Disputing a card payment

What the law guarantees for an unauthorised or badly executed payment, and what to ask your bank about a dispute with a seller.

When you can dispute

According to the Institut national de la consommation (the French National Consumer Institute), you can dispute a card payment in four cases: it was not authorised, the card or its data were used without authorisation, the payment was badly executed or not executed, or the amount charged exceeds what you could reasonably have expected.

Deadlines

Unauthorised or badly executed payment within the European Economic Area: act without delay, and at the latest 13 months after the debit.
Authorised but excessive amount: contact your bank within 8 weeks of the debit.

What the law guarantees

If you still have your card and an unauthorised payment was debited, the bank must refund you immediately. It is up to the bank to prove the operation was authenticated, and to prove fraud or gross negligence on your part in order to refuse.

And for a dispute with a seller?

The INC page does not cover a parcel that was not delivered or a disagreement with a seller, nor the card networks’ “chargeback” procedure. Ask your bank or your payment provider: the conditions vary and are not always a right.

Say things exactly

Your statement to the bank must match what happened. Declaring that you did not receive a parcel that you have in hand is a false declaration.