Recently, American Express has changed its policy guidelines to make the card dispute or chargeback process faster and more effective.
The American Express dispute center is intended to facilitate the dispute or chargeback process with a balance between the cardholder and the merchant.
How do I know if a chargeback dispute can be filed?
Thanks to the FCBA of 1974, it is permissible for a credit card holder to file a dispute if their card has been used fraudulently or in the event of a billing error on their monthly statement.
In this way, one can obtain a refund of the amount wrongly charged by the card issuer.
For a payment to be considered erroneous, it must occur on incorrect dates or with incorrect amounts exceeding the established. Returns or canceled orders are also considered erroneous billings, as is sending invoices to an incorrect address.
Fraudulent payments occur when unauthorized charges appear. Only payments over $50 are considered valid for dispute. Only open accounts, such as credit cards, are applicable for disputes.
Disputes must be filed within 60 days of delivery of the invoice. If a dispute is filed after this time period, your card issuer may not recognize or take responsibility for the charge.
It is also possible to file a dispute if a fair payment was made for a service or some good that turned out to be defective or if it does not match the characteristics previously provided about it.
The purchase must exceed $50 to file a dispute and must have been made within a distance of at least 100 miles from the billing address. The dispute will be carried out as long as the user has first attempted to contact the seller to resolve the issue.
Ways to file a dispute with American Express
Filing a dispute is simple. You must log in to your American Express account and access the “Account Status and Activity” area. Then click on the erroneous transaction and select “Dispute/Enquire about this charge,” initiating the dispute process.
You will be asked for information about the transaction, such as the date and amount or the reasons for the dispute, as well as personal information related to the card ID, owner, name, and address.
These will be received if there is any additional evidence, such as erroneous amounts on invoices or prices. In addition to this process, it is always advisable to make a dispute letter in case the solvency becomes complicated.
The letter should be addressed to the credit card issuer. It should not be addressed to the email usually reserved for payments. It should be addressed in the “payment inquiry” area of the card provider.
The letter should likewise include all information related to the dispute, from the card owner’s name and address to the full card number and information about the billing error, such as amount, charge, etc.
Evidence related to the billing error should also be added, such as images of the damaged product or evidence of attempted contact with the seller.
The letter must be sent immediately upon noticing of the error, and the card issuer must receive the dispute within 60 days of delivery of the bill with the erroneous charge.
How long does it take to resolve a dispute?
Usually, disputes are resolved in a time period of no more than 30 days. However, complicated or nuanced disputes may extend this time frame.
To keep track of the status of the dispute, you can log in to your American Express account and go directly to the “inquiry and dispute center,” and then go to “manage my disputes”. After finding the dispute, click on the “View or Cancel Open Disputes” section and select “Cancel or View Status”.
In the same way, it is possible to cancel the dispute if it has not been completed within 30 days. Following the same procedure as above, but after clicking on “Cancel or View Status,” you must click on “Cancel Query”. You must state why you wish to cancel the dispute and then click on “send“.
To avoid this type of process, it is important to maintain regular monitoring of transactions on your account and avoid sharing personal information about accounts or cards.
References
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“How to Dispute a Credit Card Charge.” American Express Credit Cards, Rewards & Banking, American Express, https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/credit-cards/credit-intel/dispute-credit-card-charge/.