Credit Card Dispute: A Right and a Responsibility!

Dear All,

With this post, I will be starting a series of knowledge based articles for the understanding of the general public and the credit/debit card holder's in particular regarding their rights to rightfully dispute the transactions/charges on their credit and debit card bill along with certain other facilities extended to all under Federal/ Central Laws.

It is of utmost importance to know that the laws govern both the card issuer and the user of the card, that is the Cardholder or a Cardmember (terms used by various card issuers and gateway providers like American Express, VISA and MasterCard among others).

My area of focus will be the card holders residing in the USA and India and the upcoming posts will cover various claims one can make under the laws of both the countries and also per the policies of AmEx, VISA and MasterCard.

A request: Please reply to the posts with your understandings, requirements and suggestions for any improvement. I will be happy to answer any queries regarding your disputes/claims.

Kindly note that all the business names, logos, trademarks and others are the proprietary of their respective owners and Me, as an author of this blog has no ownership or rights of these. Any mistake on representation of the trademarks is deeply regretted and suggestions/critical remarks on correction and improvement are welcome with high regards!

Cardholder’s Responsilibilities

Before we think of our right to dispute a charge on our card (and I will go into details of the different types of claims or disputes one can file with the Financial Institution or bank) we should take a stock of our responsibilities as a Cardholder. Be vary of the people and websites who teach “how to dispute and win a dispute”. It’s a legal thing and therefore, should be a legitimate one as it is governed by the laws of the land. No preaching of oft repeated things which one can find in guidelines from financial consultants however, these are helpful in reducing our disputes and hence some of the detrimental effect of disputes, mainly on our credit scores. Here we go:-

General book-keeping

• Always keep your card safe and keep a regular tab if it’s still with you. It helps you reduce the claim of unauthorized charges on your account or charges for which you have no knowledge of. 
• Also, the above point helps you get to know of the theft/loss at the earliest and avoid huge sums be taken out of your account by unscrupulous elements.
• Keep the receipts of your store purchases and the email confirmation of the online/internet purchases till you receive your monthly account statement.
• Always tally your purchases on statement with the emails/receipts you have before paying.

Specific Points to Remember

• Always purchase online from the reputable merchants. If purchasing from EBay or other similar sites, review the merchants selling the products and their longevity on these sites. These sites do keep a tab on the sellers and have strictest of measures in place to keep the safety and satisfaction of the consumers at the forefront of every deal. However, we should on our part be on a lookout for unscrupulous sellers. This works as an extra layer of safety and does not consume a lot from us.  
•  Always read the terms and conditions, mainly for the online/internet purchases on the amounts to be charged and the pattern of charges meaning, is it a onetime charge or will it be an ongoing/recurring/perpetual one.
• Take special precaution for the membership, subscription offering sites as they are most likely to turn into disputes when you forget that you have enrolled for an ongoing service, subscription or a membership.
• Always ask for a credit receipt or a form of acceptance from the merchant that a credit is due on account for any reason you have requested it from the merchant.
• Avoid your card being swiped multiple times when a particular Point-of-Sale (POS) machine is not working as it may lead to multiple charges on the account and a subsequent dispute.

These are some of the check points which when kept makes a purchase on our card a bliss. When mixed with a judicial use of the credit and debit card, these help in keeping our financial wellbeing.

Although the above list is not an exhaustive one, I will be sharing specific ones when I start the various categories of credit card disputes one can file with the banks.

A lot more on credit card disputes is coming in the following weeks. Please share your feedback and do not forget to give suggestions to improve. Because, this is for you only!