Win a chargeback against a merchant that took your money

This step produces the two numbers everything else hangs on: a one-line record of the charge and a hard calendar deadline for filing your dispute. The tricky part is that two clocks run at once — the card network allows about 120 days from the transaction date (or from the expected delivery date, when goods never arrived), while credit cards get only 60 days from the statement under the Fair Credit Billing Act. You need the network figure now; it is the backstop that keeps your case alive.

Sign in to the card issuer's app or portal and open the statement that first lists the charge — or the transaction history for that month. Write down, exactly as shown:

• Transaction date and posted date; they can differ by a day or two.
• Amount charged, in dollars and cents.
• Merchant name as it appears — the billing descriptor, not the storefront name.
• The statement line and the statement's closing date.
• Your order or confirmation number, if you kept one. Then find the expected delivery or performance date from the order confirmation, the booking email, or the tracking page, and calculate the days elapsed since the transaction date and since the expected delivery date. Compare both to the window: about 120 days from the transaction, or 120 days from expected delivery when the goods did not arrive. If you are inside, write the deadline as a calendar date, not a day count.