How long a company has to refund your money depends on what you bought and how you paid. For most online, phone, and mail orders, federal rules give the seller 7 working days to send a refund on cash, check, or money order payments, and one billing cycle for purchases financed on the seller’s own credit account. Credit card refunds go through your card issuer, which adds its own processing time. Airlines run on a separate clock, and in-store purchases are governed by state law and the store’s posted policy.
Online, Phone, and Mail Orders
The Federal Trade Commission’s Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule covers refunds for goods you ordered remotely. Once you’re entitled to a refund — usually because the seller can’t ship on time and you’ve opted to cancel rather than accept the delay — the clock starts, and the deadline depends on your payment method:1eCFR. Part 435 – Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise
- Cash, check, or money order: the seller must send the refund within 7 working days.
- Third-party credit card (a Visa, Mastercard, or similar card not issued by the seller): the seller must send a credit notice to your card issuer within 7 working days. Your issuer then processes the credit, which typically adds several business days before the money appears on your statement.
- Seller-financed credit, such as a store credit card where the store itself is the lender: the seller must credit your account within one billing cycle.
If the seller can’t ship any part of your order, it must refund the full amount you paid, shipping and handling included.2Federal Trade Commission. Business Guide to the FTCs Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule
Airline Ticket Refunds
Airlines follow separate federal rules enforced by the Department of Transportation. Under regulations that took effect in August 2024, an airline must automatically refund you when it cancels a flight or makes a significant change to your itinerary and you choose not to travel.3Federal Register. Refunds and Other Consumer Protections, 2024 FAA Reauthorization You do not have to accept a voucher, travel credit, or rebooking.
A “significant change” includes a departure moved 3 or more hours earlier for a domestic flight or 6 or more hours earlier for an international one, an arrival delayed by the same amounts, a switch to a different origin or destination airport, added connections, or a downgrade to a lower cabin class without your consent.
The refund must go back to the original payment method on this timeline:4US Department of Transportation. Refunds
- Credit card: 7 business days.
- Cash, check, or debit card: 20 calendar days.
In-Store Purchases
The FTC’s shipping rule applies to remote orders. It does not cover items you buy in person, and no federal statute sets a universal refund window for in-store purchases. State consumer protection law fills the gap.
About a dozen states require retailers to clearly display their return policy — on signs at the register or store entrance, or on the receipt. Where a store fails to post any policy, consumers typically gain a default right to return items, often within 30 days of purchase with proof of purchase. States that do require posted policies generally let stores set almost any terms they want, including “all sales final,” as long as those terms are visible before you buy.
When “All Sales Final” Doesn’t Apply
Even a legitimate “all sales final” policy generally doesn’t protect a store that sold you a defective product. Under the Uniform Commercial Code, adopted in some form by nearly every state, goods carry an implied warranty that they work for their ordinary purpose. When a product arrives broken, fails shortly after purchase, or doesn’t match its description, the seller typically must offer a repair, replacement, or refund regardless of what the return policy says. The specifics vary state to state, but a blanket no-returns rule doesn’t override your right to functioning merchandise.
Subscription Cancellations
The FTC’s click-to-cancel rule, finalized in late 2024, requires subscription sellers to make cancellation at least as easy as signing up, and to stop charging you once you cancel.5Federal Trade Commission. Federal Trade Commission Announces Final Click-to-Cancel Rule Making It Easier for Consumers to End Recurring Subscriptions The rule doesn’t set a specific refund deadline for charges billed after you tried to cancel. If a service keeps charging your credit card after cancellation, the general billing dispute rights described below give you a way to reverse those charges.
How Your Payment Method Adds Time
The merchant’s deadline to start the refund is one clock. Your bank or card network runs a second clock on top of it.
Credit Cards
After the merchant sends the credit notice to your issuer, the issuer must verify the transaction and route the credit through its network. This typically takes 3 to 10 business days, depending on the issuer and the card network. You may see a “pending credit” on your online statement before it fully posts to your available balance. If the credit still hasn’t appeared about two weeks after the merchant confirmed sending it, the delay is likely on the merchant’s side.
Debit Cards
Debit card refunds run through the federal rule governing electronic fund transfers, known as Regulation E. When you notify your bank of a problem, it must investigate within 10 business days and correct any confirmed error within one business day after that. If the bank needs longer, it can extend the investigation to 45 days, but only if it provisionally credits the disputed amount to your account within the initial 10 business days.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1005.11 Procedures for Resolving Errors
Digital Wallets
Refunds through digital wallets like PayPal depend on how the original payment was funded. Refunds to a wallet balance typically post the same day. Refunds routed back to a linked bank account usually take up to 5 business days, though some can take up to 30 days depending on the original payment’s status. Refunds tied to a linked credit or debit card follow the normal card processing timeline of 3 to 10 business days.
What to Do If the Refund Doesn’t Arrive
When the deadline passes and the money still isn’t back, the right move depends on how you paid.
Credit Card: File a Billing Dispute
The Fair Credit Billing Act lets credit cardholders dispute billing errors, including charges for goods that were never delivered and refunds that were promised but never processed. Send a written notice to the address your card issuer designates for billing inquiries, not the payment address. The notice must include your name, account number, and a description of the error, and it must reach the issuer within 60 days after the first statement that should have reflected the refund.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors Most issuers also let you dispute online or by phone, but a written notice preserves your full legal protections.
Once the issuer receives the dispute, it must acknowledge it in writing within 30 days and resolve the matter within two complete billing cycles, no more than 90 days total.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666 – Correction of Billing Errors During the investigation, the issuer cannot try to collect the disputed amount or charge interest on it, and you can withhold payment on that portion of the bill.8Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1026.13 Billing Error Resolution The merchant then has a window, typically 20 to 45 days depending on the card network, to provide evidence that the refund was already sent or the charge was valid. If the merchant doesn’t respond, the charge is permanently removed.9Federal Trade Commission. Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges
Credit Card: Claims Against the Issuer
Separately from the billing dispute process, federal law lets you hold your card issuer responsible for a merchant’s failure to deliver or for defective goods. You can assert the same claims against the issuer that you would have against the merchant. To use this right, you must have made a good-faith attempt to resolve the problem with the merchant first, the original transaction must be over $50, and the purchase must have occurred in your home state or within 100 miles of your billing address. Those dollar and geographic limits don’t apply when the merchant is the card issuer itself, is controlled by the issuer, or obtained the order through a mail or online solicitation in which the issuer participated.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1666i – Assertion by Cardholder Against Card Issuer of Claims and Defenses Arising Out of Credit Card Transaction
Debit Card: File a Regulation E Dispute
Debit card disputes run under Regulation E rather than the Fair Credit Billing Act. Your bank must investigate within 10 business days and provisionally credit your account if it needs longer, giving you full use of the funds during the investigation. If the bank ultimately finds no error, it can reverse the credit, but it must notify you in writing at least three business days before doing so. For newer accounts where the first deposit was made within the previous 30 days, the initial investigation window extends to 20 business days, and the overall resolution period can stretch to 90 days instead of 45.6Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 1005.11 Procedures for Resolving Errors
Uncashed Refund Checks
If a company issued your refund as a check and you never cashed it, the money doesn’t vanish. Every state has an unclaimed property law that requires businesses to turn over dormant funds to the state after a set period. Dormancy periods run from about 2 to 5 years depending on the state and the type of property, with 3 years being the most common. Once the funds are transferred, you can still claim them by searching your state’s unclaimed property database, but you’ll verify your identity with the state rather than the original company.