How ChargeFix works: nine steps from notice to decision

A dispute notice lands in your Shopify admin on a Tuesday. There is a due date, a $15 fee already taken and a customer who says an $88 order never arrived. You have two ways to spend the next hour: gather the tracking, the emails and the policy yourself, or let software do the gathering and keep your hour for the decision. If you are weighing the second, you probably want to know exactly what happens between "dispute opens" and "evidence submitted".

This guide shows how ChargeFix works, one step at a time, from installing the app to the day the bank decides. It also says what the tool does not do, where you stay in control, how plan limits count filings and how to tell in your first week whether it fits your store.

This guide is for you if:

You use Shopify Payments, get disputes and want to see the process before you install anything.
You are comparing chargeback apps and want a plain account of what each stage involves.
You want to know where you decide, where the tool decides and where neither of you does.

Last updated: 30 October 2026. Written by the ChargeFix team. Reviewed against sources on 30 October 2026.

A note on bias: we make ChargeFix, so we gain if you try it. This guide describes what the product does and what Shopify's process requires, and it names the limits as plainly as the features. Dollar figures in the worked examples are assumptions, not customer results. We do not publish a win rate for ChargeFix, because the product is new and has no public reviews yet.

The 30-second answer (TL;DR)

ChargeFix is a chargeback evidence app for Shopify Payments merchants. When a dispute arrives, it reads the order and related records, checks the evidence item by item, scores its strength, says whether the case is worth fighting and drafts a letter from your real records.
Manual mode is the default: nothing goes to the bank until you review and approve it. Automatic mode is available on Starter and above.
It works only with Shopify Payments. It does not prevent disputes, send pre-dispute alerts or cover Stripe direct, PayPal or other processors.
Customer data is read during review and is not saved.
Plans are flat: Free with 2 filings, Starter at $19 for 25, Growth at $49 for 100 and Scale at $99 for unlimited, with a 14-day trial on paid plans. It never takes a cut of what you win.
A dispute counts as one filing the first time its evidence is saved or filed, and usage resets on the 1st of each month.

Quick note: The tool does the gathering, checking and drafting. You do the deciding. Evidence is final once submitted, so the one step we never want skipped is the human look before it goes out.

At a glance

Stage	What happens	Who does it
1. Install	App is added from Shopify and permissions are approved	You
2. Dispute opens	Shopify Payments records the dispute and sets a due date	Shopify
3. Read	ChargeFix reads the order and related records	ChargeFix
4. Check	Evidence is checked item by item against the dispute reason	ChargeFix
5. Score	Strength score and worth-fighting verdict	ChargeFix
6. Draft	Letter written from your records	ChargeFix
7. Review	You edit, approve or accept the dispute	You
8. Submit	Evidence goes to the bank and becomes final	You (or Auto mode on Starter and above)
9. Decision	Card company rules, up to 75 days after you submit	The bank

How ChargeFix works, step by step

The sequence below follows one dispute from start to finish. Each step says what happens, what you see and where you can step in.

Step 1: Install ChargeFix from Shopify and approve the permissions

You add the app to your store and approve the permissions it asks for on the install screen. This is the same flow as any Shopify app. The permissions are what let it read your disputes, orders and fulfillment records.

Read that screen before you approve. Shopify's documentation explains that dispute evidence scopes require Shopify's approval, and that order access is limited to recent orders unless an app has extra access. Match each permission to the job of building a dispute response, and ask us about anything that does not fit. Our guide on whether ChargeFix is safe walks through the check.

You start on the Free plan, which includes 2 filings a month, or on a paid plan with a 14-day trial. Manual mode is on by default.

Step 2: A dispute opens in Shopify Payments

Nothing in ChargeFix starts the process. A customer disputes a charge with their bank, the bank files a chargeback and Shopify Payments takes the amount and the fee from your payout. In the US the fee is $15, and Shopify's help pages say it is returned if you win.

Shopify sets a due date, typically 7 to 21 days after the dispute opens. This date matters. If you submit nothing, Shopify sends a default response on the due date using the order data it holds, and the dispute is decided on that thin record.

ChargeFix works on disputes that exist. It does not stop them from opening, and it does not send pre-dispute alerts. If you need those, they are a separate product category.

