guide. This post is about the people and routine around it.

Who does what in a chargeback SOP for a small team?

In a chargeback SOP, name one dispute owner, one backup and one person per task. In a team of one, you are all of them, so write down the hats. In a team of three to five, split intake, evidence and finance, and always keep a named backup for holidays and sickness.

The table below is a starting point for the roles in your chargeback SOP. Swap the roles for the people you have.

Task	Owner	Backup	Notes
Watch the dispute inbox and admin	Support lead	Owner	Check twice a day, including weekends if you can
Log and set the due date	Whoever sees it first	Support lead	Do it the same hour
Triage and decide	Dispute owner	Owner	Use the decision rule
Gather evidence	Support or fulfilment	Dispute owner	Tracking, delivery proof, messages
Submit the response	Dispute owner	Owner	Two days before the due date
Record the outcome and fee	Finance or owner	Dispute owner	Match to the payout report
Monthly review	Owner	Dispute owner	One hour, same day each month

If you are a solo founder, the same table still helps. Write your name in every box, then add a trusted second person in the backup column, even if it is a part-time bookkeeper or a friend with admin access. A backup who has never done it is better than no backup, if your chargeback SOP is clear.

Three rules keep it working:

• One person owns each dispute from start to finish. Handovers happen in writing.
• Nobody refunds an order with an open dispute without checking first. How a refund interacts with an open dispute is not covered in the sources we reviewed, so ask your payment provider.
• The dispute owner submits. Anyone can gather evidence, but one person presses the button.

The chargeback SOP in seven steps

A complete chargeback SOP has seven steps: intake, triage, decide, build the evidence pack, submit, record and review. Each takes minutes if the previous one was done properly. The sections below give the checklist and wording for each step.

Step	Question it answers	Time target
1. Intake	Have we logged it and set the date?	Within 1 working hour
2. Triage	What type is it, and what is it worth?	Same day
3. Decide	Fight, refund or accept?	Within 1 working day
4. Evidence	What proof do we have?	Within 2 working days
5. Submit	Is it sent before the due date?	Two days before the due date
6. Record	What happened to the money?	Same day as the outcome
7. Review	What should we change?	Monthly

Print the table and stick it above the desk. A chargeback SOP only works if people can see it when the email arrives.

Step 1 of the chargeback SOP: how should intake, the chargeback log and deadlines work?

The first step of a chargeback SOP is to log the dispute and set the due date within an hour of seeing it. The log row needs the order number, amount, reason, due date and owner. Put the due date in a shared calendar with two reminders. Everything else can wait until the log row and the calendar entry exist.

Shopify's help centre says the response window is 7 to 21 days, depending on the dispute. That range is wide, so read the due date on the dispute itself. We did not verify the time of day or time zone of the due date, or how weekends and bank holidays are treated, so assume the earliest case and submit two days early.

Use this intake checklist:

• Open the dispute and note the reason and amount
• Copy the due date into the log and a shared calendar
• Add two reminders: three days before and one day before
• Assign the dispute owner in the log
• Note whether it is a chargeback or an inquiry
• Open the order and check for refunds already made
• Save the notice as a screenshot in the dispute folder

An inquiry is not the same as a chargeback. Shopify's help centre says an inquiry runs 65 to 75 days with no funds debited, and it can escalate to a chargeback with the fee. Log inquiries too, because they are early warnings and often easier to settle.

Your log can live in a spreadsheet. Use these columns:

Order number
Order date
Payment method
Amount
Reason given
Type (inquiry / chargeback)
Date received
Due date
Owner
Decision (fight / refund / accept)
Decision date
Evidence submitted (date)
Outcome (won / lost / pending)
Date decided
Fee
Notes

Step 2 of the chargeback SOP: how do you triage a dispute?

Triage in a chargeback SOP answers three questions: what is it about, what is it worth and what proof do we hold. Spend ten minutes on it. The output is a single line the owner can act on, such as "item not received, £130, signature on file".

Open the order and check the facts in this order: payment method, delivery status, refund status, customer messages and previous disputes. Shopify Payments auto-fills order, addresses, tracking, IP, refund records, order history and previous disputes on the response form, according to Shopify's help centre. Use that to save time, and check what is missing.

