What Does Disputing a Charge Mean: Deadlines, Filing, and Outcomes

Disputing a charge means formally asking your bank or card issuer to reverse a transaction on your statement because you believe it is wrong. Two federal laws set the rules: the Fair Credit Billing Act covers credit cards, and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (through Regulation E) covers debit cards.¹ Both give you the right to have the charge investigated, cap your liability for fraud, and force the issuer to follow deadlines once you file. For credit cards, your maximum liability for unauthorized charges is $50, and most major issuers waive even that.²

The rest of this explains when a charge qualifies, how long you have to act, what to send, and what happens next.

When You Can Dispute a Charge

Federal law treats “billing error” broadly. A charge is disputable if it falls into one of these situations.

Unauthorized Transactions

Any charge you did not make or approve — from a stolen card, a data breach, or someone using your account without permission — is unauthorized. Credit card liability tops out at $50 by statute, and issuer policies usually reduce that to zero.²

Billing Errors

Being charged twice for one purchase, billed the wrong amount, or charged for something you canceled all count. The issuer must investigate and correct confirmed errors.¹

Goods Not Delivered or Not as Described

If a merchant never ships an item, or what arrives is broken or materially different from what was described, you can dispute the charge. The law protects you when goods were “not delivered to the obligor in accordance with the agreement made at the time of a transaction.”¹

Quality complaints work a little differently. If you’re disputing the quality of something you bought rather than a straightforward billing mistake, federal law requires a good-faith attempt to resolve the problem with the merchant first. The purchase must also exceed $50 and have been made in your home state or within 100 miles of your billing address.³ Those geographic and dollar limits do not apply if the merchant and the card issuer are the same company or are affiliated.

ATM and Electronic Transfer Errors

Debit disputes go beyond point-of-sale purchases. An ATM dispensing the wrong cash amount or an electronic transfer posting incorrectly is an error under Regulation E, and your bank must investigate it using the same procedures.⁴

Deadlines and Liability by Card Type

How long you can wait, and how much you might owe, depend on which card you used.

Credit Cards

You must send written notice of the error within 60 days of the statement that first showed the charge.⁵ Once you do, the issuer cannot collect the disputed amount, charge interest on it, or report you delinquent while the case is open.⁶ Your grace period on new purchases stays intact if you pay the rest of the bill on time.

Debit Cards

Debit card liability is tiered, so speed matters much more than it does with credit:

Reported within 2 business days of learning about the loss: liability capped at $50.
Reported after 2 business days but within 60 days of your statement: liability up to $500.
Reported after 60 days: you could be on the hook for every unauthorized transfer that happens after the 60-day window and before you notify the bank.

Review debit statements promptly.⁷

How to File a Dispute

The Fair Credit Billing Act technically requires written notice sent to the creditor’s billing-inquiry address (not the payment address) within the 60-day window.⁵ Most issuers accept disputes through their website or app, which is faster and adequate for routine cases. If you want the strongest legal footing, send a letter by certified mail so you have proof of delivery. The FTC recommends including copies of your supporting documents and keeping the originals.⁸

Your notice should include your name, account number, the specific charge, the dollar amount, and a clear explanation of why it is wrong. Documentation that helps:

Receipts, digital or printed, showing the actual price or item.
Shipping and tracking records proving nondelivery or a return.
Emails, chat logs, or a written phone log with names, dates, and what was said, showing you tried to resolve it with the merchant.
Photos or screenshots of a damaged product or a service description that doesn’t match what you received.

For a quality-of-goods dispute on a credit card, expect the issuer to ask for proof that you contacted the merchant first, because the statute requires it.³

What the Bank Must Do

Credit Card Investigations

The issuer must acknowledge your dispute in writing within 30 days, unless it resolves the matter entirely within that period. It then has up to two full billing cycles, and no more than 90 days, to finish investigating and either correct the account or send you a written explanation of why the charge stands.⁵ The issuer cannot close or restrict your account solely because you aren’t paying the disputed portion, but you still owe the rest of your bill on time.

Debit Card Investigations

Your bank has 10 business days to investigate. If it needs more time, it can extend to 45 calendar days, but only if it provisionally credits your account for the disputed amount within those first 10 business days.⁴ For point-of-sale debit transactions, the extended window runs to 90 days.

How the Dispute Ends

You Win

If the investigation confirms the error, the issuer must correct your account. On a credit card, that means removing the charge and reversing any interest and fees tied to it.⁵ On a debit card, any provisional credit becomes permanent. You’ll get written confirmation.

You Lose

If the issuer concludes the charge is accurate, it must notify you in writing, explain why, and tell you what you owe. You can request copies of the documents it relied on.⁸ For a debit dispute where the bank gave provisional credit, it must warn you at least five business days before pulling that credit back, and during those five days it must honor checks and preauthorized payments without hitting you with overdraft fees.⁴

Effect on Your Credit

Filing a dispute doesn’t directly hurt your score. Credit bureaus generally flag the account as in dispute and exclude the disputed amount from score calculations while the investigation is open.⁹ Some lenders may hold off on new credit while a dispute is pending. If the dispute is resolved against you and you don’t pay, the issuer can then report the debt normally.

If Your Dispute Is Denied

A denial isn’t the end. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you can appeal by writing back to the issuer to say you still dispute the charge. The appeal must be sent within the payment deadline the issuer gives you or within 10 days of receiving the written explanation, whichever is later.⁸

Once you appeal, the issuer can start collection and may report the amount delinquent, but it must also report that you dispute it, and it must notify everyone who received the delinquency report once the matter is finally resolved.⁸

If the bank still won’t fix it, file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, online or at (855) 411-2372. The CFPB forwards the complaint to the company, which generally has 15 days to respond and up to 60 days for a final response. Your complaint and the response become part of the CFPB’s public Consumer Complaint Database.¹⁰

Don’t File a Dispute You Know Is False

The right to dispute is a consumer protection, not a way to reverse charges you actually authorized. A bank that concludes you filed a knowingly false dispute can reverse the credit, close your account, and refuse to do business with you. Banks also track dispute patterns, and a high volume of chargebacks can be enough for an issuer to drop you as a customer.

Knowingly filing a false chargeback can also be a crime. Fraudulent use of a credit card, including obtaining goods or money through false claims, can carry fines up to $10,000 and up to 10 years in federal prison.¹¹ Prosecutors can also charge broader federal bank fraud, which carries penalties up to 30 years in prison and fines up to $1,000,000.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC Chapter 41 Subchapter I Part D – Credit Billing
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1643 – Liability of Holder of Credit Card
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666i – Assertion by Cardholder Against Card Issuer of Claims and Defenses
4
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Regulation E 1005.11 – Procedures for Resolving Errors
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors
6
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Can They Charge Me Interest on a Charge I Did Not Make?
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1693g – Consumer Liability
8
Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
9
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. If I Dispute a Debt, How Does That Show Up on My Credit Report?
10
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Submit a Complaint About a Financial Product or Service
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1644 – Fraudulent Use of Credit Cards and Penalties