Guide · 5 min
Asking the platform first is not a formality. Their written answer is the strongest document in this category — and almost nobody has one.
Why ask them at all
A reply from the merchant is evidence in a way your own account of events is not. A refusal shows you asked; a refund is money without a dispute. Confirmation that they took action on the account is close to the best thing you can hold.
People skip this step because they assume the answer will be no. Ask anyway — the message costs nothing and the reply is an asset. If you have run the check, your first letter is written from your answers, free, on the letter page.
The five things it must contain
- The exact transaction dates and amounts, as they appear on your statement.
- What you believed you were paying for, in one sentence.
- What actually happened, in two or three — no more.
- The specific messages that show it, attached, with visible timestamps.
- A clear ask: a refund of the named transactions, or a written explanation of why not.
What to leave out
Anger, threats, the word “scam” on its own, what the relationship meant to you. Accusations against a named person — we do not name anyone, and neither should you. It turns a support request into a complaint their support team cannot act on.
Describe conduct and transactions. Both are checkable, and checkable is what gets acted on.
The reply matters more than the request
Save it whole — headers, date, the reply address, everything. Forward or export it rather than screenshot it, if you can. If you have a case in Claim Care, send it there too and it stays with your documents.
A refusal is a dated document: it shows you tried the platform first, which your bank will ask about. Attach nothing you cannot show is unchanged since you received it. It is why the evidence index says to keep every file exactly as it arrived.
One thing not to do
Do not tell support you intend to file a chargeback before you have their answer. It turns a support conversation into a risk conversation; on most platforms the account consequences start at that word.