Visa 12.5 · Mastercard 4834

They charged your card the wrong amount

If the amount taken from your card does not match the amount you agreed to pay, that is a processing error and you can have the difference put back. You do not have to prove bad intent — only that the price you agreed and the amount debited are not the same.

Does this apply to you?

• The amount charged is higher than the price you agreed
• A tip or service charge was added or altered without your agreement
• A decimal point or currency conversion turned a small charge into a large one
• A deposit was taken as the full amount
• You were billed the pre-discount price after a voucher was applied

How long you have to file

Visa gives you 120 days and Mastercard 90, both counted from the day the payment was taken.

That is the card network's outer limit. Your own bank often sets an earlier one, and a missed deadline ends a dispute however good the case is — so treat it as the day to have filed by, not the day to start.

What to gather before you file

• The receipt, order confirmation or quote showing the agreed price
• Your card statement showing the amount actually taken
• The menu, listing or advertised price, if the receipt is unclear
• Any message where the merchant agreed the amount was wrong

What the seller will argue

The merchant will usually say you agreed to the higher figure — that the extra was a service charge shown on the menu, a mandatory gratuity, or a currency conversion outside their control. If the difference came from dynamic currency conversion, note that being offered a choice of currency at the terminal counts as agreement, so check the receipt before assuming the amount was imposed on you.

What to do, in order

1. Compare the receipt and the statement line and write down the exact difference.
2. Ask the merchant to refund the difference — a slip of the finger on a keypad is common and usually fixed without a fight.
3. Keep the receipt. Without it this dispute becomes your word against theirs.
4. File with your bank for the difference, not the whole transaction.
5. Watch the deadline: Mastercard allows 90 days for this type, against Visa's 120.

When this will not work

If you signed a receipt showing the higher amount, or approved it on the terminal, you will struggle — the signature or the PIN is treated as your agreement to that figure.

Other problems we cover

• Your order never arrived. Here is how to get your money back
• They kept charging you after you cancelled
• What arrived is not what you paid for
• You paid for the real thing and received a fake