Chargeback: how to get back money paid by card

Four things worth knowing

You raise it with your own bank. The shop has no say in whether you can.
Try the shop first. Your bank will want evidence that you did.
For undelivered goods the window usually runs from the delivery date, not the payment date.
A chargeback is not a legal right. It is scheme protection, and it can be refused.

A shopper with a payment card calling their bank about a disputed payment

When a chargeback works, and when it does not

A chargeback settles a dispute about one transaction, not your satisfaction with a purchase. Banks recognise it mainly in three situations: the goods never arrived, something else arrived, or you never authorised the payment and somebody used your card.

It does not work where you got what you ordered and simply do not want it. That is a cancellation against the seller, not a matter for your bank.

And it does not exist for bank transfers. The whole mechanism is built into the card networks. Once money has gone by transfer, your bank cannot claw it back as of right. The same applies to cryptocurrency and gift cards — which is exactly why an unfamiliar shop is worth paying by card.

Which deadline applies depends on what happened

This is where most write-ups go wrong. There are two clocks and they point at different things.

For goods that never arrived or arrived wrong, the window comes from the Visa and Mastercard rules and is commonly around 120 days — counted from the date delivery was due, not the date you paid.

For a payment you never authorised, the protection comes from law rather than from the schemes, and it is usually far longer: 13 months in the EU and the UK, with the bank obliged to refund promptly unless it suspects you acted fraudulently. In the US the equivalent protections limit your liability sharply if you report quickly.

The difference is not academic. Somebody who reads that they have thirteen months and applies that to an undelivered parcel loses the claim.

There is a third number on top of those, and it surprises people. Individual banks set their own recommended windows, often far shorter than the scheme limit. Those internal deadlines do not extinguish your claim — they are guidance — but there is no advantage in testing them. A fresh case is easier to prove, because the shop still exists and the correspondence is to hand.

How to raise one with your bank

Every bank routes it differently, and this is the part most guides skip with “contact your bank”. In practice there are three doors and one of them will be open: the transaction detail inside your banking app, the customer line, and a dispute form on the bank's website.

The app is usually quickest. Open the transaction, look for “dispute”, “report a problem” or “raise a claim”, and you will be walked through the questions the scheme requires.

Check the procedure on your own bank's site rather than relying on any article, this one included. Banks change these routes, and an out-of-date instruction is worse than none.

One thing is the same everywhere: the scheme rules are identical for every issuer. Only the route to your bank differs.

What you have to produce

Banks want much the same things, and you can gather them in one sitting: the payment details including date, amount and the last four digits of the card; the order or invoice; the promised delivery date; your correspondence with the shop; and photographs where the item arrived damaged or is a counterfeit.

Your bank wants to see that you approached the shop first. The safest move is therefore to send a written demand at the very start, even when you expect no reply. The full sequence is in the piece on what to do when an order never arrives.

Fraudulent shops disappear and take the evidence with them. A screenshot of the product page and its price, taken on the day you order, is worth a great deal three months later. What to watch for before you buy is in the safe shopping checklist.

What to do if your bank refuses

It happens, and it is only fair to say so plainly. A chargeback is not a legal entitlement, and the merchant's bank can contest it — by producing proof of delivery, for example.

A refusal is not the end. Ask for it in writing, then take it to whichever body handles complaints against banks where you live: an ombudsman scheme in many countries, the financial regulator in others. You will normally have to have complained to the bank in writing first.

A consumer authority will not return your money, but it does supervise traders and may add the shop to a public warning list. Our scanner reads the lists it can; being absent from them proves nothing, because authorities publish late and only what they have verified themselves.

And the police, where this is fraud rather than a commercial dispute.

Step by step

1Day 1: written demand to the shopBy email, with a deadline. It feels pointless when the shop has gone quiet, but it is the document your bank will ask for.
2Day 1: save the evidenceOrder confirmation, payment record, screenshot of the product page.
3Once the delivery date passes: call your bankAsk whether a chargeback applies to your situation and exactly what they need. An adviser's answer beats any general guide.
4Within weeks, not months: file itDo not spend the window waiting. The evidence is strongest while the shop still exists.
5If it is refused: get the decision in writingYou cannot escalate to an ombudsman without it.

Common questions

What does a chargeback cost?: Most banks charge nothing, but not all. Check your own bank's fee schedule.
Do I have to complain to the shop first?: In practice, yes. Banks want to see that you tried, and without it your claim is weaker. The exception is a payment you never authorised — there, call the bank immediately.
I paid by bank transfer, not by card. Can I raise a chargeback?: No. Chargeback exists only for card payments. For a transfer you can ask your bank to try to recall it, but that is a request, not an entitlement.
Will the bank always refund me?: No. A chargeback is a process, not a guaranteed outcome, and the merchant can defend it by producing proof of delivery. The odds are still far better than with any other payment method, and filing costs nothing.
Can I use it for a subscription or an instalment plan?: Yes, the rules are the same. With a recurring payment, cancel the mandate first, or the next one will be taken even after the dispute is settled.