Square dispute evidence: what to send when video isn't accepted

Square is often the first processor a small business uses, and its dispute process is one of the least forgiving: a short window, a hard ban on video, and a form that closes the case the moment you submit it. Sellers who record their packing can still use that footage, but only after turning it into something Square's form will take.

This guide sets out Square's rules as of October 2026, the evidence it asks for by dispute reason, and a procedure for fitting a packing record inside its limits.

What Square and the bank check in a dispute

Square collects your evidence and passes it to the customer's bank, which decides the outcome. Square's Disputes API overview puts it directly: Square doesn't decide who wins or loses; that decision belongs to the cardholder's issuing bank. Square's not-as-described dispute guide sets four conditions for every piece of evidence: it must be legible, verifiable, in English or with a translation, and clearly linked to the disputed transaction.

Those four words are a useful checklist for a packing record:

• Legible: a still the reviewer can read without zooming, not a dark frame of a hand.
• Verifiable: something that could not have been made after the complaint, such as a recording bound to the order when it was packed.
• In English: captions and statements in English, or translated.
• Linked to the transaction: the order number, date and amount visible on the page, ideally in the frame itself.

If you don't respond at all, Square's document guide says its dispute team will challenge the dispute with the information already available. That is rarely enough for a contents claim, because the information Square holds is the payment, not what went in the box.

Square's dispute evidence rules (checked October 2026)

Square's rules are short, and each one shapes how the evidence has to be prepared.

Sources: Square's document request guide and its articles on not-as-described and not-received disputes.

Evidence Square asks for, by dispute reason

Square's help center lists the evidence it wants for each reason, and the lists are more specific than most processors'. Here is what applies to physical goods.

Two phrases in Square's lists are worth underlining. "Proof showing that the merchandise wasn't defective when shipped" and "quality control records confirming pre-shipment inspection" are descriptions of a packing record. A recording that shows the item intact and working before the box closed is that record. For not-received claims, Square notes that photos of the package at the delivery location don't replace signed proof of delivery, so lead with the carrier documentation.

Unauthorized-charge disputes are a different question entirely; packing evidence doesn't address who made the payment. The split between goods and fraud disputes is explained in which disputes packing video can support.

Can I send a video in a Square dispute?

No. Square states plainly that audio and video evidence isn't accepted, and video formats aren't among the accepted file types. Its developer guide to processing disputes lists the same set (TIFF, PDF, JPEG, PNG and HEIF, up to 5 MB per file) and confirms that once evidence is submitted, nothing can be added or removed. Sending a link to a video doesn't get around it either; the reviewer works from the files you upload.

This matches how card disputes treat video generally. In a 2024 UK Financial Ombudsman decision, a bank told a cardholder that Visa doesn't allow video evidence in the chargeback process and asked for PDF or JPG images instead.

The fix is translation, not omission. A packing recording made for that order is still your best evidence for a not-as-described or defective claim; it just has to reach the bank as stills. Four frames usually carry it:

1. The order reference (packing slip or label) next to the item.
2. The variant, size or serial label, readable.
3. The item inside the open carton, showing its condition.
4. The sealed carton with the shipping label attached.

Step by step: fitting a packing record into a 5 MB, 15-page file

This procedure produces one compact PDF per topic, which is easier for a reviewer and safer under Square's limits.

The capture habits that make those stills convincing (one continuous take, the order reference in frame, the seal on camera) are covered in what makes a packing video count as evidence.

Mistakes that sink Square disputes

Most Square disputes on physical goods are lost on process rather than facts. These are the avoidable ones.

Copy-ready statements for Square disputes

Keep statements factual and short. Replace the brackets and remove any sentence you can't back with a page in your file.

How PallasMark handles Square disputes

PallasMark turns a packing record into the document Square's form accepts, without any extra hardware.

At the bench, the packer scans the order barcode and records on a phone or in the browser. The recording is tied to that order from the first frame and fingerprinted with SHA-256 when it is stored, so any later edit would show. Photos are stamped with your company name, the order number and the upload time inside the image file.

When a Square dispute arrives, you generate the evidence dossier for the order: a PDF with four stills from each recorded video (up to six videos), the order details and verdict, photos, file fingerprints, the buyer's approval and any return evidence, plus the carrier and tracking number read from your store. Every generated PDF is stored with its own hash and logged. You download it and upload it in the Square Dashboard alongside your statement. The dossier is included in every plan; details are on the chargeback evidence page.

For orders where a dispute would hurt most, buyer approval before dispatch lets the buyer watch the sealed recording and approve the parcel before it ships. That approval goes into the dossier, and it is the hardest thing for a later "not as described" claim to argue with. You can start on the free plan with no card; see pricing.

Related reading

This guide is part of our hub on seller dispute evidence by platform, which compares Square's rules with eleven other channels. If you also process cards on Stripe, see Stripe dispute evidence; for BNPL orders, see Klarna and Afterpay dispute evidence; and for what each marketplace weighs in a contents claim, read how to prove an item was shipped correctly.