The product never arrived. It was materially different from what you ordered. The merchant refuses to fix it. The Fair Credit Billing Act can provide a federal billing-error process — but only for qualifying credit-card transactions and only if you follow the procedure.
First: FCBA is not the same thing as every “chargeback”
The Fair Credit Billing Act creates statutory billing-error rights for qualifying credit-card accounts. Debit-card protections come from different laws and network rules, so this procedure should not be presented as a universal debit-card or payment-app chargeback rule.
What counts as a billing error?
Federal law includes a statement reflecting goods or services that were not accepted by the consumer or were not delivered in accordance with the agreement made at the time of the transaction. This can cover merchandise that never arrived or arrived in a materially different form from the agreement, depending on the facts.
The 60-day deadline
The FCBA generally requires the consumer's written notice of a billing error to reach the creditor at the address disclosed for billing-error notices within 60 days after the statement containing the error was transmitted.
This is why consumers should not wait for a merchant's internal investigation to finish before checking the card issuer's statutory deadline.
What should your written notice contain?
- Your name and account number.
- Identification of the disputed transaction.
- The date and amount of the charge.
- A statement that you believe the statement contains a billing error.
- The reason — for example, merchandise was not delivered as agreed.
- Copies of supporting documents, keeping originals for your records.
Send the notice to the billing-error address specified by the issuer, not merely the address used for ordinary payments, unless the issuer's statement says otherwise.
What does the issuer have to do?
Under the FCBA, after receiving a proper billing-error notice, the creditor generally must acknowledge receipt within 30 days unless the problem is resolved sooner. It must then either correct the error or determine that the bill was correct within two complete billing cycles — and in no event later than 90 days.
What happens while the dispute is pending?
The consumer must pay undisputed portions of the bill. The issuer cannot generally treat the disputed amount as delinquent during the statutory investigation if the consumer follows the required procedure, although the exact protections and facts should be checked carefully.
Do not simply stop paying the entire credit-card bill because one purchase is disputed.
How to build the evidence file
- Order confirmation.
- Product description and advertised specifications.
- Tracking history.
- Photos showing what was actually received.
- Merchant correspondence.
- Refund request and response.
- Credit-card statement showing the charge.
- Copy and proof of delivery of the billing-error notice.
What if the bank rejects the dispute?
Ask the issuer to explain the reason for the decision and preserve the investigation record. Depending on the institution and the issue, you may have additional complaint or regulatory routes. If the dispute involves a covered billing error and you believe the FCBA procedure was not followed, the statutory requirements should be identified specifically rather than simply asking for a “chargeback”.
What this means practically
- Confirm that you used a qualifying credit-card account.
- Check the 60-day written-notice deadline immediately.
- Use the issuer's billing-error address and required format.
- Pay the undisputed portion of the bill.
- Keep proof that the dispute notice was received.
Sources
- U.S. Code — 15 USC § 1666, Correction of billing errors: uscode.house.gov
- U.S. Code — 15 USC § 1666(b), definition of billing error: uscode.house.gov
- Federal Trade Commission — What To Do if You’re Billed for Things You Never Got: consumer.ftc.gov
Related Kibbo Tools
- Chargeback Letter Generator — structure an FCBA billing-error notice with transaction and evidence details.
- E-commerce Refund & Cancellation Tracker — track the 60-day deadline, the issuer's response, and supporting documents.