How to dispute a charge with your credit card company.

The process for charging back a credit card charge with every credit card company is the same.  The question is where do you send your dispute.  Disputing a charge with Discover, American Express, Chase or Citibank is the same 4 step process. Below is a description of where to send your credit card disputes to if you bank with any of these institutions.

Step 1.  Identify the charge you want to dispute, specifically.

Be sure to the the merchant name, date of the charge and amount available to you when you create your dispute.  You can create the dispute online or write a letter if you must.  I am not keen on the post office ever since COVID hit because a lot of our mail was never delivered and never returned to us.  With an online dispute, you can be certain that it will be received by the credit card company.  Be sure to capture a screen shot of every dispute and correspondence that you have with your bank.

Step 2 Wait no longer than 2 weeks for the acknowledgment.

The credit card company must acknowledge your dispute within 30 days, but with the speed of email, there is no reason why they cannot acknowledge your dispute in 2 weeks.  If you don’t receive an acknowledgment in 2 weeks time, make  your dispute again because you only have 60 days from the date that the charge hits your account to dispute it.

Step 3 – The bank must conduct a reasonable investigation into your dispute.

This means that they must contact the merchant to get its side of the story.  The reality of these situations is that even if you swear on a stack of bibles that you are telling the truth, the bank will probably side with the merchant, but who knows?  You still have to go through this process before you can sue the bank to credit your account.

Step 4 – Get your dispute results from the bank.  Chances are strong that it will rule against you (See step 3 above).

Take heart.  You were prepared for this since you were smart enough to read this.  Seriously though, once the bank declines your dispute, you have just 2 options; walk away and eat the loss or 2.  litigate with the bank with a law firm that will cost you nothing out of pocket.  Remember, the banks are paying their attorneys on an hourly basis so really, you have an advantage.

When the credit card company denies your dispute, call us.  We will take it from there.

The banks have had a large upsurge in charge backs over the past several years due to identity theft.  This is still the fastest growing crime in America.  Still, that does not mean that you should pay for the goods and services that someone else billed to your account.  The banks are taking a hardline position wanting to recoup the funds that they paid to the merchant out of your account and they don’t really care who reimburses them.  We do.

What to do if the credit card company refuses to credit your account?

Let us fight for you, for free.  We are happy to  draft the right dispute letter for you, for free.  We take the time to understand your complaint and advise you of your rights.  Our advice is free and so is the dispute letter.  If we have to sue the merchant or the credit card company, our fees and costs get paid when we collect from these defendants.  Our lawsuits cost you nothing out of pocket.   If you have inaccurate or unauthorized charges on your credit card, call us at Law Offices of Gary D. Nitzkin, P.C. at (216) 358-0591or email us at Gary@micreditlawyer.com for a free, no obligation consultation.

How to Dispute a Credit Card Charge with Chase ©

Chase would like you to try to resolve issues with the merchants first.  This is not a bad idea except that many merchants will not deal with  you fairly.  They just want to get paid.  You also only have 60 days from the date that a charge appears on your credit card statement to dispute it.  If you miss that 60 day period, then you can only fight it out with the merchant which is a lot harder than fighting it out with Chase.  If you have a dispute to your Chase credit card account call (866) 564-2262 which is the phone number to Chase’s dispute line.  Have your credit card and statement that contains the bogus charge in your hand when you call.  You can also sign into your Chase account here, which is a far better idea that disputing over the phone.  Here is the link to sign into your Chase account.

How to Dispute a credit card charge with American Express ©.

You can log into your American Express account here.   You then choose your card and then you can start your dispute.  Again, be sure to have your credit card and credit card statement that contains the bogus charge in your hand or in front of you when you posit the dispute.  You will need to identify the charge or charges you are disputing and the reasons why you are disputing them.  Good reasons to dispute a charge include not receiving the goods and services you ordered, whether received untimely or not all or receiving goods and services that you did not order.  Issues with quality may not be a reason to dispute a charge with your American Express, but its still worth a try.  If you have to call American Express you can reach their Dispute Department at (800) 528-4800.  You should only use the telephone to make your dispute if you absolutely must.  Disputing your credit card charges on line is a safer bet because you can take screen shots to prove the date on which you made your dispute(s).

How to Dispute a credit card charge with Bank of America ©.

 Like most banks, you can log into your Bank of America account here.   You can also call Bank of America at (800) 432-1000 to make  your dispute.  Again, you are better off making your dispute online and saving screenshots of the dispute that document the date that you made it.  You should also have your credit card and the credit card statement in  your hand when you make the dispute to Bank of America.

A word about “chip” transactions and how to dispute them

Most credit cards today contain a chip in the credit card in an effort to reduce the amount of credit card fraud that has plagued the industry.  Using a credit card with a chip allows the credit card company to verify that the consumer who owns the card is the actual person using the card….most of the time.  You see, while credit card magnetic stripes can easily be replicated, chips cannot.

While the chip is a good idea, it’s not perfect.  For example, when you order goods online such as an Uber or on Amazon, neither of these merchants are using the chip in your card to process the charge.  They are simply taking your credit card information that is readily available on the front and back.  Moreover, there are times when a merchant’s chip reader is not working right and they simply ask you to swipe the card the card instead of using the chip.  These situations avoid the security that the chip provides.  Hence, even though your card may have a chip in it, it can still be compromised.