Step 3: ChargeFix reads the order and the records around it

When a dispute is available to work on, ChargeFix reviews the order and the records tied to it. These typically include the order and its items, the payment details Shopify exposes, billing and shipping addresses, fulfillment and tracking, any refunds and the customer's earlier orders.

ChargeFix reads customer data during review without saving it. The tool uses what Shopify holds at the moment of review. That has a consequence worth knowing: if a record is wrong or missing in Shopify, the review sees it as wrong or missing.

You do not upload anything for this step. The reading is the point.

Step 4: It checks the evidence item by item

A response is only as good as the evidence behind it, and the evidence that matters depends on the dispute reason. A product not received dispute turns on delivery proof. A fraud dispute turns on history and matched data. A credit not processed dispute turns on the refund record. ChargeFix checks the case against what that reason needs.

For each item it asks whether the record exists, whether it is consistent with the rest and whether it supports your side. The result is a list: what it found, what it did not and what looks weak.

This is also where gaps become visible. If there is no signature, no saved policy or no delivery scan, the check says so. The tool does not fill those gaps. Our guides to the not received, fraudulent and credit not processed cases show what each reason looks for.

Step 5: It scores the evidence and gives a worth-fighting verdict

From the item-by-item check, ChargeFix produces an evidence strength score and a worth-fighting verdict. The score summarizes how the pack looks against the reason on the case. The verdict says whether, on that evidence and the order value, fighting looks worthwhile.

Both are recommendations. They are not predictions of what the bank will do, and no tool controls that. They exist so you can sort your queue, spend time on cases that deserve it and accept the ones that do not. You can overrule the verdict.

The arithmetic behind the idea is simple. A win returns the order amount plus the $15 fee. Your cost is your time. The break-even win chance is the time cost divided by that swing. A tool that makes review take minutes lowers the break-even chance and makes more cases worth a look. Our post on the break-even point of a chargeback app shows the numbers.

Step 6: It drafts the letter from your records

Next comes the written response. ChargeFix drafts a letter shaped to the dispute reason, using real dates, amounts, tracking details and policies from your records. If a record does not exist, the draft does not claim it.

The structure follows what a reviewer needs: what the customer claims, what actually happened in date order, which files prove it and what you ask the bank to do. Our guide to the response letter generator describes the structure in full.

The draft is a starting point. You can edit it, and you should read it.

Step 7: You review and approve, or you accept the dispute

In Manual mode, which is the default, nothing goes to the bank until you say so. You look at the evidence, the score, the verdict and the letter, and you choose.

You have three real options. Approve the response as drafted. Edit it and then approve. Or accept the dispute, which means the amount goes to the customer and the fee is not refunded, with no appeal.

A three minute review checklist helps: names and numbers match the order, every claim has a file, nothing is mentioned that does not exist, dates run in order, the tone is neutral and the policy attached is the one in force on the order date.

On Starter and above you can switch on automatic mode, which handles routine cases with less touch. Because evidence is final once submitted, we suggest reviewing a batch of drafts in Manual mode first. See automatic vs manual chargeback response for the trade-offs.

Step 8: The evidence is submitted and becomes final

When you approve, the evidence goes to the bank through Shopify. From that moment it cannot be changed or added to. This is Shopify's rule, not ours, and it is the reason the review step exists.

A dispute counts as one filing the first time its evidence is saved or filed. Usage resets on the 1st of each month. A dispute you accept without saving evidence does not use a filing under that rule.

Step 9: The bank decides

The card company reviews the response and can take up to 75 days after you submit. The result is a win, a partial result or a loss. A win returns the amount and, per Shopify's help pages, the $15 fee in the US. A loss leaves both with the customer.

ChargeFix does not influence the decision, and it does not guarantee wins. What it does is help you arrive at the decision with a better-prepared response and less of your time spent.

What do you do, and what does ChargeFix do?

It helps to split the work clearly.

