For more information on disputes, you can review Stripe's documentation here. 1VALET follows stripe's dispute protocol and provides our 1CONNECT Portal interface for viewing and responding to disputes for your convenience.
What happens to the disputed funds?
For Canadian customers
Upon being alerted by Stripe of a payment dispute, 1VALET will immediately withdraw the disputed amount plus the dispute fee (outlined in 1VALET's fee schedule) from your building's Stripe account balance. If the balance cannot cover the amount, it will be withdrawn from the attached bank account linked to your stripe account that is used for payouts. The disputed amount is held by Stripe until a decision is made on the dispute. The dispute fee is is held by 1VALET until a decision is made on the dispute.
If a dispute is resolved in favor of the card holder or you accept the dispute, 1VALET will automatically refund the card holder using the funds it collected when the dispute was initiated, and will keep the dispute fee.
If the dispute is resolved in your building's favor, the disputed amount, and the dispute fee will be returned to your building's stripe account and available for payout on your regular payout schedule.
For US Customers
Upon being alerted by Stripe of a payment dispute, 1VALET will immediately withdraw the disputed amount from your building's Stripe account balance. If the balance cannot cover the amount, it will be withdrawn from the attached bank account linked to your stripe account that is used for payouts. 1VALET will invoice separately for the dispute fee (outlined in 1VALET's fee schedule).
If a dispute is resolved in favor of the card holder or you accept the dispute, 1VALET will automatically refund the card holder using the funds it collected when the dispute was initiated, and will keep the dispute fee.
If the dispute is resolved in your building's favor, the disputed amount, and the dispute fee will be returned to your building's stripe account via a payment from 1VALET's Payables department.
For customers using Yardi
1VALET does not update the resident ledger under any circumstances when it comes to disputed payments. It is the building's responsibility for reversing any payments or charges on the ledger as required. When a decision is made on the dispute the payment will have an indicator beside it in the 1CONNECT Portal to inform you that you need to update the resident's ledger manually if any action is required.
How will I be notified of a dispute?
Users with special 1VALET Payments user permissions (typically admins or finance teams) will be notified of the dispute via email and also alerted in the 1CONNECT Portal in the notifications center. We also send daily reminder's to respond to disputes while the dispute is open due to the time sensitive nature of responding.
Viewing a disputed payment
From the Payments screen, you can click on the "Open Disputes" filter option to view any payments with open disputes. From there you can click on a payment to view the details about the dispute and user's with the special 1VALET payments user permissions will be able to respond to the dispute by either accepting it or countering it.
Accepting a dispute
If you choose to accept the dispute, you are admitting that the dispute is valid and that the card holder should receive a refund. Once a dispute is accepted, the card holder will be refunded within a few days, and your building will not be returned the 1VALET Dispute Fee (outlined in the 1VALET Fee Schedule). Once accepted, this action cannot be reversed. The payment status will moved to "dispute closed" when the dispute process is finished.
Countering a dispute
If you choose to counter a dispute, you are challenging the dispute because you believe that the charge is valid, and you have evidence to support your claim. Once you choose to counter the dispute you will be able to upload evidence to support your claim. You can save a draft of your response and come back to it as you gather more evidence.
Once you submit your evidence you will not be able to submit evidence again or update it. This is not a restriction imposed by 1VALET, but instead by the dispute process Stripe adheres to outlined by the financial institutions.
Dispute decisions
The financial institution will review the evidence submitted in your counter dispute to make a decision, which can take up to 90 days. You will be notified via email when a decision is made.
The status of the payment in the 1CONNECT Portal will update to "dispute closed", and the details will update with whether you won or lost the dispute.
See the section above on "What happens to the disputed funds?" to understand what happens to the disputed amounts and fees depending on whether or not your building wins the dispute.
Missing the dispute response deadline
If you miss the response deadline for the dispute, the dispute automatically resolves in favor of the individual who disputed the payment. This means you will automatically forfeit the disputed amount and the 1VALET dispute fee. This cannot be reversed, so if you intend to challenge the dispute you musty do it before the deadline. You will be notified via email and in the notification center in the 1CONNECT Portal when disputes are closed due to missed deadlines.
For more information on disputes, you can review Stripe's documentation here.