DO NOT LET A BANK DECLINE YOUR DISPUTE BECAUSE YOUR CARD HAS A CHIP IN IT.  If you have a dispute to a charge on your credit card statement and the bank declines to process that dispute because your card has a chip, call us.  We will fight for you and it will cost you nothing out of pocket.

Let us fight for you at no out of pocket charge to you.

Let us fight for you, for free.  We are happy to  draft the right dispute letter for you, for free.  We take the time to understand your complaint and advise you of your rights.  Our advice is free and so is the dispute letter.  If we have to sue the merchant or the credit card company, our fees and costs get paid when we collect from these defendants.  Our lawsuits cost you nothing out of pocket.   Visit us at Law Offices of Gary D. Nitzkin, P.C. , call us at (216) 358-0591 or email us at Gary@micreditlawyer.com for a free, no obligation consultation. Our lawsuits cost you nothing out of pocket.  Fighting the bank on your own is a bad idea.  The banks’ lawyers fight these fights every day with very experience and seasoned lawyers.  You should have one in your corner, too.  We want to be your lawyers!

Attorney Gary Nitzkin

Licensed in Michigan only

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How to Dispute a Charge with Chase Bank for the DIYer in you.

            Step 1 – Send your Dispute to Chase within 2 billing cycles of when it first appears on your credit card statement. 

You can dispute the charge online with Chase or simply write a letter to Chase.  Pre pandemic, I used to prefer sending dispute letters.  They are easy to copy and keep for court.  Unfortunately, the postal service has fallen down greatly on its ability to deliver mail.  You may be better served positing your dispute online and taking a screen shot of the dispute before clicking on “Send.”  In your dispute letter, be sure to clearly identify the item you are disputing and the reason.

You have a very short time period of 2 billing cycles, within which to posit your dispute to Chase.  If you miss that period, you may lose Chase as a defendant, but you can still duke it out with the merchant.  However, its much easier to get the bank to remove the charge from the account than the merchant, in many instances.

Step 1a – Good Disputes vs. Bad ones

Reasons to dispute charges to Chase include:

• You did not authorize the charge and gave no one permission to authorize the charge/  If you give your credit card to someone or give someone permission to purchase, say $100 of goods and they take advantage and order $200 worth of goods, you do not have a valid credit card dispute.  You gave this person apparent authority to order goods and services to your credit card account.  Compare this with when an identity thief takes your credit card information and uses it, then you have a bona fide credit card dispute since you never authorized the thief to use your account.

• The goods and services that you ordered were never delivered. We see a lot of these kinds of disputes today.   This happens when you deal with a shady merchant or when the delivery service does not do its job.  In these instances, you have a good credit card dispute.  But just be mindful that if goods and services are delivered to you that do not meet your expectations, then you may not have a credit card dispute that involves the bank.  You have a dispute that involves only the merchant.
• The goods and services you ordered were wrong and you rejected them. For example, that the UPS guy delivers the wrong brand of bicycle to your home and you tell him that you are not accepting the delivery.

Remember, the difference between filing the right kind of dispute vs the wrong kind is the difference between having the bank fix the problem vs. having to duke it out with the merchant, directly.

Step 2- Make sure you receive an acknowledgment from Chase. 

This acknowledgment is legally required of Chase and is your proof that you made your dispute, timely. Since you are likely to make your dispute online, this may be your only proof that you made your dispute on time.  Be sure to keep this acknowledgment safe in your records.  If you do not get an acknowledgment of your dispute within a few days’ time of when you posited it, be sure to make your dispute again and again, until you receive an acknowledgment.

Once Chase receives the dispute, they cannot attempt to collect it, nor charge you interest while they investigate it.  The credit card company bears the burden of proving that the debt belongs to you.  Also, be aware that Chase cannot report you as being late to the credit bureaus for not paying the disputed debt, while it is investigating.

Step 3 – Be sure to get the results of your investigation online or in writing and save it to your records.

If Chase rules in your favor, you are good but you should still save the determination email/letter in your records.  Sometimes, a merchant may attempt to charge you, again, for the same debt or the credit card company may reinsert the charge into your account.  You will need this determination letter from it to show that the debt is not your obligation.

If Chase rules against you, you should contact us so we can explain your options to you, for free.  Our first step may be to write a letter to Chase asking for proof that the debt belongs to you.  Many times, credit card companies do a lousy job investigating disputes.  We don’t let them get away with doing a half assed job.  We want to see proof of delivery of the goods and a contract showing that you agreed to the goods and services.  If they cannot produce these things to our satisfaction, we will sue them for you.

Step 4 – A lawsuit that costs you nothing out of your pocket

Under the Fair Credit Billing Act (“FCBA”), we can sue Chase for you to remove charges that do not belong to you or that should not appear on your account.  As part of our lawsuit, we ask the court to award you damages, an accurate billing statement, costs and attorneys’ fees.  We typically settle, with our clients’ permission of course, for all of these items.  The goal of the lawsuit is to get your credit card account accurate, your credit report cleaned from any damaged caused you proper refusal to pay debt that is not yours, all at not out of pocket charge to you.

Call us today for a free, no obligation consultation.

Talk to an attorney today at Law Offices of Gary D. Nitzkin, P.C. or call us at (216) 358-0591 for a free, no obligation consultation.  You will speak with one of our attorneys who will explain your rights under the law and help you decide which path works best for you.  You can also email Attorney Gary Nitzkin for more information at  Gary@crlam.com.  Contact us today.

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