Task	ChargeFix	You
Notice the dispute and its due date	Shows it	Act on it
Pull order, shipping, refund and history records	Reads them	Fix gaps in Shopify
Check evidence against the dispute reason	Does it	Read the result
Score strength and give a verdict	Does it	Decide
Draft the letter	Does it	Edit and approve
Add outside records such as helpdesk emails	Cannot see them unless added	Provide them
Submit evidence	On your approval in Manual mode	Approve
Decide whether the policy was fair	No	Yes
Prevent the next dispute	No	Yes

The right-hand column is the one that decides outcomes. A tool lifts the load. It does not carry the judgment.

What happens on the Shopify side while this runs?

The tool sits inside Shopify's process, so the Shopify rules set the limits.

The due date is Shopify's. Typically 7 to 21 days. Check it as soon as the dispute appears.
A default response goes out if you do nothing. It carries order data and optional AI-generated insights, and you can opt out of those.
Evidence is final. No edits after submission.
You cannot refund an open chargeback. If you plan to refund, do it before the bank acts.
Inquiries are different. They are earlier-stage requests for information and typically run 65 to 75 days. Our post on chargebacks versus inquiries explains the difference.
Evidence must be readable. Legible without zooming, in high contrast, because pages may be faxed.

These rules apply whether you use ChargeFix, another tool or nothing.

Illustration: one dispute from notice to submission

A store has an average order of $88 and values its time at $30 an hour. A customer disputes an order as not received, and the due date is 14 days away. These times and win chances are assumptions.

Stage	Time	Cost at $30 an hour
Notice and open the case	1 min	$0.50
ChargeFix reads and scores	0 min of your time	$0
Review evidence and verdict	3 min	$1.50
Review and edit the letter	4 min	$2.00
Approve	0.5 min	$0.25
Total with a tool	about 8 min	$4.00
Same case by hand	about 35 min	$17.50
Swing per win	$88 + $15	$103
Break-even win chance with a tool	$4 / $103	3.9%
Break-even win chance by hand	$17.50 / $103	17.0%

If the case has a delivery photo and a matching address, the win chance is well above both thresholds and the choice is easy. If the case shows the parcel returned to sender, the chance is near zero and the tool's verdict saves you the eight minutes as well. The gap between 3.9 and 17.0 percent is why faster review changes which cases are worth fighting.

Illustration: how filings are counted in a month

A store sees 40 disputes in a month. It accepts 18 outright, saving no evidence on those. It works on the other 22. By the counting rule, a dispute counts as one filing the first time its evidence is saved or filed, so the 18 accepted without saved evidence do not use a filing. These counts are assumptions.

Item	Count
Disputes received	40
Accepted without saving evidence	18
Disputes with evidence saved or filed	22
Starter plan allowance	25
Filings left on Starter	3
Plan cost	$19

The store fits inside Starter at $19. If it had worked on 30 disputes, Starter's 25 filings would not be enough, and Growth at $49 for 100 would be the fit. The Free plan's 2 filings suit stores with very few disputes. Usage resets on the 1st, so a spike in one month does not carry forward.

Compare that with a percentage fee. At 25 percent of recovered money, a store recovering $300 pays $75 in a month, more than Starter's $19. The crossover is where recoveries reach 4 times the plan price: $76 for Starter. Our post on flat fee vs percentage chargeback apps shows the full comparison. Fee structures differ across vendors, so check each one's current terms.

Illustration: choosing manual or automatic by order value

A store wants to know when to let routine cases go through without a human look. It has a time value of $30 an hour and an 8 minute review, so each review costs $4.

Order value	Swing per win	Review cost as share of swing	Suggestion
$30	$45	8.9%	Candidate for automatic once you trust the scores
$80	$95	4.2%	Automatic after a good first month
$200	$215	1.9%	Manual
$600	$615	0.7%	Manual, always

The pattern is that review is cheap compared with the stakes as order value rises. On a $600 order, four dollars of review time is a rounding error against a final submission that cannot be undone. On a $30 order the review is a larger share, and routine reasons with strong evidence are reasonable candidates for automation. These thresholds are a suggestion, not a rule. Move them to fit your own risk.

Which plan should you start on?

Start where your volume is, not where you hope it will be. You can move up when the numbers justify it, and usage resets on the 1st of each month.

