Not having a guide on how to resolve a credit card dispute can be frustrating especially if you see a charge you do not recognize or one you didn’t authorize.
Resolving a credit card dispute may be daunting at the initial stage, but if you have a dispute on your credit card here’s a simple guide on how to sort it out.
What is a Credit Card Dispute?
Disputes may arise, if a cardholder contacts his/her card issuing bank to demand for a refund of their money. Disputes are a feature of the Visa, MasterCard as well as American Express card networks aimed at protecting cardholders against fraudulent activities.
Why do disputes arise?
Disputes may arise because of the following reasons;
Not as described
This when a cardholders claims to have never received the goods, or that the goods didn’t meet up the specification expected.
Not recognized
This happens when a cardholder does not recollect what a charge in the bank statement relates to.
Fraud
When a purchase is not authorized by the cardholder. This is as a result of their card being stolen and fraudulently used.
Admin error
This are issues like duplicate billing, incorrect amount billed or a refund which was promised but never received.
How to Resolve a Credit Card Dispute
Call
Start your dispute resolution by putting a phone call across to the company where the charge originated. Since some credit card charges can actually take up to 24 hours to two business days to actually post on your statement, if you are able to notice the charge on time, you can all the store or vendor and have them reverse the payment without having to involve your credit card issuer.
Dispute
If you are not successful in resolving the unauthorized charge directly with the merchant, you can involve your credit card issuer. This you can do by calling your credit card issuer and ask to dispute a specific charge.
You may be quizzed for additional documentation, including a detailed letter which includes the business name, the amount as well as the date of the charge, and the reason for disputing.
Note, however that you will not be required to pay the charge while it’s in dispute. Thus to be doubly sure of your claims, ensure you find out if the charge is a simple billing mistake or credit card fraud.
This is to help you know the odds that are against you, as most credit card issuers offer comprehensive fraud protection and may reverse the charge without asking for proof in the form of documentation.
Wait for few weeks
After you’ve initiated a dispute, you may need to give time for the results of the investigation. Thus, within a few weeks of initiating the dispute, you may be sent a letter or email requesting additional information that may help in the dispute investigation. When this happens, you may upload further documentation to help your case.
That said, in order to stay updated on your credit card activities, it is advised that you check your statement as often as possible and understand your credit card issuers protection policies, which can come in handy in the case of unauthorized charges.
