Writing a Successful Credit Card Dispute Letter

If you want to write a successful credit card dispute letter, you must have objective, justifiable reasons for writing it and include a certain amount of necessary information. For example, let’s say you discover an error on your monthly credit card bill and want to dispute it with your creditor. Under Canadian law, you have certain rights in this situation, and your credit card company has certain responsibilities to assume. It is important to dispute bills in written form and on time. You must list specific figures, facts, dates, names, descriptions, locations, and other data in your letter. Make sure you include the sale bill (if it is an item that you have purchased and want to dispute), a copy of receipts, the credit contract, and other documents that are necessary to make your claim appear legitimate. This is not to say you should go ahead and file illegitimate claims, but that you should take the time and the necessary steps to avoid the risk of your claim being perceived as such by your credit card company.

With that in mind, you will find a large number of sample letters on the Internet, which you can review. In most cases, you can download them for free. All letters must start with the date, beneath which you should write your full name, address, and phone number. Make sure this information is current and up-to-date, because your credit card provider may wish to contact you in person to iron out certain details or if they require additional information for whatever reason. Of course, you should also include the name of the credit card company, their address, and other contact information. If there is a specific person or department that handles claims, you should also indicate these details in the letter. Make sure you check the address of the company, because it is not always the same as the one you mail payments to.

The letter should begin with information about the item you are disputing, immediately followed by the date of the statement. Let’s say there is an item on your record that you have no recollection of and consider disputing. You may think it was put in your statement randomly, and you never even bought this item. This could be the case, or you may have simply forgotten all about it. Sometimes the items are listed in such a way that they do not bear any resemblance to the actual product you bought. If this is the case, you should write that you cannot understand what the charge is for and that you need more information about this particular item. After you do this, request copies of all the documents the credit card issuer has with regard to the particular product. Make sure you provide all the details surrounding the product as well as the account number of your credit card. Provide the date of the transaction, a description of the transaction, and the error as well. If you are not disputing the item itself, only its price, you should list the price in Canadian dollars.