Tips to fight your travel credit card dispute

3. Exhaust all other options

A credit card dispute shouldn’t be your first move but rather a last resort, say experts.

“You should go to the merchant first to try to resolve your problem,” says Josh Moritz, a managing partner at Blau Moritz Klang, a marketing agency that develops credit-card debt collection programs for banks.

“Oftentimes, the merchant will make amends.” That might include a partial refund or credit for a future product.

Consider the resolution carefully before deciding to take your case to a dispute, which is more of a winner-takes-all proposition. You might be better off compromising.

4. Know the law

The Fair Credit Billing Act lets you dispute billing errors directly with your credit card company. It covers everything from fraudulent purchases to incorrect billing amounts to deficient merchandise, according to Orlando-based consumer rights attorney Don Petersen.

“Credit card companies must conduct a reasonable investigation within two months and send … a letter informing the consumer of the results of its investigation,” he says.

Here’s more information on the rules. Also, bear in mind that you may have other remedies, says Ken Lin, the chief executive of Credit Karma, a financial information company based in San Francisco.

“There are often consumer protection laws at the state level regarding warrantees and refunds,” he says.

5. Don’t forget the exceptions

The Fair Credit Billing Act has provisions that say the purchase price must exceed $50 and the transaction needs to occur within the same state as the cardholder’s address, or within 100 miles of the cardholder’s address, in order for the law to apply.

But credit card companies’ dispute departments do not always observe that. “In practice, these provisions aren’t generally enforced,” says Curtis Arnold, the co-author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Person-to-Person Lending.” “So if you have a dispute on a transaction that’s on the other side of the country, don’t let this prevent you from filing.”

6. Remember your paperwork

Documentation is important for any credit card dispute, says Rich Bialek, a Wheaton, Illinois-based credit card expert.

After contacting your card company, it will review your eligibility and examine the transaction for technical compliance.

If it passes both those tests, it hands the dispute off to the travel company, which eventually triggers a dispute resolution process established by each of the card networks.

“This process is similar to a trial, with the card issuer representing the consumer, the merchant’s bank representing the merchant and the network acting as judge and jury,” he says. In order to win, you’ll need ample documentation, according to Bialek.

His advice: “Keep receipts.”

7. If you lose, you still have options

“You can complain to the Federal Trade Commission and sue if the dispute is not resolved properly,” says Sandy Shore, a senior counselor for Novadebt, a Freehold, New Jersey-based credit counseling services firm. Put differently, just because you lose a dispute doesn’t mean you’ve lost the money.

When you’ve won your dispute and reported the travel company to the government — as I’m sure any reader of this column is capable of — be sure to show your appreciation to your credit card company. A card that successfully advocates for you deserves your business and recommendation.

And what if it fails?

“If you’re not satisfied with your current company,” says Glen Lazovick, a senior vice president at Mid-Atlantic Federal Credit Union in Germantown, Maryland, “Go elsewhere.”