Reason	First thing to check	Typical proof
Item not received	Tracking and delivery proof	Signature or photo, address match
Not as described	Listing and messages	Photos, packing notes, customer messages
Unrecognised or fraud	Order data and 3D Secure	IP, address match, account history
Duplicate	Two payments on the account	Order records for each payment
Refund not processed	Refund record	Refund confirmation with date
Subscription cancelled	Cancellation timing	Timeline and terms

Successful 3D Secure shifts liability for fraudulent chargebacks only, according to Shopify's help centre, and UK and EU Shopify Payments has 3D Secure built in, used when the issuing bank requires it. So for fraud claims, check whether 3D Secure was used. For other reasons it does not decide the case.

For payment-method specifics, see our posts on Klarna disputes on Shopify UK and PayPal dispute vs chargeback. Their deadlines and routes differ.

Write the triage line in the log and move on.

Step 3 of the chargeback SOP: how do you decide whether to fight?

In a chargeback SOP, use a written rule based on order value, strength of proof and the time it takes. Fight strong cases over a threshold. Refund or accept small, weak ones. A rule removes the Friday evening debate and keeps decisions consistent across the team.

Here is a rule table to adapt. The thresholds are examples, so set your own.

Situation	Decision	Reason
Signature or photo, address matches	Fight	Strong, specific proof
Delivered scan only, order over £100	Fight, add messages and policy	Medium proof, enough at stake
No delivery event	Refund or reship	You cannot prove arrival
Order under £30, thin proof	Accept or refund	Your time costs more
Fraud claim with 3D Secure used	Fight	Liability may shift
Clear mistake on our side	Accept and fix the process	Honesty and speed
Customer already refunded, dispute still open	Check with your provider first	Not covered in the sources we reviewed

Write the rule in plain words, such as "We fight any case over £100 with signature or photo proof. We fight over £50 with tracking and messages. We refund under £30 if the proof is thin." Review the thresholds quarterly.

Remember the fee. Shopify's UK fee for card chargebacks is £10, charged by your bank and returned if you win. A lost dispute therefore costs the order, the goods and £10. See our guide to the Shopify chargeback fee in the UK for the detail.

Step 4 of the chargeback SOP: how do you build the evidence pack?

In a chargeback SOP, the evidence step is to gather proof that answers the stated reason, label each item and put the strongest first. Shopify's help centre prefers screenshots to external links. Send a short summary, then exhibits. Do not send everything you have, only what answers the complaint.

A good pack is short and ordered. Use this checklist:

• Order confirmation with the address the buyer used
• Carrier tracking as a screenshot, from collection to delivery
• Delivery proof: signature, photo or scan, with date and time
• Customer messages, from first contact to now
• Refund records and return scans, if any
• Policy pages as they stood on the order date, with the date
• A one-paragraph summary of the facts

Keep the summary factual and calm. Do not accuse the buyer. State dated facts and point to exhibits. Here is a template:

Order [ORDER NUMBER], £[AMOUNT], placed [DATE] by [BUYER NAME].

Summary: The order was dispatched on [DATE] with [CARRIER], tracking [NUMBER]. The carrier recorded delivery to [ADDRESS] on [DATE] at [TIME], with [signature of NAME / photo of the parcel at the address].

Exhibits, strongest first:
1. Carrier proof of delivery (screenshot dated [DATE])
2. Tracking history from collection to delivery
3. Order confirmation showing the delivery address
4. Our messages with the buyer from [DATE] to [DATE]
5. Our delivery and returns policy, published [DATE]

We ask the reviewer to consider the exhibits above and decide in our favour.

If you have not set up your policies yet, our shipping and delivery policy template and terms and conditions template give you the pages to cite. For what a carrier can show, read proof of delivery for Shopify chargebacks.

Evidence for carriers: Royal Mail captures a photo on delivery for Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 where no signature is needed. Evri offers a Digital Signature add-on with photographic proof, at 60p when we checked, and the price may change. We have not verified DPD's proof options.

Step 5 of the chargeback SOP: how do you submit and confirm?

In a chargeback SOP, submit on the order's chargeback response form at least two days before the due date. Take a screenshot of the submitted response and save it in the dispute folder. Shopify's help centre says nothing can be added after the due date and the result is final, so treat submission as one-shot.

