What to Do if There's No Transaction for Your Alert
What to Do if There's No Transaction for Your Alert
If a transaction does not exist, we will refund or credit you for the false alerts. However, you must provide a screenshot proving the transaction does not exist.
Please send these to our support representatives.
The following sections will help you provide the appropriate evidence:
Status Indicator | Meaning | Screenshot Requirement |
Already a Chargeback | Purchase is already a chargeback. | Time and date of the chargeback occurrence. |
Previously Refunded | Order you found was refunded before the alert. | Date and time when the transaction was refunded. |
Failed Transaction | Transaction didn't fully process. | Search filters used and 'Failed' transaction indicator. |
Not Found | Transaction does not exist. | * Last 4 digits of the card plus other filters |
* Your objective with proving the transaction does not exist is to keep going through filters until no transactions appear in the search results.
Examples of Acceptable Screenshots:
Note that these examples may differ from your experience on Shopify, as they originate from Stripe.
Please ensure your business name appears in the screenshot to confirm it is your payment processor.
1. Already a Chargeback
This screenshot must include:
Dispute date
Your business account
Information that could connect the alert to the transaction:
Dispute date
Issuer/bank
Amount
Card brand
2. Previously Refunded
The screenshot will need to include:
Refund issuance date
Issuer/bank
Amount
Card brand
3. Failed Transaction
4. Not Found
How to Find Transactions
1. Transaction ID
The easiest method is to click the link under the Transaction ID column, which directs you to the transaction.
If multiple links exist, verify each one using the alert information to identify the correct transaction.
2. On Shopify
Shopify offers these filters to help you narrow transactions related to alerts:
Credit card (last 4 digits): Last 4 digits of the customer's card.
Date: When the transaction happened.
Read below for more critical information on this point.
Destination: Country the transaction took place.
Chargeback.io displays transaction dates in UTC time. Use the 'Between' date filter for searches. For example, if the transaction occurred on March 10, 2025, search between March 9 and March 11.
You can also compare the time zone of the customer for that particular transaction to the day in the UTC time zone by using this app.
Alerts typically won't match exact times shown on payment processors, but narrowing by day helps.
3. On Stripe
Use the following filters in the Stripe search bar without spaces after colons:
Last4: Last 4 digits of the card
Order value: The price of the order
Type in the US dollar value as shown in Chargeback.io; e.g., Amount:19 for a $19 purchase
Brand: The card brand. For instance, Mastercard
Date: The date the transaction happened.
Read below for more critical information on this point.
Country: 2-letter code that represents the country. For instance, US for United States.
See this guide to find ISO codes for all countries. Press control/cmd + "F" on your keyboard to make searching for the country quicker.
Do not add a space after each filter. For instance, 'Last4:' would look like 'Last4:0000,' not 'Last4: 0000.'
When searching for a date, Chargeback.io displays transaction dates in the UTC time zone. Thus, I recommend using the 'Between' date filter when searching for dates.
If a transaction for an alert happened March 10th 2025, search between March 9th and March 11th.
You can also compare the time zone of the customer for that particular transaction to the day in the UTC time zone by using this app.
Alerts typically don't happen around the same time as shown in the payment processor, but you can narrow them by day.
What if you don't see a matching purchase when the 'Last4' filter is used?
Customers using Apple Pay or Google Pay may hide card details, complicating transaction searches. Use all other available filters to guarantee the transaction doesn’t result in a chargeback.
That's when you'll want to use all of the other filters to guarentee the transaction doesn't become a chargeback.
If you find a matching transaction using other filters, consider these indicators:
Authorization code (guarenteed)
Issuer/bank
Suspicious customer behavior
1. Authorization Code
1. Authorization Code
Authorization codes appear only for transactions within the past 30 days.
This will only work if there is an authorization code under the 'Auth.Code' column on your Chargeback.io dashboard.
This is a guaranteed way to identify a transaction, regardless of whether the customer used Apple Pay. The process may take up to 3 minutes per transaction, but it ensures accuracy.
Scroll down the page to the Events and Logs section.
Search the ALL ACTIVITY column for an event labeled: "The payment X for $X has succeeded."
In the From Stripe column, click the button labeled "See all X lines" to expand the event details.
Scroll through the lines to find the authorization code (formatted as 'authorization_code': XXXXXX). This process can be lengthy, so I recommend pressing Ctrl/Cmd + "F" and searching directly for 'authorization_code'.
Compare the authorization code from Stripe with the one listed on your Chargeback.io dashboard.
If they match, you've found the correct transaction.
If they don't match, continue searching for the correct transaction.
2. Issuer
2. Issuer
Compare the Issuer listed on Stripe's dashboard with the bank displayed under the Bank column on your Chargeback.io dashboard. This method isn't guaranteed to confirm the exact transaction, but it can help narrow your search.
3. Suspicious Customers
3. Suspicious Customers
Click into the customer's account to check for a history of high refund rates or other suspicious activities. If these details align with your other filters, you may have identified a potential issue.
However, this method is the least reliable for matching transactions to alerts. Use it primarily as supplementary confirmation to prevent chargebacks.
💡 Tip
Need more help? Get support from our representatives at Chargeback.
We’re here to help with any questions you may have.