Does this sound familiar? You go through your credit card statement at the end of your payment cycle and notice a charge you don’t remember making. Then, you try to contact the merchant to see if they can help you resolve the issue but they either don’t help or isn’t responsive.

If you can’t come to an agreement over the issue, you still have one more option. That is to contact your credit card company to serve as the mediator between you and the business that you believe is incorrectly charging you. This process is called filing for a credit card dispute. Continue reading to learn more.

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What Does It Mean To Dispute a Charge on a Credit Card?

In simpler terms, disputing a charge on a credit card is showing your disagreement of a charge or fee imposed by your credit card company. Also, this type of disagreement is known as a chargeback. Federal regulations tied to the Truth in Lending Act and Fair Credit Billing Act require that a dispute be handled a specific way.

How Does Disputing a Credit Card Charge Work?

When you start the process of a credit card dispute with your issuer, the company will take action to resolve the situation. The moment that you initiate the chargeback action, the credit card company will immediately remove the charge or withhold the amount in question from the business and send it a written notice of why.

Then, the business can take a look at your complaint and review it. The business can also dispute the chargeback itself within a certain period of time. The business must prove that the charge is correct by providing a signed card slip, store policy or proof of delivery of the item. If they fail to provide this information, they will lose the dispute.

After the grace period to respond to the dispute has passed, your credit card provider will review the documents to rule for or against you. If you win, then you will receive the funds that was incorrectly charged back to you, including any associated interest fees or charges. However, if you lose, then you are responsible for the charges.

How Long Do You Have To Dispute a Credit Card Charge?

It’s important to review your credit card statements for billing errors every month. If you find a charge you don’t recognize or don’t agree with, a dispute must be initiated within 60 days of the transaction first appearing on your credit card statement.

If you are trying to directly deal with the problem by yourself with the merchant be cautious of the time that you spend. If you notice that they are avoiding you or dragging their feet, it could mean that they are stalling for the grace period to pass. This is why you should initiate a chargeback immediately if you feel like you have been incorrectly charged.

What Types of Credit Card Charges Can You Dispute?

Here’s a list of reasons you might initiate a chargeback or credit card dispute:

You’ve been billed for merchandise you never received or returned.
You were accidentally charged twice.
The company never credited your card account back as agreed.
You were charged for goods or services you didn’t accept.
You were charged for items that were not delivered as agreed.
A charge was for the wrong date or amount.
You didn’t authorize the transaction.
The goods or services were not as promised.
You don’t recognize a certain transaction.

How Do I Dispute a Credit Card Charge?

As mentioned above, it is quite simple to initiate a credit card dispute. All you have to do is contact your bank or credit card issuer. Start with these simple steps:

Contact your credit card company by calling or signing in to your card account.
Identify details about the transaction.
Provide the reason for your dispute and any evidence you have to support your case.
The card provider will send you written acknowledgment within 30 days of initiating the dispute.

Bottom Line

After submitting your dispute through the proper steps that we have listed in the above sections, your consumer rights are legally protected. Until the dispute is settled, you will not have to pay anything out of your own pocket.

To make the best out of the situation, make sure you represent your case accurately and follower the proper process. For more posts like this, check out our list of bank guides!