Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you have the right to withhold payment on poor-quality or damaged merchandise purchased with a credit card.

HERE ARE SEVERAL HELPFUL POINTERS:

• The purchase must be for more than $50 and the transaction must have been in your home state or within 100 miles of your home address. Few card companies enforce these limits. So you might be able to dispute a charge if the purchase was made outside your home state, over the internet, by phone or mail order, even though the credit card companies are not technically required to do so.
  
  
• Many card companies, such as Capital One, will issue temporary credit to a customer's account while a charge is in dispute. There are limits on big-ticket items spelled out in the Fair Credit Billing Act.

HOW TO DISPUTE A CHARGE:

• You must make a sincere effort to resolve the dispute with the merchant before you request your card company to reverse the disputed charge. Give the merchant a chance to fix the dispute.
  
  
• Return the defective merchandise back to the merchant. If you cannot return the merchandise, call the store's manager or supervisor. Keep records of each conversation, a paper trail will document your efforts.
  
  
• If the dispute is not resolved, put your complaint in writing. Detail your dispute in writing and send it to the merchant and send it certified mail. Be sure to make copies of all communication as you will need these to submit a claim to your card company.
  
  
• Contact your credit card company and alert them of the dispute and amount of the transaction. To be protected under the Fair Credit Billing Act you must do this in writing within 60 days after the bill containing the disputed charge is received.
  
  
• Be sure you send all of your correspondence by certified mail.
  
  
• The card company cannot charge you interest while a charge is being disputed.
  
  
• Act immediately. You want to inform your card company about the disputed charge before it is due for payment. Don't delay, especially if you are enclosing a payment on your account as it can take 5 or more days for the card company to credit your account.

TIPS:

If you have ever read the fine print on a credit card bill, you've probably seen this notice: Calling about billing errors will not preserve your rights.  With this in mind you must submit your dispute in writing.

The deadline for notifying your credit card company of the incorrect charge is 60 days from the date the bill was mailed to you.  Your credit card company has deadlines also. The creditor must resolve the dispute within two billing cycles, but not more than 90 days, after getting your letter.

To make the process go smoothly as possible, send the letter to "Billing Inquiries," not to "Customer Service."