Chargeback for Goods Not Received: Merchant Guide

What is a "goods not received" chargeback?

A "goods not received" chargeback is filed when a cardholder claims they paid for a product or service that was never delivered. This is distinct from "item not as described" (where the customer received something but it didn't match the listing) — here, the claim is that nothing arrived at all.

This dispute type covers both physical goods (orders that weren't delivered or went missing in transit) and digital goods/services (software access that wasn't provisioned, services that weren't rendered). It's one of the dispute types where merchants have the clearest path to winning — if they have proper documentation of delivery.

Importantly, some "goods not received" claims are fraudulent. The item was delivered but the cardholder is misrepresenting this to obtain a free refund through their bank. This is called "friendly fraud" and is increasingly common in e-commerce. Carriers and delivery services now provide more granular evidence — delivery photos, GPS confirmation, barcode scans — that merchants can use to disprove false claims.

Reason codes for goods not received chargebacks

Each card network has specific reason codes for "goods not received" disputes:

• →Visa 13.1 — Merchandise/Services Not Received: applies when a cardholder claims they paid for goods or services that were never delivered
• →Mastercard 4853 — Goods or Services Not as Described or Not Provided: used for both not received and not as described disputes on Mastercard
• →Amex C08 — Goods/Services Not Received or Only Partially Received: Amex's equivalent code
• →Discover DP — Dispute, Not Elsewhere Classified: Discover uses this broad code for many non-fraud disputes

Each network has different evidence requirements and merchant response deadlines. Visa gives merchants 30 days; Mastercard gives 45 days; Amex gives 20 days. Missing these deadlines is an automatic loss — so respond as soon as you receive the chargeback notification.

Evidence merchants need to fight a goods not received chargeback

The strongest evidence package for a "not received" dispute includes:

• →Shipping tracking number with carrier-confirmed delivery status — this is the single most important piece of evidence
• →Delivery confirmation: signature, delivery photo, or GPS-confirmed scan from the carrier
• →Order confirmation email showing the shipping address provided by the cardholder
• →Carrier delivery notification (email or SMS sent to the customer when delivered)
• →IP address and device data showing the order was placed from the cardholder's usual location
• →For digital goods: access logs, download timestamps, or API call records showing the service was used
• →Customer communication: any messages where the customer acknowledged the order or engaged with delivery notifications

The most common reason merchants lose this dispute type is the absence of delivery confirmation. If your carrier tracking only shows "in transit" or "out for delivery" without a final confirmed delivery scan, the evidence is insufficient.

How to prevent goods not received chargebacks

Prevention is more reliable than response. The most effective prevention measures:

• →Require tracked shipping with delivery confirmation for all orders — untracked shipments are essentially undefendable
• →Use carrier services that provide delivery photos (Amazon Logistics, certain DHL and FedEx services) for high-value orders
• →Send proactive shipping notification emails with tracking links — cardholders who can track their order don't file chargebacks
• →Set accurate delivery expectations at checkout — overpromising on delivery speed is a major cause of "not received" claims
• →For digital goods, send a clear delivery confirmation email with access instructions when the service is provisioned
• →Consider requiring signature confirmation for high-value orders, even though it adds delivery friction

If you sell internationally, be particularly careful: cross-border shipments with insufficient tracking are the hardest to defend. Use carriers with end-to-end international tracking.

What to do if the chargeback is fraudulent

When you have clear delivery confirmation and the customer is claiming non-receipt falsely, you're dealing with friendly fraud. Here's how to fight it:

Submit all delivery evidence in your rebuttal, including the tracking confirmation, delivery photo if available, and any customer communication that post-dates the supposed non-delivery (if the customer contacted you after the supposed non-receipt date about something unrelated, that's strong evidence they received the order).

For Visa disputes, Compelling Evidence 3.0 (CE 3.0) allows merchants to use prior purchase history to rebut fraud claims. If the cardholder has a history of successful transactions with you, this can establish a pattern of authorised purchases.

For repeat offenders — customers who file multiple "not received" claims across different orders — document this pattern and flag it to your payment processor. Some processors have tools to block known fraudulent cardholders from future purchases.

The best long-term defence against systematic friendly fraud is building a delivery evidence archive: carrier tracking, delivery confirmation, and customer engagement data that you can retrieve quickly when a dispute arrives.