Plain steps from the federal rules and your bank's own pages. Not legal advice.

How to Dispute
Where is the charge?

Valid Reasons to Dispute a Credit Card Charge

The law counts some charges as billing errors. Bad service is not on the list.
Written

A dispute works best when you have a real reason for it. Banks check every claim, and a weak one can be denied. Here are the reasons the law and the card companies accept, and the ones they do not.

What federal law counts as a billing error

Regulation Z and the Fair Credit Billing Act set the reasons a credit card issuer must look into. Each one is called a billing error.

  • A charge you did not make, and that no one allowed to use your card made.
  • A charge for the wrong amount.
  • A charge for goods or services you did not accept, or that were not delivered as agreed.
  • A payment or credit the statement fails to show properly.
  • A math error the card issuer made on a statement.
  • A charge you ask the card issuer to explain, with documents as proof.

Regulation Z says a card issuer must do a reasonable investigation before it finds there was no error. Regulation Z gives you 60 days from the statement that shows the error to send written notice.

What card issuers say

Discover lists unauthorized charges, billing errors, and goods that never arrived as reasons to dispute a charge. Check your own issuer's dispute page for its list.

Some issuers also have timing rules. Chase's guide says you can only dispute charges that have already posted. Capital One will not take a dispute on a pending charge, because the amount may still change. Wait for the charge to post, then file.

What is not a valid reason

Regulation Z does not treat a complaint about the quality of something you accepted as a billing error. If you ate the meal or kept the shirt, a quality complaint is not a billing error.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says defective goods or services may need a different dispute process.

Check a charge you do not recognize before you dispute it. Bank of America says many disputed charges are real charges that people do not recognize or remember. Before you dispute a charge you do not recognize, ask any authorized users on your account if they made it.

Never say anything untrue in a dispute. If you made the charge and got what you paid for, a dispute is not the right tool.

Special cases

A charge you already paid. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says a charge already paid can still be disputed. Paying the bill does not end your right to file.

A promised refund that never came. If a merchant promised a refund and gave none or only part of it, you may want to dispute the charge. Keep the promise in writing.

A canceled subscription. To dispute a charge for a canceled subscription, keep a copy of any emails confirming you canceled.

A wrong amount. The Fair Credit Billing Act says a charge for the wrong amount is a billing error.

A pending charge. Wait for it to post. Capital One will not take a dispute on a pending charge, because the amount may still change.

Try the merchant first

Chase's guide says a merchant may fix a charge error in a few days, while a bank can take weeks. Write to the company, save its reply, and gather your receipts and messages.

Go straight to the dispute when the clock is short, or when the merchant will not answer. If you are not sure what to gather, read what to do before you dispute a charge.

Next steps

Pick the reason that fits your charge. Write it down plainly, attach your proof, and file with your issuer before the 60 day window closes. Then read what happens after you dispute a charge to see what your bank must do next.

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