How Do I Dispute A Credit Card Purchase?

Credit card fraud and identity theft are cybercrimes that are quite popular these days. Because of the frequency of these crimes, it is possible that once in a while you may find a questionable charge on your credit card statement.

If you do, in fact, find a disputable charge on your credit card there is a process that you must undertake if you want to remove it. Credit card companies understand that this is part of doing business so they will work with but you should be as prepared as possible before heading into discussions or negotiations. First of all, there are several reasons why you might dispute a charge:

• The purchase is legitimate but the charge is the wrong amount
• The charge is a duplicate for a purchase you made legitimately
• The charge is for a purchase that you did not make

Contacting The Merchant

The most important thing that you can do before you make any accusations or file any claims is to identify and verify the incorrect charges. This may seem simple and obvious but without this confirmation you cannot make any progress. You confirm this purchase by first contacting the merchant. Most of the time, you can resolve the issue by simply doing this because the merchant can check their records to see that it was simply a computer or operational error.

Contacting The Credit Card Company

There are several reasons why you might contact the credit card company in the event of a dispute:

• The merchant will not cooperate
• The merchant cannot verify or negate the charge
• The merchant can verify the charge as a legitimate one (which means someone used your credit card or credit card number at their establishment)

Usually, merchants are able to help you, but sometimes they can't or they won't. This is why you must also contact the credit card company to let them know about the problem. In many cases you can get this process started over the phone but they will also probably send you a form to fill out with information regarding the facts surrounding the incident. Submit this information as completely and as efficiently as possible if you want to expedite the process. Generally, this is all you can do for now; the credit card company will take care of the rest.

The Results

Getting results for credit card disputes is not always easy. This is particularly true when a purchase is made legitimately but through another party. If your claim is denied you can continue to pursue the issue, but you will probably have to find more pertinent information. Of course, if you notice that there are more than one or two charges, it is probably best to close the account and focus on identity theft instead of credit fraud.

Conclusion

If you see a questionable charge on your credit card, you have every right to dispute it. There are many ways you can do this and once the dispute is verified you should not have much trouble getting the process started.