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I am curious:

I placed a credit card order with a merchant late last year for a subscription service as a Christmas gift. It was an "X of the month" style subscription for a family member, of six months length. To date, the merchant has made exactly two shipments, promises the moon, but refuses to follow through on my complaints.

I am strongly considering disputing this through the credit card as that is the only way I believe I will ever get satisfaction at this point. The original purchase was in the range of a few hundred dollars, so an equitable refund would be about 2/3 that amount. All parties (merchant, credit company, myself) are in the United States.

My question is this: What effect, if any, might this have on my own credit score?

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Disputing credit card charges should not have an effect on your credit score.

According to Experian:

Disputing a charge on your credit card will not negatively affect your credit standing, although the credit card company may add a statement to your credit report indicating that the account is currently in dispute.

Although a dispute notation by itself would not be considered negative, potential lenders may inquire as to the nature of the dispute, and some may require that the dispute be resolved before proceeding with an application for major purchases such as a mortgage.

It is important to talk with your credit card company and be certain you understand the process for disputing charges on your account, as well as its policy for how the dispute will be reflected on your credit reports, if at all.

In some cases, you may be expected to continue to make payments on the amount in dispute while the charges are being investigated. If so, failure to make those payments while the investigation is pending would likely result in your account being reported as delinquent, which would then negatively affect your credit history and credit scores. Late payments remain on your credit report for seven years from the original delinquency date.

I have disputed charges on my credit card before, and I have never had an issue with it affecting my credit score/report. As long as you have proof that your disputes are legitimate (whether that be documents, receipts, etc.), then you should be fine.

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