Credit Cards

Credit card refunds work differently depending on whether you're returning a purchase, disputing a charge, or getting cash back from a merchant. When you return something you bought with a card, the refund goes back to your card account—not as cash, but as a credit that reduces what you owe or appears as a deposit if you've paid off your balance. Disputes and chargebacks follow their own timelines, as do refunds from merchants who process them manually versus automatically.

These articles cover how refunds actually land in your account, how long the process takes from return to posting, what happens when a merchant delays or denies a refund, and how to track the status of money you're waiting for. You'll also find information about the difference between refunds and credits, what to do if a refund never shows up, and how to handle situations where a merchant and your card company disagree about whether a refund is owed.