Last spring, a reader wrote to the CFPB’s complaint database about a $400 pair of sneakers ordered from a third-party seller. The tracking number went dead after two weeks. The seller stopped answering emails. The credit card company initially told the buyer there was nothing it could do. That advice was wrong.
Federal law covers exactly this situation. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act (15 U.S.C. § 1666), nondelivery of goods or services qualifies as a billing error. That classification gives you the right to dispute the charge with your credit card issuer and, if the merchant cannot prove delivery, get the charge reversed. But there is a hard deadline: your written dispute must reach the issuer within 60 days of the statement that first showed the charge.
What the law actually says
The Fair Credit Billing Act, enacted in 1974 as an amendment to the Truth in Lending Act, created a formal process for consumers to challenge incorrect or unauthorized charges. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau implements the law through Regulation Z (12 CFR § 1026.13), which defines a billing error to include charges for property or services “not accepted by the consumer or not delivered as agreed.”
That language covers several common problems: a package that never arrived, an order that showed up damaged beyond use, a service you paid for but that was never performed, or a product so different from what you ordered that you reasonably rejected it.
Once your card issuer receives a valid written dispute, the law requires it to:
- Acknowledge your notice in writing within 30 days.
- Investigate the claim and resolve it within two complete billing cycles, but no longer than 90 days.
- Refrain from trying to collect the disputed amount or reporting it as delinquent while the investigation is open.
That last point matters more than people realize. During an active FCBA investigation, the disputed charge should not damage your credit score. The issuer is prohibited from reporting the amount as past due to credit bureaus until the dispute is resolved.
The burden of proof does not fall on you, either. According to official staff commentary on Regulation Z, now maintained by the CFPB, the issuer cannot simply deny a nondelivery claim without investigation. It must conduct a reasonable inquiry and can only reject your dispute if it can demonstrate that delivery actually occurred, typically through a signed delivery confirmation or tracking data showing receipt at your address.
How to file a dispute for nondelivery
The FCBA requires a written notice, not just a phone call. The CFPB’s dispute guidance lays out what to include:
- Your name and account number.
- The dollar amount of the charge you are disputing.
- A clear description of the problem. For example: “I ordered a laptop on March 15. The merchant charged $849 to my account. As of May 10, the item has not been delivered and the seller has not responded to my inquiries.”
Send the letter to the issuer’s billing inquiries address, not the general payment address. These are often different, and the correct one is typically printed on your statement or listed on the issuer’s website. The CFPB recommends sending the notice by certified mail with a return receipt so you have proof of when it was sent and when it arrived.
Many issuers now accept disputes filed online or by phone, and starting there can speed things up. But the statute’s protections are tied to written notice. If you are close to the 60-day deadline or want the strongest legal footing, put it in writing regardless of what you have already done over the phone.
There is no minimum purchase amount. The FCBA applies whether the charge is $12 or $1,200.
The 60-day deadline and why it matters
The 60-day clock starts on the date the issuer mails or electronically delivers the statement that first shows the disputed charge. Miss that window, and you lose the legal right to a formal investigation under the FCBA.
One detail worth flagging: the regulation says the notice must be “received by the creditor” within 60 days, not merely postmarked by then. Some of the CFPB’s consumer-facing materials use the word “send,” which is simpler but slightly less precise. The safer approach is to treat the deadline as the date the issuer must have the letter in hand. If you are mailing a dispute in the final week of that window, certified mail with tracking is not just helpful; it is essential.
After the 60-day period expires, your card issuer may still reverse the charge voluntarily or under its own internal policies. The CFPB’s refund guidance acknowledges that issuers sometimes help with late disputes. But at that point, you are relying on goodwill, not law. The issuer can say no, and you have no statutory fallback.
Where the rules get complicated
The FCBA was written for straightforward two-party transactions: you bought something from a merchant, and the merchant charged your card. Modern e-commerce rarely works that way. A single purchase on Amazon Marketplace, Walmart Marketplace, or Temu might involve a third-party seller, a separate fulfillment warehouse, and a payment processor, none of which is the card issuer. The law does not spell out how issuers should sort out responsibility among those parties when a dispute lands on their desk.
The FCBA’s text and Regulation Z focus on the relationship between the cardholder and the card issuer, without addressing the layered merchant structures common in marketplace e-commerce. As of June 2026, publicly available CFPB enforcement actions and compliance bulletins do not appear to tackle the specific question of how nondelivery rules apply when the merchant of record and the actual seller are different entities. That gap can leave consumers uncertain about how their disputes are evaluated behind the scenes, particularly when a marketplace like Amazon issues its own refund but the credit card charge remains.
There is also limited publicly available data on nondelivery dispute outcomes. Neither the CFPB nor the Federal Trade Commission publishes breakdowns of how many nondelivery chargebacks are filed each year, their success rates, or whether approval rates differ between direct retailers and third-party marketplace sellers. Without that transparency, it is hard to know how consistently the existing framework protects consumers at the scale of modern online shopping.
What the FCBA does not cover
This protection applies to credit card purchases only. If you paid with a debit card, a different statute governs: the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, implemented through Regulation E. That law also allows you to dispute unauthorized or erroneous charges, but the timelines are tighter and the liability rules are less generous. Report a problem within two business days and your liability is capped at $50; wait longer than 60 days after your statement and you could be on the hook for the full amount. Provisional credits work differently, too.
The FCBA also does not override a merchant’s return policy for items you did receive and simply want to send back. Nondelivery and buyer’s remorse are legally distinct categories. And while the law shields you from collection activity during an open investigation, it does not prevent the issuer from ultimately siding with the merchant if the evidence supports delivery.
One more thing worth knowing: filing an occasional dispute is your legal right and should not affect your standing with the issuer. But consumers who file disputes frequently may find their accounts flagged for review. Card issuers do not publish their internal thresholds, and no regulation prevents them from closing an account they consider high-risk. Use the process when you need it, but be aware that it is not invisible.
Steps to take before you ever need to file
A few habits can turn a potential headache into a quick resolution:
- Save confirmation emails and order receipts. Screenshots of the product listing, the price, and the estimated delivery date strengthen your case if a dispute becomes necessary.
- Track your packages actively. If tracking shows “delivered” but you never received the item, file a report with the carrier and note that in your dispute letter. Issuers generally treat package theft differently from merchant nondelivery, because in a theft scenario the seller may have fulfilled its obligation. How your issuer handles that distinction can depend on its internal policies and the evidence you provide.
- Contact the merchant first. Many sellers will issue a refund or reship without a formal dispute. Keep records of those conversations in case you need them later.
- Review your statements within a week of receiving them. The 60-day clock starts whether or not you open your statement. Catching a problem early gives you the most time to act.
Why the 60-day window is the single most important detail
The Fair Credit Billing Act remains one of the most powerful consumer protections available for online purchases. It shifts the burden of proof to the issuer, freezes collection activity during an investigation, and shields your credit report while the dispute is open. But none of that kicks in unless you file a written notice within 60 days of the statement date.
If something you paid for never arrives, do not wait for the merchant to resolve it on their schedule. Write the letter, send it certified, and let the statute do what Congress designed it to do nearly 50 years ago.
