Getting paid

When a customer messages from the portal

Send us a message always writes a note to you. What happens next depends on the kind: a stop request does not mute; a dispute does; a plain message can pause.

8 of 12 in Getting paid

Plan: Available on a valid portal link. Stop requests are reviewed by any signed-in user on Activity → Stop Requests. Never follow up with this customer on Accept is Admin-only. Carrier SMS STOP is a different, automatic path — do not merge them.

From the portal, Send us a message opens a form addressed to your business. Every submit writes an inbound portal_message. The kind is classified from the shortcut and the words: stop, wrong person, dispute, or plain. Do not tell your team that “any portal message pauses reminders.”

Before you start

  • Unpaid home uses Ask them to stop chasing. Settled and disputed-only homes use Stop messages. Both open the same stop-request form.
  • This is a message to you, the creditor. Report a problem with this link to PayBlah is a different form.

How the customer sends

  1. Open the link → Send us a message, or a secondary reason link.
  2. Read the note under the button — it changes with the reason.
  3. Type in Your message and press Send message.

What each kind does

  • Ask them to stop chasing / stop-class body — note: “They decide — reminders may continue until they act.” After send: heading Request sent. Writes a stop request only. No suppressions, no never-chase, no invoice pause. Chasing continues until staff Accept or Decline on Activity → Stop Requests. Badge there is Still chasing. Accept default: Suppress email and SMS. Decline: Decline — keep chasing.
  • This isn't me — note: we will stop messaging these contact details. After send: Thanks — noted. Suppresses those destinations and can pause chaseable invoices. Never sets never-chase by itself.
  • I dispute this — note: “A dispute stops reminders on these invoices while {you} reviews.” After send: Dispute recorded. The product writes disputes rows (origin portal) and sets those invoices to disputed. This is not a staff sticky note. Home then uses the disputed-only (or mixed) layout.
  • I've already paid / plain message — after send: Message sent. If the invoice was still chaseable, it can pause until you triage. It does not write a payment. Match the bank, then Record payment.

What you should see

The note lands on Activity → Replies (and Stop Requests / Disputes when those kinds apply). Reply from the customer tools as yourself. Firm and Final drafts still wait in Approvals. An inbound reply is a send hold until triage — it is not the same as setting the invoice to paused, except where the portal explicitly paused a chaseable invoice (plain / wrong-person).

If something goes wrong

  • They thought stop meant the messages had already stopped — they have not. Review Stop Requests the same day.
  • They used the PayBlah report footer — that ticket is not in Replies. See Report a problem from the customer portal.
  • They sent a carrier SMS STOP — that mutes SMS immediately and is not this queue.

Related guides

What your customer sees on the portal Raise a dispute What stops chasing Activity hub When a payment is detected

PayBlah is accounts-receivable automation software. You remain the creditor. Confirm local rules with your own advisor for your territory (US, UK, Ireland, or Australia). Last reviewed 13 August 2026.

All knowledge base articles Start free trial