I Disputed A Credit Card Charge By Mistake Bankrate Caret RightMain Menu Mortgage Mortgages Financing a home purchase Refinancing your existing loan Finding the right lender Additional Resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Bank Banking Compare Accounts Use calculators Get advice Bank reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Credit Card Credit cards Compare by category Compare by credit needed Compare by issuer Get advice Looking for the perfect credit card? Narrow your search with CardMatch Caret RightMain Menu Loan Loans Personal Loans Student Loans Auto Loans Loan calculators Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Invest Investing Best of Brokerages and robo-advisors Learn the basics Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Home Equity Home equity Get the best rates Lender reviews Use calculators Knowledge base Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Loan Home Improvement Real estate Selling a home Buying a home Finding the right agent Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Insurance Insurance Car insurance Homeowners insurance Other insurance Company reviews Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Caret RightMain Menu Retirement Retirement Retirement plans & accounts Learn the basics Retirement calculators Additional resources Elevate your Bankrate experience Get insider access to our best financial tools and content Advertiser Disclosure
Advertiser Disclosure
We are an independent, advertising-supported comparison service. Our goal is to help you make smarter financial decisions by providing you with interactive tools and financial calculators, publishing original and objective content, by enabling you to conduct research and compare information for free - so that you can make financial decisions with confidence.
Bankrate has partnerships with issuers including, but not limited to, American Express, Bank of America, Capital One, Chase, Citi and Discover. SHARE: DRazen_/E+/Getty Images October 25, 2021 Checkmark Bankrate logo How is this page expert verified? At Bankrate, we take the accuracy of our content seriously. "Expert verified" means that our Financial Review Board thoroughly evaluated the article for accuracy and clarity. The Review Board comprises a panel of financial experts whose objective is to ensure that our content is always objective and balanced. Their reviews hold us accountable for publishing high-quality and trustworthy content. Poonkulali Thangavelu is a senior writer and columnist at CreditCards.com and Bankrate, addressing debt and credit card-related legal and regulatory issues. Brady Porche is an editorial director for Bankrate Credit Cards and CreditCards.com. He has two decades of professional experience as a writer and editor. Antonio Ruiz-Camacho is senior director of content for and . He has more than 20 years of international experience leading content teams, focused on consumer advice, technology and immigration. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate we strive to help you make smarter financial decisions. While we adhere to strict editorial integrity, this post may contain references to products from our partners. Here's an explanation for how we make money. The content on this page is accurate as of the posting date; however, some of the offers mentioned may have expired. Terms apply to the offers listed on this page. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any card issuer. Bankrate logo The Bankrate promise
At Bankrate, we have a mission to demystify the credit cards industry — regardless or where you are in your journey — and make it one you can navigate with confidence. Our team is full of a diverse range of experts from credit card pros to data analysts and, most importantly, people who shop for credit cards just like you. With this combination of expertise and perspectives, we keep close tabs on the credit card industry year-round to: Meet you wherever you are in your credit card journey to guide your information search and help you understand your options. Consistently provide up-to-date, reliable market information so you're well-equipped to make confident decisions. Reduce industry jargon so you get the clearest form of information possible, so you can make the right decision for you. At Bankrate, we focus on the points consumers care about most: rewards, welcome offers and bonuses, APR, and overall customer experience. Any issuers discussed on our site are vetted based on the value they provide to consumers at each of these levels. At each step of the way, we fact-check ourselves to prioritize accuracy so we can continue to be here for your every next. Bankrate logo Editorial integrity
Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. Key Principles
We value your trust. Our mission is to provide readers with accurate and unbiased information, and we have editorial standards in place to ensure that happens. Our editors and reporters thoroughly fact-check editorial content to ensure the information you’re reading is accurate. We maintain a firewall between our advertisers and our editorial team. Our editorial team does not receive direct compensation from our advertisers. Editorial Independence
Bankrate’s editorial team writes on behalf of YOU – the reader. Our goal is to give you the best advice to help you make smart personal finance decisions. We follow strict guidelines to ensure that our editorial content is not influenced by advertisers. Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate logo How we make money
You have money questions. Bankrate has answers. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Bankrate follows a strict , so you can trust that our content is honest and accurate. Our award-winning editors and reporters create honest and accurate content to help you make the right financial decisions. The content created by our editorial staff is objective, factual, and not influenced by our advertisers. We’re transparent about how we are able to bring quality content, competitive rates, and useful tools to you by explaining how we make money. Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. With the growth in online commerce, and consumers increasingly buying goods sight unseen, there’s a lot of scope for product returns. Consumers may find that what they get is not quite what they ordered. This may impel them to try to get a refund from the merchant. They may even file a dispute with the card issuer asking for a chargeback from the merchant of the amount involved. It’s all right for a consumer to initiate such disputes, and you do have certain rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act–but what if you dispute a card transaction by mistake? Be sure before disputing a card charge
Before you pull the trigger and initiate a dispute with your card issuer, make sure that the transaction is indeed one you don’t recognize. For one, it could be that you don’t recognize a charge because the merchant’s name doesn’t ring a bell in your mind. That doesn’t mean it’s an . What might have happened is that the merchant has a different corporate identity that it bills under. It may also be affiliated with a different company for billing purposes. Another possibility is that an on your card rang up the charge and did not keep you informed. So you should also check with authorized users to see if they are responsible for this charge. And it could be that the charge relates to a subscription renewal that you’ve forgotten about. It’s a good practice to hold on to your credit card receipts for a while so that you can verify any charges you don’t recognize. Fallout from chargebacks
You will not escape unscathed if the charge is a legitimate one. If the merchant challenges your dispute and prevails, you will be forced to pay an administrative fee “or other consequences,” according to , besides being charged for the original transaction. You would also owe any due on the disputed amount. Merchants could also retaliate otherwise. For instance, Sony tends to close the accounts of PlayStation users who file for chargebacks in addition to banning them permanently, according to Chargebacks911. Your actions could also impact the merchant involved. For instance, it will not receive funds related to the transaction from its bank until the matter is resolved. Merchants who have a lot of chargebacks filed against them could lose their rights to process credit card payments. That is likely to put them out of business, considering the heavy volume from credit card transactions, and your actions may have contributed to that outcome. Another point to keep in mind is that merchants will likely take care of chargeback costs by raising prices for customers and passing them on. Fair Credit Billing Act rights
If you don’t recognize a transaction, you do have the right, under the , to ask for an explanation. That may help jog your memory, and you could realize that there is nothing to dispute. In case it is indeed an unauthorized transaction, you can then exercise your and file a dispute. In any event, it doesn’t hurt to be vigilant if you don’t recognize a credit card charge. Some consumers might try to resort to their FCBA rights if they want a refund from a merchant, after experiencing buyer’s remorse, for instance. They may think a chargeback will be an easier course to take. However, it’s better to contact the merchant directly and try to resolve the issue. The bottom line
If you dispute a credit card charge by mistake, contact your card issuer and explain the situation. You could also follow up with the merchant if required. Before you initiate a dispute, be sure that it is indeed an unauthorized charge. You should contact the merchant first and see if you can resolve the matter with it. Contact me at with your credit card-related questions. SHARE: Poonkulali Thangavelu is a senior writer and columnist at CreditCards.com and Bankrate, addressing debt and credit card-related legal and regulatory issues. Brady Porche is an editorial director for Bankrate Credit Cards and CreditCards.com. He has two decades of professional experience as a writer and editor. Antonio Ruiz-Camacho is senior director of content for and . He has more than 20 years of international experience leading content teams, focused on consumer advice, technology and immigration. Related Articles