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You have 60 days from the date of your credit card statement to dispute a charge. Then the protection disappears.
If you’ve ever noticed a charge you didn’t recognize and didn’t do anything about it, here’s what you missed and what to do next time.
What qualifies as a dispute
Not every criminal complaint is the same. The Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) covers specific situations: unauthorized charges, charges for goods or services you did not receive, charges for something that arrived damaged or different from what was described, and billing errors.
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Not every criminal complaint is the same. (Getty Images)
What it doesn’t cover is buyer’s remorse. If you made a purchase, received what you ordered and changed your mind, there is no dispute. The distinction is important because issuers treat them differently from the start.
What happens when you file?
When you contact your issuer to dispute a charge, they must confirm it within 30 days and resolve it within two billing cycles, which in practice means within 60 to 90 days.
In most cases, the issuing institution will temporarily credit your account with the disputed amount while the investigation is still ongoing. You don’t pay for something you dispute. That’s a meaningful difference from how the same situation plays out with a debit card, where the money has already left your account and you’re trying to get it back.
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You have 60 days from the date of your credit card statement to dispute a charge. (Brent Lewin/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The publisher contacts the merchant
Once you submit a request, your issuer initiates what’s called a chargeback: a formal request to the merchant’s bank to reverse the transaction. The seller will be notified and have the opportunity to respond with documentation: proof of delivery, a signed receipt, details showing that you have agreed to the charges.
If the seller does not respond within the required period, the dispute will usually be automatically resolved in your favor. If they do respond, the issuer reviews both parties and makes a decision.
Most disputes that reach this stage go to the cardholder. Sellers know that fighting chargebacks takes time and expense, regardless of the outcome, and many don’t dispute smaller amounts.
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What could go wrong
Disputes will be rejected if the documentation is in the merchant’s favor, if the purchase falls outside the FCBA’s covered categories, or if you waited too long to file a complaint. Most issuers require you to dispute a charge within 60 days of the dated statement on which it appears.
If you made a purchase, received what you ordered and changed your mind, there is no dispute. (iStock)
There is also a meaningful difference between a billing dispute and a fraud claim. If the charge is actually unauthorized, it is fraud, not a billing dispute, and will be handled differently. Most issuers have a zero liability policy for unauthorized charges, meaning your exposure is $0 regardless of the amount.
It’s worth knowing before you need it
The right to dispute is legally enshrined in your credit card. But you must use them within the allotted time frame and be able to specifically describe why the charge qualifies.
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Keep records: confirmation emails, screenshots of what you ordered, correspondence with the merchant. When a dispute reaches the documentation stage, it’s those details that win out.
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