We did not verify whether a submitted response can be edited before the due date, and we did not verify file types or size limits. Check the form when you respond and assume you have one chance.

Use this submission checklist:

• Read the reason and the due date on the dispute
• Re-read the summary for accuracy
• Check every exhibit is legible and labelled
• Remove anything that does not answer the complaint
• Submit on the response form, not by email
• Screenshot the confirmation
• Update the log row with the submission date
• Put a reminder in the calendar for the expected decision

If you accidentally accept a dispute, Shopify's help centre says a chargeback accepted in error can be un-accepted by contacting support before the deadline. Note it in your SOP so the team knows what to do.

The card company's review can take up to 75 days after submission, according to Shopify's help centre. Put a reminder at day 30 and day 60 so the dispute does not slip from memory.

Step 6 of the chargeback SOP: how do you record the outcome?

In a chargeback SOP, record the outcome the day it arrives: won, lost or withdrawn, the date, the amount returned and the fee. Match the cash effect to the payout report. Log wins as carefully as losses, because a won dispute still counts in your chargeback rate.

Shopify's help centre states that winning does not remove a dispute from the chargeback rate. So your log should include every dispute that was opened, whatever the result. Our guide to chargeback accounting and VAT in the UK covers the money side in more detail.

After a loss, ask one question: what would have changed the result? The answer is usually one of these:

1. We lacked delivery proof for that order value.
2. Our delivery estimate on the product page did not match the policy.
3. The buyer was never told our returns steps.
4. The product was damaged in transit and we had no photo evidence.
5. The carrier recorded a delivery scan but no photo.

Write the answer in the notes column. It is the raw material for your monthly review.

Step 7 of the chargeback SOP: what should the monthly review of your chargeback rate cover?

Look for patterns by product, carrier, country, payment method and reason. Check your chargeback rate and your win rate. Pick one fix for the coming month. One hour a month is enough.

Visa's merchant VAMP threshold is 1.5% from 1 April 2026, according to the Merchant Risk Council, and the ratio is fraud reports plus disputes over settled card-not-present transactions. We did not verify how every processor applies it, so check with your processor. For a small store, a handful of disputes in a quiet month can move the ratio, which is a reason to log early and to prevent rather than only respond.

Measure	How to calculate	What it tells you
Disputes this month	Count of rows opened	Volume
Chargeback rate	Disputes divided by card orders, as a percentage	Risk against thresholds
Win rate	Wins divided by decided disputes	Evidence quality
Time to respond	Date submitted minus date received	Process speed
Top reason	Most common reason	Where to fix
Top carrier or product	Highest share of disputes	Where it is going wrong
Net cost	Lost sales plus lost fees plus lost goods	The size of the problem

Ask these questions in the review:

• Which reason is most common this month?
• Which carrier or product shows up most often?
• How many were submitted two days early?
• How many were missed or late?
• What changed in the policies?
• Which one fix will we make this month?

Measure the dispute response process with only the numbers you act on. Three numbers and one fix is better than ten numbers and none.

Is writing the SOP worth the time? Two worked examples

Yes, a chargeback SOP is worth writing if you get even a handful of disputes a year. A written routine saves hours per dispute and prevents the missed deadline that turns a winnable case into a loss. Run the sums with your own numbers.

Both examples are illustrations with invented numbers. The arithmetic is checked.

Example 1: time saved by a chargeback SOP. A store handles 12 disputes a year. Without an SOP, each takes 2.5 hours of scattered effort. With one, each takes 1.5 hours. The team values its time at £25.00 an hour.

Case	Hours per dispute	Cost per dispute	Cost for 12
Without SOP	2.5	2.5 × £25.00 = £62.50	12 × £62.50 = £750.00
With SOP	1.5	1.5 × £25.00 = £37.50	12 × £37.50 = £450.00

The saving is £750.00 minus £450.00, which is £300.00 a year, plus the confidence of knowing who is doing what. The hours are invented. If your own times differ, the principle holds: a written routine cuts the time spent hunting for information.

Example 2: the missed deadline. A store has 15 disputes a year at an average of £95.00. Without calendar reminders, 2 are missed and lost. Each missed dispute costs the £95.00 sale and the £10.00 fee, which is £105.00. We assume Shopify's UK fee for card chargebacks is £10, charged by the bank and returned if you win.

