reason codes/visa

Visa 13.3

not as described or defective merchandise

The cardholder received the goods or service and says they were not what you described, or arrived faulty.

30 days to respond under Visa rules

Count your days left

network
Visa
code
Visa 13.3
dispute type
not as described or defective merchandise
response window
30 days
decisive exhibits
2 of 6
who submits
you, under your own name

What the issuer is asking

Two things: what you actually described at the point of sale, and whether the cardholder gave you a chance to fix it.

Visa expects the cardholder to have attempted a return or a resolution with you first. If they did not, say so and show it.

If you repaired, replaced or refunded, that is usually the end of the dispute.

filing window

The cardholder normally has 120 days from receiving the goods or from learning the service was not as described.

Your processor states its own deadline on the notice, usually shorter than the 30 days above. That printed date is the one that binds you. Work to it.

The exhibits Visa 13.3 turns on

6 exhibits · 2 decisive

Decisive exhibits can answer this code on their own. Supporting exhibits are worth attaching and never worth relying on.

  1. 01

    The product page as it stood at the time of sale

    The description, specification, photographs and any stated condition. Date the capture.

    decisive
  2. 02

    Proof of repair, replacement or refund

    If you already put it right, the dispute has no subject left.

    decisive
  3. 03

    Evidence the cardholder never attempted a return

    Your returns log, your inbox, and the returns policy shown at checkout with its window.

    strong
  4. 04

    The returns and refund policy as disclosed

    It has to have been visible before payment, not only on a page they never saw.

    strong
  5. 05

    Photographs of the item before dispatch

    Condition on leaving you, timestamped.

    supporting
  6. 06

    Inspection or technician report

    Where the claim is a fault, an independent opinion carries more weight than yours.

    supporting

Arguments that carry weight

  • yesThe description at the time of sale matches what was shipped, captured and dated.
  • yesYou offered a return or a repair and the cardholder did not respond.
  • yesThe item was returned and refunded before the dispute was filed.
  • yesThe claimed defect is excluded by a specification the cardholder agreed to.

Arguments that lose this code

  • noToday's product page, when the listing has been edited since the sale.
  • noA policy that only appears in a footer link nobody has to open.
  • noArguing the item was fine, with no photographs and no inspection.
  • noRefusing a return within your own published window.

the common misreading

The strongest exhibit here is often your own inbox

A cardholder who filed without ever contacting you has skipped a step Visa expects. Your silent inbox is evidence. Attach it.

You know what to prove. The file is the part that takes a week.

Upload the notice and everything you already hold. You get a dated timeline, a rebuttal argued against Visa 13.3 and numbered exhibits, as one PDF.

Single case — €39 · Five-pack — €79

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