Online shopping, at one point, was just an alternative to the traditional ‘go to the store and buy things’ type of shopping.

Back in the day, not many people used it. Today? You’d probably have difficulty finding one person who doesn’t. And why wouldn’t it be popular? It’s so convenient that you can do all your purchases from the comfort of your couch. But what happens when you order something, and then the wrong item comes, or it doesn’t come at all, or it’s damaged, or different from what was advertised?

What then?

In any of these situations, your first instinct is to dispute the charge, so the bank can handle it. After all, isn’t that their job? We have credit protections for a reason.

Banks will pull records, contact the merchant, request proof, and have you wait while they verify the entire story. Sometimes you win, other times you don’t.

And in some super fun cases, you’ll win, and then the merchant will fight back, and the bank will flip that decision to ‘lose’. And if you use disputes too much, the bank might decide you’re not worth the trouble and freeze your account.

Before you start using disputes like there’s no tomorrow, read what happens when they backfire.

When Online Shopping Disputes Fail or Get Reversed

If you file a dispute, it doesn’t automatically absolve you from the obligation.

More than one-third of Americans admit to committing first-party fraud, so you know why nobody will just hand you the money back.

The bank wants to hear both sides of the story, and they’ll give merchants quite a bit of room to prove the charge was valid. If you file too late or the merchant provides strong evidence, such as receipts and delivery confirmations, your dispute can be denied immediately.

But that’s not the worst that can happen.

With some disputes, things will likely be resolved in your favor, and you might even get a refund quickly. But then, a few days or even weeks pass, and the money is out of your account yet again because the merchant won.

And then you end up with a negative balance on your bank account. A lot of people get totally blindsided by this because they had no idea the case wasn’t actually closed.

And if you can’t pay up after the reversal, your account could be marked as delinquent. After that?

Collections and, eventually, a mess of a credit report.

On the other hand, sellers are ready for this. A lot of them, especially in high-risk categories, use chargeback protection for high-risk credit card processing & payment gateways. So, when you file your claim, the seller isn’t the only one you’re arguing with; you’re up against their entire system, built to protect them from chargebacks.

How Disputes Get Risky

Something that a lot of people don’t realize is that banks don’t look at one single dispute on its own; they’re keeping a tally. If you file too many of them, it will 100% backfire sooner or later. To the bank, this looks like you’re a risky customer or, worse, that you’re trying to cheat the system.

And that’s when things get serious.

1. Disputing Left and Right

If you’re always on the phone, trying to challenge charges, you’ll be more trouble than you’re worth to the bank. The bank is not your friend; it’s just another institution you’re forced to work with because you live in a civilized world.

They’d much rather keep your money and forget you exist.

2. Disputing Subscriptions

One of the most common disputes revolves around subscription services that charge monthly fees (e.g., Netflix, Google Drive, Cloud, Disney+, etc.).

The problem with these is that it often looks as if you (the consumer) are trying to get out of a monthly service after you’ve consumed the product. And this realization gives you a disadvantage.

Regardless, if there are issues, you can always use confirmation emails, and screenshots of conversations you had with customer service representatives.

3. Merchant Blacklists/Consumer Bans

Banks and card issuers aren’t the only ones that can cause problems for you. Stores and payment companies are keeping their own scores, and customers who dispute charges too much end up on their private blacklists. If that happens to you, you’ll get banned from shopping from that seller ever again.

Some payment providers will even share their lists with their partners so that the problem could follow you around.

4. Long-Term Credit Implications

Filing a dispute won’t be reflected on your credit report, but the consequences of having too many of them? That might.

If the bank decides to close your account because you’re not worth the trouble, that will drop your overall credit limit. That makes your balances look higher compared to your limits, which can lower your score. Closing an older account can also cut down the average age of your credit, so that’s another hit.

Regardless – even if you’re in the right all the time – whoever disputes charges too often may find themselves having their credit score affected (negatively).

Conclusion

As you have clearly seen, disputing charges is a risk, and the bank might show you the door if you do it too often.

As much as you want to (and you should) protect your money, your financial reputation is much more important and way harder to get back.