Chargeback Clock
Online Course Refund Chargeback: Course & Coaching Disputes
You paid for a course or a coaching program, and what arrived was not what was sold — or nothing arrived at all. This guide gives you the course-specific version of the dispute: the promise-vs-delivery test, the ladder in order, the evidence pack, and the clocks. Use the Online Course / Coaching Dispute Checker first for a verdict on your facts; this guide explains the reasoning behind it.
1. The promise-vs-delivery test
Every course dispute is decided by comparing two documents: the offer as written, and the delivery as recorded. Write both down before you file anything. The offer side is the sales page, the curriculum list, the emails, and any specific promise ("12 live group sessions", "certificate on completion", "access for 12 months"). The delivery side is your login record, the lesson list you can actually open, the session calendar, and the messages you sent asking for what is missing. If the two sides match and you are unhappy anyway, stop here — that is the buyer's-remorse line, and no reason code covers it. If they do not match, you have a case to argue, and the size of the mismatch decides the size of the claim: for a partially delivered course, dispute only the undelivered part, not the whole price, unless nothing of value was delivered at all.
2. The ladder, in order
Step 1 — Seller, in writing. Message the seller through email or the platform, name the exact gap ("Module 7–9 listed on the sales page are not in my account"), and set a reasonable reply deadline. Keep the message and any reply. Visa 13.x cases generally expect this attempt first; skipping it weakens the filing. Step 2 — Course platform. If you bought through a platform, file its refund or complaint process and keep the case reference. Read that platform's published refund policy first: windows vary by platform, and this guide states no single platform figure because none is universal. Step 3 — PayPal (if that was the payment method): open a dispute in the Resolution Center within 180 days of the payment date, and escalate it to a claim before the dispute closes — a closed dispute cannot be reopened. Friends & Family payments are not covered by Buyer Protection, so do not count on that route for them. Step 4 — Card issuer. File under the network reason that fits: 13.1 for services not received, 13.3 for not as described, 13.2 for billing after cancel, 13.6 for a promised credit that never arrived. For a credit card, send the FCBA written notice to the billing-inquiries address within 60 days of the statement showing the charge — a phone call alone does not carry the same legal protection. For a debit card, the Regulation E notice clock is also 60 days from the statement, but a quality dispute is generally not a Regulation E "error": say explicitly that you are filing a card-network dispute, not only a Reg E error notice. If a properly filed dispute is denied, a CFPB complaint at consumerfinance.gov/complaint requires the company to respond; it does not itself reverse the decision.
3. The evidence pack
- Original offer screenshots — the sales page, curriculum list, and any promised outcome, captured as the buyer saw them, not paraphrased later.
- Promised-vs-delivered table — every module or session promised beside every module or session actually available, with dates.
- Access and attendance logs — login records, locked-lesson screenshots, calendar invites, and no-show emails for promised live coaching.
- Your dated messages to the seller — the request, the deadline you set, and the reply or the silence.
- Refund or cancellation proof — the refund promise in writing, or the cancellation confirmation with its date, plus statements showing charges after it.
- Receipt and statement — amount, date, and seller or platform name exactly as charged.
4. The clocks, side by side
| Clock | Who sets it | The rule |
|---|---|---|
| FCBA written notice (credit cards) | Federal law, 15 USC 1666 | Written notice within 60 days of the statement showing the charge; creditor acknowledges within 30 days, resolves within two billing cycles (max 90 days). |
| Regulation E notice (debit cards) | Federal law, 12 CFR 1005.11 | Error notice within 60 days of the statement; bank investigates within 10 business days (provisional credit if longer, up to 45 days). Quality disputes are generally not Reg E errors. |
| Card-network filing window | Network norm (Visa Category 13) | About 120 days from the transaction; for services not received, from the expected service date (outer cap 540 days in specific cases). Ask your issuer which start date applies. |
| PayPal dispute window | PayPal Purchase Protection | Open in the Resolution Center within 180 days of the payment date; escalate to a claim before the dispute closes. Friends & Family excluded. |
5. The buyer's-remorse line, stated plainly
A course that was delivered as described but did not change your life is not a chargeback. Neither is a course you did not finish, a method you did not enjoy, or results that were never specifically promised ("most students see results" is not a promise of your results; "you will earn $5,000 in 30 days" is a specific claim to test against delivery). Filing disappointment as "not as described" — or worse, as fraud — misstates an authorized purchase, gets denied on the evidence, and can flag your account for repeated misfilings. The honest route for disappointment is a goodwill request to the seller, and the platform's own refund window if one applies. This guide and its checker will never help reframe an authorized, delivered purchase as fraud.
Check your own case
Five questions, a verdict band, your ladder in order, and your evidence list.
Sources (verified November 2, 2026): Fair Credit Billing Act, 15 USC 1666 (12 CFR 1026.13) — 60-day written notice, 30-day acknowledgment, two-billing-cycle / 90-day resolution; Regulation E, 12 CFR 1005.11 — 60-day notice, 10-business-day investigation, provisional credit, and the scope limit for merchant quality disputes; Visa Core Rules Dispute Category 13 as summarised by processor and rule guides (network norm, not a statute) — 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.6, the ~120-day window, and the merchant-attempt expectation; PayPal Purchase Protection help pages — 180-day Resolution Center window and the Friends & Family exclusion; Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, consumerfinance.gov/complaint — complaint route and its limits. Your cardholder agreement and the platform's published policy govern your case.
Last updated: November 2, 2026. General information only — not legal advice.