Vacation Rental Chargeback Defense: The Complete Host Guide

A guest contacts their bank and says "I didn't stay there" or "the service wasn't as described." The bank pulls the money from your account — $500, $3,000, sometimes more — and gives you a narrow window to prove otherwise. You don't get a hearing. You get a form and a deadline. Unlike a refund request, chargebacks bypass you entirely. The bank decides, and the burden of proof is on you. If you can't prove the guest stayed, agreed to your terms, and received what they paid for, you lose the money and get hit with a processing fee on top of it.

Most hosts believe they lose because the system is rigged. The system is tilted — but hosts lose because of an evidence problem, not a fairness problem. Banks require specific documentation: timestamped check-in and check-out records, signed house rules or terms of service, photo documentation of property condition before and after, voice or message records proving the guest was present, and payment verification tied to the guest's identity. Most hosts have none of this. They rely on platform messages — which banks routinely dismiss — and their own word, which counts for nothing in a dispute. Here's what nobody tells you: evidence assembled after a dispute is advocacy. Evidence sealed during the event is proof. Banks know the difference.

Airbnb: 10-day response window. Requires booking confirmation, host-guest communications, and any additional documentation. Airbnb mediates, but if the guest went to their bank, Airbnb can't override the bank's decision. VRBO: Varies by payment method. Direct payment disputes go through their resolution center first. Virtual card disputes are a different process entirely. Booking.com: Virtual credit card disputes are handled differently — contact their partner support immediately, not the general help line. Direct bookings (Stripe/Square): Your strongest defense opportunity because you control all the evidence. Processor deadlines are typically 7-21 days. Every platform has different rules, but they all agree on one thing: timestamped, tamper-proof evidence wins disputes. Everything else is a coin flip.

The best chargeback defense isn't built when the dispute arrives. It's built during the stay, automatically, without you lifting a finger. For every booking: (1) Guest agrees to your terms before check-in — documented and timestamped. (2) Property condition photos taken before and after — with metadata that can't be altered. (3) Every guest communication preserved — calls, messages, complaints, compliments. (4) Payment verification linked to a confirmed identity. (5) Check-in confirmation with timestamps. The critical difference: this evidence must be sealed and tamper-proof. A screenshot you took after the dispute was filed is advocacy. Evidence that was automatically generated and timestamped during the stay — evidence that's older than the dispute itself — is proof. That distinction is what separates hosts who win from hosts who lose.

If you're reading this after a chargeback was filed, and you didn't collect evidence during the stay, your odds are low. That's not defeatism — it's respect for your time. Banks default to protecting cardholders. "I know they stayed" is not evidence. A platform message saying "great stay!" is not evidence a bank will accept. You should still file a response — you lose 100% of disputes you don't fight. But the real question is: what happens with your next 50 bookings? The hosts who sleep through the night are the ones who automated evidence collection before they needed it. Not after the first loss. Not after the third. Before.