Plan	Price	Filings a month	Who it suits
Free	$0	2	Very low volume, or testing the tool
Starter	$19	25	A few disputes to a couple of dozen, and access to automatic mode
Growth	$49	100	Steady dispute volume across a larger catalog
Scale	$99	Unlimited	High volume where counting filings is a distraction

Paid plans include a 14-day trial. Using our assumed 35 minutes by hand and 8 minutes with a tool, each case saves 27 minutes, worth $13.50 at $30 an hour. On time alone, Starter pays for itself at about 2 cases a month ($19 / $13.50 = 1.4, rounded up). Growth would need about 4 cases on that measure, but you would only choose it once you pass 25 filings. Scale at $99 needs about 8 cases on the same measure and makes sense only past 100. These are assumptions, so use your own times.

What should be in order in Shopify before you start?

The tool reads what Shopify holds, so a few habits in your store make every review stronger.

Fulfill orders in Shopify with tracking numbers. The delivery record is the backbone of a not received response.
Issue refunds from the order, not outside Shopify. The refund record then sits on the order timeline.
Keep your policies dated. Save a copy of each refund, shipping and cancellation policy with its effective date.
Show policy links at checkout. A policy the customer could see is stronger than one they could not.
Route customer emails through one inbox you can search. Records in a separate helpdesk can be added by you, but the tool will not see them on its own.
Use a clear billing descriptor. Unrecognized charges are often a naming problem.

None of these cost money. They decide whether a review finds a strong pack or a thin one. Our evidence generator guide lists what to save at checkout.

Do different dispute reasons change the steps?

The nine steps stay the same. What changes is what the check looks for in step 4 and what the letter emphasizes in step 6.

Fraudulent or unrecognized. The check looks at prior orders, matched addresses, payment checks and delivery detail, and whether Visa's Compelling Evidence 3.0 conditions might be met. The letter leans on history.

Product not received. The check looks at the carrier record, the address on the label, dates against the promise and any customer contact. The letter leans on the delivery proof.

Credit not processed. The check looks at refund history first, since a refund already issued is the strongest evidence and the biggest risk of paying twice. The letter leans on the refund date and amount.

Other reasons. Not as described, subscription and duplicate disputes use the same structure with their own evidence: listing and order details, consent and billing schedule, or the charge history.

If the reason on the case does not match the story in your records, a good response addresses the story. The tool reads both.

How does this compare with doing it by hand?

By hand, you do every step yourself: notice the dispute, find the order, pull tracking, search email, write the summary, export policies and upload files. It works, and for two or three disputes a month it may be all you need.

The difference with a tool is not that the work changes. It is that the gathering, checking and drafting happen from the same records every time, and the verdict arrives before you have spent the time. In our assumed numbers, that is 8 minutes against 35 for a case. The saving grows with volume and shrinks to almost nothing at two disputes a month, which is why the Free plan exists. Our post on the cost of fighting chargebacks manually lays out the hand-work arithmetic.

How do you know in the first week whether it fits?

Run a short test and judge it on evidence.

Pick two or three live disputes and work them in Manual mode.
Compare the tool's findings with your records. Does it find what exists? Does it miss anything? Does it claim anything you cannot show?
Read the verdicts against your instincts. If they usually match, the scoring is useful. If they are far off, find out why.
Time yourself. Does review take minutes?
Check the letter. Would you be comfortable sending it as written?
Look at the permission screen again. Is the access what you expected?
Decide on plan and mode. Stay on Free if volume is low, choose Starter or Growth if it fits and leave automatic mode off until you trust it.

At the end of a week you should know whether the drafts save you time and whether the verdicts help. If not, uninstall.

What does ChargeFix not do?

It does not work with Stripe direct, PayPal or other processors. Shopify Payments only. See Stripe and Shopify Payments limits.
It does not prevent disputes or send pre-dispute alerts. It works after the dispute exists.
It does not lower your dispute count. Card network programs count disputes you win. Under Visa's acquirer monitoring program, the excessive tier fell to 1.5 percent from 1 April 2026 for merchants with 1,500 or more fraud and dispute cases in a month.
It does not guarantee wins. No tool can.
It does not create evidence. If a delivery scan, signature or policy record does not exist, the tool says so.
It does not have a public track record yet. It is new, with no reviews.

These limits are the reason we give you the free plan and the manual default: you can test the product against your own disputes before you rely on it.

