Chargeback Protection & Dispute Handling for Studios
How PunchIn protects your studio from chargebacks: clients accept your policies at checkout, and if they dispute a deposit, we build the evidence and file it with Stripe for you.
A client books, pays a deposit, doesn't show up, and then tells their bank they never agreed to your cancellation policy. Without records, it's your word against theirs, and the bank usually sides with the cardholder. PunchIn is built so that you have the records before a dispute ever happens.
The case is built at checkout
Before a client can pay, they have to tick a box accepting your studio's policies: deposit, cancellation notice, and late-cancellation terms, all shown on the booking page. PunchIn records when they accepted, from which IP address, and which version of the policy they saw. That's the evidence card issuers look for, and most studios taking deposits over Venmo, email or a generic booking form don't have it.
If a client disputes a deposit
The moment Stripe reports a dispute, PunchIn:
- Flags the booking as disputed in your dashboard and in red on your Google Calendar, without deleting it.
- Blocks the client from booking your studio again, for every dispute reason, including a claim that the charge was fraudulent. The person who completed the booking is the one who used the card, so they're the one banned, not a third party who might never have been your client. Your dashboard shows a plain-English explanation next to each ban so you know exactly why it happened.
- Builds the evidence packet from the booking record: the accepted policies, payment details, and a timeline of the booking, any cancellation and any refund.
The PunchIn team then reviews the packet with you and files it with Stripe before the deadline. Filing is a one-shot action (nothing can be added afterwards), so a person checks it rather than software sending it blindly.
A bank inquiry isn't a chargeback yet
Some card networks, Amex and Discover mainly, send an "inquiry" before a chargeback: the cardholder's bank asking a question, often resolved with a short reply and no dispute fee at all. PunchIn doesn't flag the booking, touch your calendar, or ban the client for an inquiry. We log it and let you know. If it escalates into an actual chargeback, everything above kicks in at that point.
Not every dispute should be fought
If a client is genuinely owed their money back, contesting costs you the dispute fee and usually loses. We'll tell you when accepting is the better call.
Disputing your own PunchIn subscription
This page is about a client disputing a booking deposit. If you dispute your own PunchIn subscription charge instead, the response is different and lighter: we record the dispute and notify our team, but your subscription keeps running and your booking pages stay live while it's pending, so your own clients are unaffected. Only if the dispute is later resolved against you does the subscription get cancelled and the studio deactivated, and only at that point.