Guide · Basics
Chargeback vs inquiry: what’s the difference and why it matters
An inquiry, also called a retrieval request or request for information, is the bank asking about a charge before it takes any money back. A chargeback takes the money first. Answer an inquiry well and the chargeback may never come; ignore it and the chargeback that follows can be impossible to fight.
Key takeaways
- An inquiry asks. A chargeback takes. No money usually moves on an inquiry.
- Same thing, many names. Inquiry, retrieval request, request for information, RFI, ticket retrieval request.
- Ignoring an inquiry is expensive. The chargeback that follows can be unwinnable.
- It’s the cheapest place to win. No dispute fee at many processors, and no hit to your dispute rate.
What is a chargeback inquiry?
An inquiry is the cardholder’s bank asking you about a charge before it decides whether to take the money back. Usually the customer called their bank, often because they didn’t recognize the name on their statement, and the bank wants a receipt or an explanation.
The industry uses several names for the same stage. Stripe calls it an inquiry and notes that others say “retrieval” or “request for information.” Discover’s version is a ticket retrieval request. American Express capitalizes it: an Inquiry.
A chargeback is the next step up. The bank pulls the money from your account first, then reviews your response. See what a chargeback is for the full picture.
Inquiry vs chargeback, side by side
| Inquiry / retrieval request | Chargeback | |
|---|---|---|
| Money taken from you? | Usually no | Yes, right away |
| Dispute fee | Often avoidable (Stripe charges none if you resolve it here) | Usually charged |
| Counts toward your dispute rate | No, unless it escalates | Yes, win or lose |
| What the bank wants | Records that explain the charge | Evidence that defeats the reason code |
| If you ignore it | Can escalate to a chargeback you can’t win | You lose automatically |
Which card networks use inquiries?
Not all of them, at least not anymore. Stripe says American Express and Discover use the inquiry phase most often, while Visa and Mastercard no longer use it the way they once did. On a Visa or Mastercard card, the first notice you see is usually the chargeback itself.
- American Express tries to resolve the dispute with its cardmember first. If it needs your help, it sends an Inquiry. American Express says a sufficient and timely reply means there won’t be a chargeback. It can also skip the Inquiry and debit you up front when it already has enough information.
- Discover uses ticket retrieval requests. Stripe warns that a Discover inquiry left unanswered can turn into a dispute you can’t challenge at all.
- Visa and Mastercard generally go straight to the chargeback.
How long do you have to answer?
American Express tells merchants they have 20 days to respond to an Inquiry or a Chargeback. For everything else, the due date is the one on your notice or in your processor’s dashboard. If you can’t find one, treat it as urgent and ask.
If an inquiry sits open for 120 days without becoming a chargeback, Stripe closes it. Networks don’t send a “you won” message for inquiries. Silence is the win.
How to handle an inquiry
Stripe says you can resolve an inquiry without a dispute fee in one of two ways: send evidence that answers the dispute type, or issue a full refund.
- If the charge is valid, answer with the basics: the receipt, what was bought or booked, and proof it was delivered or done. Keep it short. The bank is trying to jog the customer’s memory, not run a trial.
- If the customer has a point, a full refund now is cheaper than a chargeback later. A partial refund won’t stop it: Stripe notes that inquiries on partially refunded charges can still escalate.
- Don’t click “accept.” At Stripe, accepting an inquiry doesn’t resolve it. You have to submit evidence.
Insight: an inquiry is the only stage where the money is still yours, there’s often no fee and your dispute rate is untouched. Merchants who treat inquiries as paperwork lose cases they could have stopped for free.
If the inquiry becomes a chargeback
Then you start over. Stripe says that when an inquiry escalates, you must submit another response for the chargeback. Your earlier answer doesn’t carry over automatically. The new due date is usually short, so read the time limits guide and plan to respond to the chargeback in full.
Two things that look like inquiries but aren’t
- Early fraud warnings. These are bank reports to Visa or Mastercard that fraud was claimed on a card used at your business. No money moves and you can’t respond. But Visa counts them toward its monitoring ratio, and Stripe says about 40% become fraud disputes if you do nothing.
- A chargeback decision email. “Resolved” or “closed” on a notice can mean you lost. Read the outcome line before filing it away.
Dispute Daddy reads the notice you upload, keeps the due date in view and builds the response from your records. You approve every response before you submit it. See how the Dispute Daddy Method works.
