How to Dispute a Subscription Charge and Get Your Money Back

If a subscription charged you after you canceled, billed you twice or showed up without your permission, you can dispute it. Send a written dispute to your credit card issuer within 60 days after the first statement with the charge was sent, and ask the company for a refund at the same time. The Fair Credit Billing Act then requires the issuer to investigate. Below are the steps in order, the deadlines, and what changes if you paid with a debit card.

#Is it a billing error or a renewal you forgot?

The Fair Credit Billing Act covers billing errors such as a wrong date or amount, a math mistake, or a charge for something that wasn't delivered as agreed. For subscriptions, that usually means:

• Charged after you canceled, and you can prove you canceled.
• Double-billed for the same period.
• Wrong plan or amount, like a pricier tier you never picked.
• A charge you never authorized. Federal law limits your responsibility for unauthorized credit card charges to $50.

What usually isn't an error: an auto-renewal you agreed to and forgot. The company billed what the terms said, so a dispute is likely to fail. Ask for a goodwill refund instead, and read how to avoid charges after a free trial so it doesn't happen again.

Can't tell what a charge is? Start with how to find forgotten subscriptions on your credit card statement.

#Step 1: Cancel the subscription and collect proof

Stop the next charge before you fight the last one:

1. Cancel where you're billed. If the statement shows something like "APPLE.COM/BILL" or "GOOGLE PLAY", the subscription belongs to the app store. If it shows the service's name, cancel in that account. For Netflix, see how to cancel Netflix.
2. Screenshot the cancellation confirmation with the date visible, and keep the confirmation email.
3. Save the statement with the disputed charge: date, amount and the exact merchant name.
4. Write down ticket numbers from chats or calls, with the date and time.

Proof of cancellation turns a he-said-she-said argument into a clear-cut billing error.

#Step 2: Dispute the subscription charge with your card issuer

Don't wait for the company to answer before you act: the 60-day clock runs from your statement, not from your last email to support. The FTC's guide to disputing credit card charges lays out the Fair Credit Billing Act process:

• Write to the billing-inquiries address, not the payment address. You'll find it on your statement or the issuer's website.
• Make sure the letter arrives within 60 days after the first bill with the error was sent to you.
• Include your name, account number, the amount and date of the charge, why it's wrong, and copies (not originals) of your proof. Send it by certified mail with a return receipt if you can.

Your issuer may also let you start a dispute online or by phone. That's a fine first move, but the process the FTC describes is built on a written notice, so send the letter as well.

While the dispute is open, you can withhold the disputed amount and related finance charges, but you still pay the rest of the bill. The issuer can't report you as delinquent over the disputed amount during the dispute. If it finds an error, it must correct it and remove the related charges.

Example: if Spotify Premium Individual ($12.99/mo, US price checked in October 2026) billed you twice in one month, you dispute the extra $12.99. If Netflix Standard ($19.99/mo, US price) charged you after you canceled, you dispute that whole charge.

#Step 3: Ask the company (or the app store) for a refund

At the same time, ask the company directly, using a channel that leaves a record, like chat, email or a help form. A short template:

Hi. I canceled my subscription on [date] (confirmation attached), but I was charged $[amount] on [date]. Please refund this charge and confirm that no further charges will be made. Please send me a reference number.

If you subscribed on your phone, ask the store. Apple takes refund requests at reportaproblem.apple.com and says you can expect an update within 24 to 48 hours. Google asks you to report unauthorized Google Play charges within 120 days and says contacting the app's developer is often the quickest route.

If the company refunds you, tell your card issuer so the dispute can be closed.

#What if you paid with a debit card?

Debit card charges fall under a different law, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, with its own deadlines. The CFPB summarizes the key rules:

• Report the problem within 60 days after the bank sends the statement showing it. Sooner is better.
• The bank generally has 10 business days to investigate (20 if the account is less than 30 days old). If it needs more time, it generally must give you a temporary credit and finish within 45 days, or up to 90 for some transactions.

To stop a recurring debit charge, the CFPB says to tell the company you're revoking permission, then tell your bank, following up in writing with both. You can also ask for a stop payment order, though banks generally charge for it. After you revoke authorization, any further payments the company initiates are errors, and you can ask your bank for a refund.

#Is the FTC click-to-cancel rule in effect?

No. The FTC finalized its "click-to-cancel" amendments in October 2024, but the Eighth Circuit vacated them in July 2025 on procedural grounds. In March 2026, the FTC started over with an advance notice of proposed rulemaking, asking whether to keep the current rule, adopt parts of the vacated 2024 rule or try other options. As of October 2026, the FTC's rule page lists no proposed rule.

You're still protected in other ways:

• ROSCA, a federal law, requires online subscription sellers to disclose the terms clearly, get your express consent before charging, and provide simple ways to stop recurring charges. The FTC enforces it.
• State auto-renewal laws can go further. California's law, strengthened on July 1, 2025, says that if you signed up online you must be able to cancel online, and businesses must send an annual reminder and notify you 7 to 30 days before a price change takes effect, according to the state Attorney General.

#Where to complain if nobody fixes it

• The FTC, at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, for companies that make canceling hard or keep billing you.
• Your state attorney general's consumer protection office. In California, that's oag.ca.gov/report.
• The CFPB, if your card issuer or bank mishandles the dispute.
• Small claims court, as a last resort, with the proof you collected in Step 1.

#How Subfaro helps

The easiest charge to fix is the one you catch before it posts. Subfaro alerts you before each charge and before free trials end, so a surprise renewal doesn't slip by. You can also upload your card statement (PDF, CSV or OFX) to find recurring charges, with no bank login; the file isn't stored.

When you cancel a service, mark it as canceled in Subfaro to keep your tracker accurate. That doesn't cancel anything with the provider: Subfaro gives you the official cancel link, and you cancel there.

The free plan tracks up to 10 subscriptions with no time limit. Create your free account.