Common mistakes when using a chargeback app

Approving without reading. Evidence is final once submitted.
Switching on automatic mode on day one. Review a batch first.
Expecting the tool to fix thin records. It shows the gaps. You close them.
Ignoring the due date. A default response with order data goes out in your place.
Forgetting to refund early. After a dispute opens, you cannot.
Fighting every case. Use the verdict to accept hopeless ones.
Treating a win as a fix. Winning returns money, not your dispute count.
Leaving outside records out. Helpdesk emails and notes do not exist to the tool unless you add them.

What we checked, and what you should check

We read Shopify's help pages on the chargeback process and how to resolve a chargeback, Shopify's developer documentation on API access scopes and dispute evidence, Shopify's Protect terms and ChargebackWiz's site, all on 30 October 2026. ChargebackWiz sells a related product, so we treat its claims as claims. The description of ChargeFix's behavior comes from our own product knowledge, and we did not take screenshots for this post, because the live product is the reference.

The order values, review times, win chances, filing counts and hourly values in the illustrations are our assumptions. Run your own figures in the chargeback cost calculator. Check Shopify's live help pages for your due date and fee before relying on them, and check ChargeFix's pricing page for current plan terms.

Frequently asked questions

How does ChargeFix work?

When a Shopify Payments dispute arrives, ChargeFix reads the order and related records, checks the evidence item by item against the dispute reason, scores its strength, says whether the case is worth fighting and drafts a letter from your records. In Manual mode, which is the default, nothing goes to the bank until you review and approve it.

Does ChargeFix submit evidence automatically?

Only if you turn on automatic mode, which is available on Starter and above. In Manual mode, the default, nothing is sent until you approve it. Because evidence is final once submitted, we suggest reviewing a batch of drafts manually before using automatic mode, and keeping manual review for higher value orders.

Does ChargeFix save my customers' data?

Customer data is read during review and is not saved. The tool works from what Shopify holds at the time. A filing is counted the first time a dispute's evidence is saved or filed, which is how plan usage works. For details, read the permission screen at install and ask us any question you have.

What counts as a filing?

A dispute counts as one filing the first time its evidence is saved or filed, and usage resets on the 1st of each month. Accepting a dispute without saving evidence does not use a filing, going by that counting rule. The Free plan includes 2 filings, Starter 25, Growth 100 and Scale is unlimited.

Does ChargeFix work with Stripe or PayPal?

No. ChargeFix works with Shopify Payments only, so it does not cover Stripe direct accounts, PayPal or other gateways. If much of your volume runs through other processors, check the supported processors of any tool before you start. Our post on Stripe and Shopify Payments limits explains how to decide.

Does ChargeFix take a percentage of what I win?

No. Plans are flat monthly prices and ChargeFix never takes a cut of wins. The Free plan includes 2 filings, Starter is $19 for 25, Growth is $49 for 100 and Scale is $99 for unlimited, with a 14-day trial on paid plans. Check the pricing page for current terms.

Can ChargeFix stop chargebacks before they happen?

No. It works after a dispute exists and does not prevent disputes or send pre-dispute alerts. Winning also does not lower your dispute count, since card networks count disputes you win. Prevention comes from clear listings, honest delivery estimates, fast refunds and good screening.

How long does it take to respond to a dispute with ChargeFix?

In our assumed example, about 8 minutes of your time per case, against about 35 minutes by hand. Those are assumptions, so time your own first few cases. Shopify's due date is typically 7 to 21 days after the dispute opens, so there is usually time to review properly.

What should I do first?

Read the permission screen, start in Manual mode and work two or three live disputes on the Free plan or a paid trial. Compare the tool's findings and letters with your own records, time the review and decide after a week. If the drafts save time and the verdicts help, choose a plan that fits your volume.

Start free trial with ChargeFix

If you want to see how ChargeFix works on your own disputes, it starts free and moves to flat monthly plans as your volume grows. It never takes a cut of what you win. It checks your order evidence item by item, tells you honestly whether a case is worth fighting and drafts a letter from your real records, so you review a draft instead of starting from nothing. Nothing goes to the bank until you say so, and paid plans include a 14-day free trial.

Start free trial

How ChargeFix works, step by step: from dispute notice to bank decision