Case	Missed	Cost per missed	Total
No reminders	2	£95.00 + £10.00 = £105.00	2 × £105.00 = £210.00
Reminders and backup	0	£0.00	£0.00

Those 2 missed cases cost £210.00 a year before counting goods. Some would have been lost anyway, but if even one was winnable, the SOP's calendar step has paid for itself. Both sums leave out the value of avoiding stress, which is real.

Choice	Best when	Watch for
Fight	Strong proof, order over your threshold	Time spent building the pack
Refund early	Small order, thin proof, fair complaint	Refunding an order with an open dispute
Accept	Clear mistake on your side	Recording the lesson

Day-by-day plan: your dispute response process from arrival to closed

In your chargeback SOP, treat the day of arrival as day one and the due date as your fixed point. Work back from it. The plan below assumes a 14-day response window, so adjust the days for your own due date.

Day	Task	Owner	Output
Day 1	Intake: log, due date, calendar, folder	First person to see it	Log row and reminders
Day 1	Triage: reason, value, proof	Dispute owner	One-line summary
Day 2	Decide: fight, refund or accept	Dispute owner	Dated decision
Days 2 to 4	Gather evidence and label it	Support or fulfilment	Draft pack
Day 5	Check for gaps, ask the carrier for anything missing	Dispute owner	Gap list
Days 6 to 8	Fill gaps, write the summary	Dispute owner	Final pack
Day 9	Second person reviews	Backup	Comments
Day 10	Submit, screenshot, update the log	Dispute owner	Submission confirmed
Day 14	Due date. Nothing can be added after this	None	Fixed
Day 30 and 60	Check for the decision	Dispute owner	Reminder actioned
Decision day	Record outcome, fee and cash effect	Finance or owner	Closed row

If the window is 7 days, compress the same steps: decide on day 1, gather on day 2, review on day 3, submit on day 4.

How do you set up the SOP in a week?

You can have a working chargeback SOP in a week, spending an hour or two a day. The plan below builds the page, the log and the calendar, and ends with a rehearsal so the first real dispute is not your first attempt.

Day	Task	Output
Day 1	List who handles support, fulfilment and finance, and who can access the payments admin	A roles list
Day 2	Create the log and the shared calendar, and add the reminder rules	A log and a calendar
Day 3	Write the decision rule and the thresholds	A one-paragraph rule
Day 4	Create the dispute folder structure and the evidence pack template	A template folder
Day 5	Write the one-page SOP using the seven steps	A printable page
Day 6	Rehearse with a past dispute: build the pack from scratch	A gap list
Day 7	Fix the gaps, share the SOP, set the monthly review date	A live chargeback SOP

Keep the dispute response process to one page. If it grows beyond two, nobody reads it. Put the details in the templates and the log.

What should your chargeback SOP say about handovers and holidays?

Your chargeback SOP should say who covers when the owner is away, how access is shared and how a dispute is handed over. Holidays are when disputes get missed. A written handover note and a named backup are the cheapest insurance in the whole routine.

Many small teams have exactly one person who understands the payments admin. If that person is away for ten days, a dispute with a 7-day window can arrive and expire without anyone noticing. The fix is not complicated:

1. Give the backup access to the payments admin and the dispute inbox before the holiday starts.
2. Forward notices to a shared address, not one person's inbox.
3. Write a handover note for every open dispute.
4. Tell the backup the decision rule so they can act.

Use this handover note:

Handover for dispute on order [ORDER NUMBER]

Reason: [REASON]
Amount: £[AMOUNT]
Due date: [DATE]
Decision so far: [FIGHT / REFUND / UNDECIDED]
Evidence gathered: [LIST]
Evidence still needed: [LIST]
Where the folder is: [LOCATION]
Who to ask: [NAME AND CONTACT]
Next step and date: [STEP, DATE]

Check that notifications work. We did not verify what email address receives dispute notices for every account setup, so test it by asking Shopify support or checking your admin settings.

What's different for UK merchants

This section is general information, not legal advice.

