How to Dispute a Credit Card Charge: 5 Easy Steps

When you see a suspicious charge, you’ll start looking for how to dispute a credit card charge. Thankfully, there is a clear process and protections under the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) that helps you avoid payment until the dispute is resolved, which should not take more than 90 days. 

Learn the process you should follow in case you suspect fraudulent charges or a mistake.

Why Disputing a Credit Card Charge is Important

Monitoring charges on your credit card can help you spot fraud or mistakes quickly. That way, you can resolve them and avoid paying for someone else’s expenses.

Even with the best efforts, hackers and malicious players can steal your credit card information and use it to make their own purchases. This might be because of a data breach or accidentally using your credit card on sites that are not secure or fraudulent.

You should be careful where you use your credit card. Make sure the site is legitimate and not a front for your favorite website just looking to take your money and get your credit card information.

Disputing a credit card charge helps protect your financial well-being and can help your credit card company detect and research charges as it looks for fraud. 

Understanding Your Rights as a Credit Card Holder

When you open a credit card, you’re protected under the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA) and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA). The FCBA outlines your rights of protection from unfair billing practices. It is a part of the Truth in Lending Act and protects credit card users from the following billing errors.

• Unauthorized charges
• Billing statements that have inaccurate or missing dates for transactions or amounts
• Creditor accounting errors
• Failure of a creditor to send a billing statement
• Items that a user purchased but never received
• Charges that a borrower rejected
• Failure for a merchant to provide a statement credit for items returned

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) provides a sample letter to make reporting such disputes to a creditor simple but you’ll also find processes for reporting questionable charges with your credit card company digitally. 

Common Reasons to Dispute a Credit Card Charge

As you evaluate your monthly credit card charges, you might notice suspicious, missing or fraudulent activity. Here are some reasons you might dispute a credit card charge.

• Criminal fraud in which an unauthorized user charges expenses to your card
• Charges with authorization errors, such as one without valid bank authorization
• Processing errors, such as a merchant who continues charging you for a subscription you canceled or charges an incorrect amount for a good or service
• Fulfillment errors where you purchase an item but never receive it due to shipping issues, inventory errors or other fulfillment mistakes
• Merchant issues, such as those who misrepresent products, fail to send products, never render services or don’t provide a credit once you return an item

5 Easy Steps to Dispute a Credit Card Charge 

Now you’re ready to learn how to dispute credit card charges to protect your finances. Follow these simple steps to dispute charges that don’t seem right.

Know What You're Paying For

Before you can spot suspicious charges, you have to know what you’re buying. That’s why checking in on your credit card statements weekly or at regular intervals can help you spot strange charges.

Using an aggregation system, such as CreditKarma, Every Dollar or Banktivity could help you detect charges that crop up or increase in price unexpectedly. Some credit card companies also help with this through alerts to let you know when recurring or frequent charges change patterns or prices.

Sometimes, merchants operate under a DBA making it more challenging to understand a charge on your card. That’s where knowing what you’re paying for and reviewing your statement regularly can help jog your memory of that $5 parking charge you incurred that shows up from a company you’ve never heard of. The fresher the charge is in your mind, the easier it will be to validate.

Research Unauthorized Charges

If you do come across a charge you think is unauthorized, spend some time researching it. Look into your various merchant accounts to see if you authorized the charge and just forgot about making the purchase.

Learn more about the merchant and the process for contacting them to alert them of an issue with the charge. Along the way, you might find that the merchant is just operating under a different name and it is a valid charge. Or you might discover that you had a free trial that converted to a paid subscription without you realizing it.

If you have other authorized users on the account, check in with them about the charge in question. Make sure they did not make the purchase and you just weren’t aware of it.

Documenting Billing Errors and Fraudulent Transactions

Documenting the error by showing your merchant account for that retailer with no recent purchases or the receipt proving you returned the item in question and never received the refund you were due will make the dispute process simpler. 

Going into the process with evidence ensures speedy service from your credit card issuer and can help make things go faster.

Other types of evidence might include:

• Receipts
• Photos
• Communication exchanges with the merchant
• The merchant’s terms and conditions
• Dates and times that you spoke to the merchant on the phone

Contact the Merchant and Your Credit Card Issuer

The fastest way to find a resolution to an unauthorized or inaccurate charge is to reach out to the merchant directly. Provide the documentation that you’ve collected showing the charge is inaccurate.

If you can’t find a resolution with the merchant directly, it’s time to dispute the charge with your credit card issuer. Credit card charge disputes are fairly simple to complete using online tools. Just log into your account or search for how to complete a dispute with your specific credit card company. Most companies make it easy to complete the dispute digitally without sending a letter from the FTC.

Follow Up With the Credit Card Issuer

Monitor your account for ongoing changes or concerns and watch for a credit for the disputed charge. Sometimes, you won’t receive notification from your credit card company that the dispute has been resolved. Instead, you’ll just see a credit on the account.

If you don’t see a credit on the account within 90 days of reporting the issue, you should reach back out to the credit card company to find out where things stand.

Tips for Avoiding Future Credit Card Disputes

No one wants to face credit card disputes. But taking several steps can help you prevent such disputes in the future.

• Monitor your credit card statements regularly
• Set up transaction alerts and notifications with your credit card provider
• Protect your credit card information by only using the card on verified, secure websites you trust
• Request a new card if you suspect or otherwise get notified that your card has been part of a breach to prevent fraudulent charges
• Be aware of the most recent phishing scams
• Never complete transactions on public Wi-Fi
• Shred documents that have your credit card information on them
• Report fraud immediately to avoid future charges
• Shut down your credit card if it is lost or stolen

Disputing Inaccurate or Fraudulent Charges Protects Your Finances

You should not feel bad disputing an inaccurate or fraudulent charge on your credit card. You are responsible for protecting your financial well-being and ensuring your financial rights are respected and protected. Monitor your charges closely to watch for fraud or other transactional issues on your credit card.

Frequently Asked Questions