What is a dispute?
A dispute is when a Cardmember doesn’t recognise a transaction or they do not agree with the amount of the transaction. We call this query a dispute.
The vast majority of Cardmembers pay their American Express® bill upon receipt. However,
occasionally, a Cardmember may question a Charge, either because they don’t recognise it or they
want additional information about the transaction. We call this query a dispute. Usually this occurs
within the first 60 days after the Cardmember receives their billing statement.
What is a Chargeback?
A Chargeback is a debit for the amount of the disputed charge that American Express
is entitled to collect from a Merchant.
If a Cardmember questions a transaction on their statement, we may contact you to get some
further information on the transaction. In many cases disputes are incorrect and the Charge stands.
However, in some circumstances the dispute is upheld and we credit the Cardmember and debit the
Merchant. This is known as a Chargeback.
Notifying you about a dispute or Chargeback
In the event that a Cardmember questions a Charge, AMEX try to resolve it.
Failing that, AMEX may contact you for further information. AMEX will send you a ‘Request for
Information’ letter describing the reason for the dispute, and detailing the documents
that we require from you in support of the transaction. Please ensure you respond to
this letter by the reply-by date indicated on the letter.
In certain circumstances, AMEX will debit disputed Charges without sending a ‘Request for
Information’ letter. For example, Merchants with high enquiry rates or those conducting
transactions in what are considered risky business environments may be required to accept full
recourse on all enquiries.
In this instance, Card member disputes are immediately Charged back.
merchants will be notified about these Charge backs on monthly statements or via Online Merchant
Services (OMS) if you manage your account online.
How to handle a Request for Information letter
Should you receive a Request for Information letter, you can respond either by post or fax. Please
ensure you send all the documents we have requested in the Request for Information
letter before the reply date on the request. If you don’t reply by that date, American Express
will deduct the Charge value from your Merchant account.
Next steps once you have returned the Request for Information letter
Once AMEX have received this, they will either:
• Request that the Cardmember pay the Charge, or
• Debit your account because the Cardmember’s claim hasn’t been handled adequately.
You may not re-submit a Charge after a dispute related to it has been resolved in favour of the
Cardmember. Charges that are re-submitted will immediately be Charged back.
Where the enquiry results in a Chargeback to your account, you will be notified accordingly
If you have any questions in relation to disputes and
Chargebacks, please call the AMEX dedicated Merchant Disputes
Team on 01273 57 66 43.