• Fee: Shopify's UK fee for card chargebacks is £10, charged by your bank and returned if you win. Other payment methods differ. PayPal's user agreement, as quoted in ombudsman decisions we read, allowed a £12 dispute fee.
• Response window: Shopify's help centre gives a range of 7 to 21 days. Read the actual due date on the dispute.
• Customer time limits: MoneyHelper describes chargeback as a voluntary card-scheme arrangement, usually claimed within 120 days. UK Finance gives the same period, counted from the transaction or the expected delivery, so keep your records for at least that long.
• Section 75: for credit card purchases between £100 and £30,000, the card company is jointly liable with the merchant. UK Finance says the time limit is six years.
• Consumer rights: the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give most distance buyers a 14-day cancellation right, with a refund due within 14 days of getting the goods back or evidence of return.
• Shopify Protect: it does not cover UK stores, so your own routine is the protection.
• Carriers: Royal Mail photographs Tracked 24 and Tracked 48 deliveries where no signature is needed. Evri offers a Digital Signature add-on at about 60p. We have not verified DPD's options.
• Weekends and bank holidays: we did not verify how they affect due dates. Submit early.

Common mistakes

1. Writing a chargeback SOP with no named dispute owner, so everyone assumes someone else is on it.
2. Reading the due date once and not putting it in a shared calendar.
3. Leaving the decision rule unwritten, so each dispute becomes a debate.
4. Keeping the chargeback SOP in one person's head instead of on a printed page.
5. Refunding an order with an open dispute without asking your provider first.
6. Skipping wins in the log, then miscounting the chargeback rate.
7. Sending a long story when the reviewer needs a short summary and clean exhibits.
8. Never reviewing the log, so the same carrier or product causes the same disputes month after month.

FAQ

What is a chargeback SOP?

A chargeback SOP is a short written procedure for handling a dispute from arrival to close. It names who logs it, who decides, who gathers evidence, who submits and who records the result, and it sets deadlines for each step. For a small team it fits on one page.

How do I build a chargeback SOP as a small team?

Build a chargeback SOP: name one dispute owner and one backup, log every dispute the same hour, put the due date in a shared calendar, decide with a written rule, build a short evidence pack and submit two days early. Record every outcome, including wins, and review the log monthly.

How long do I have to respond to a Shopify chargeback?

Shopify's help centre gives a response window of 7 to 21 days. Read the exact due date on the dispute. We did not verify the time of day or time zone, or how weekends and bank holidays are treated, so submit at least two days early.

What happens if nobody responds to a dispute?

According to Shopify's help centre, if nothing is submitted, Shopify's tools prepare a response on the due date, and after that nothing can be added. That response may not contain the evidence you would have chosen, so a calendar reminder and a backup person matter.

Should I fight every chargeback?

No. Fight when you hold strong proof and the order is worth the effort. Refund or accept small orders with thin proof, or where you made a mistake. A written decision rule keeps this consistent. Remember the £10 UK fee, returned if you win, and the cost of your time.

Do won disputes still count against my chargeback rate?

Yes. Shopify's help centre states that winning does not remove a dispute from the chargeback rate. That is why your log should include every dispute, whatever the outcome, and why prevention matters as well as winning cases. Add the line to your routine so the whole team records wins the same way.

Who should own chargebacks in a team of one?

You do, wearing several hats. Write each hat down: intake, triage, decision, evidence, submission, record and review. Then add a trusted backup with access, even if they only step in during holidays. The written routine matters more than the size of the team.

How often should I review disputes?

Monthly is enough for most small stores. Look at volume, chargeback rate, win rate, time to respond, top reasons and top carriers or products, then pick one fix. After a big change, such as a new carrier, review the following week as well.

What should I tell a new hire about disputes?

Give them the one-page SOP, the log, the decision rule and a past dispute to rehearse on. Tell them the first rule: log it and set the due date within an hour. Show where the evidence folder and the templates live.

Do I need software to run a chargeback SOP?

No. A spreadsheet, a shared calendar and a folder structure are enough. Software can save time on gathering evidence, but the routine matters more than the tool. Start with the one-page SOP, then decide whether a tool earns its place.

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ChargeFix helps Shopify merchants turn order and delivery evidence into a clear response, so your time goes to the order, not the paperwork. Start free trial and put it at the centre of your chargeback SOP.

Sources

• Shopify Help Center: Chargebacks and inquiries
• UK Finance: Chargeback and Section 75
• legislation.gov.uk: Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, explanatory note
• Financial Ombudsman Service decision DRN-5897525