The Effects of Disputing Charges on a Credit Card

By Experian Team

2 min readJul 24, 2015

Dear Experian,

Will disputing a charge on my credit card affect my credit? Can the company with which I am in dispute give me a bad credit report? My phone was shipped to me and signed for by someone else. I did not receive it. The company refuses to send me a new one, so I am disputing the charges.

- TNM

Dear TMN,

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.

Thanks for asking.
The "Ask Experian" team