What happens when I dispute a credit card charge?
I filled out the form to dispute a charge on my credit card that I authorized as a deposit for something, was told it was refundable, but then after I cancelled they refused to refund. What happens next?
Public Comments
- The amount will appear on your statement as a disputed item and will not have to be paid until it's investigated. The credit card company will contact the other party to get their story. Then you will be notified when a decision is made if you need to pay it or not.
- This depends on your issuing bank. Most banks will issue you a credit, or at least place the charge into dispute long enough for them to get enough detail from you to key a chargeback against the acquiring bank. This is the merchant's bank. If you paid for that charge on a VISA card, you bank is going to be disputing that you are owed a credit from the merchant that was not posted to your account. If after the bank issues your credit, the merchant disagrees, then they will dispute the credit. Their bank will represent to the issuing bank and will provide documentation to support their claim. Basically once that happens it is up to your credit card to prove that one of the following occured: You were properly disclosed of the merchant's cancellation policy, however when you cancelled the merchant failed to refund you in accordance with that policy. OR Your bank will prove tha tyou were not properly disclosed of the merchant's cancellation policy. If this took place over the phone, then you are in good shape, as the merchant usually cannot prove one way or the other whether that took place. If you signed a contract with the merchant then your bank will have to read the contract and determine if the contract contains proper disclosure on how to cancel when to cancel by, ect, ect. If the credit card company can prove that the merchant didnt' do this, then they usually win by default. Your best bet is to be prepared for the merchant to dispute the credit. If your cancellation took place by phone, get phone records of the date you made the call to prove it. Usually telepone cancellations are frequently disputed by merchant simply because they are harder to prove one way or the other. However if you made the call with a cell phone you are golden. Even if not, if it was a long distance, possibly even toll free number your phone company might be able to track it. If cancellation took place via email, print and save copies to prove it later. Please know however, if you signed a contract that clearly stated something like cancellation must take place within three business days and can only be served in writing, well then that must be how you cancelled. If you simply called in your bank would not be able to win because in that case the merchant would have properly disclosed to you what you needed to do to cancel per their terms and conditions, and you would have failed to do so therefore losing the case. Hope that helps!
