A City Hive charge on a credit card almost always traces back to an online order placed at a local wine, beer, or spirits store. City Hive is not a retailer. It is the e-commerce and payment-processing platform that powers thousands of independent liquor stores’ websites and apps, and because it runs the transaction on the store’s behalf, its name lands on the statement instead of the shop’s.
Why the Store’s Name Doesn’t Appear
City Hive operates as a white-label platform. The site a customer visits looks like the local retailer’s own: the retailer’s branding, logo, and products are front and center. Behind that storefront, City Hive provides the website, the shopping cart, and the payment processing. When checkout happens, City Hive is the entity that actually runs the card and routes the funds to the store. That is why the billing descriptor reads “City Hive” or “City Hive Inc” rather than the name of the neighborhood shop you ordered from.
This pattern is common across e-commerce. Third-party processors aggregate transactions from many merchants, and their name often appears on the statement in place of the individual seller’s.
If You Don’t Recognize the Charge
Start by thinking back to any recent online order from a wine, beer, or liquor store. If nothing comes to mind, City Hive’s own guidance is to contact your bank or card issuer promptly.
One other possibility worth ruling out: what looks like a charge may be a temporary security inquiry, a small hold placed when a card is used online at one of City Hive’s merchants. These are fraud-prevention checks rather than completed transactions, and they typically fall off the statement within a few business days.
If you do remember the order but have a problem with the product, pricing, or delivery, go to the store itself. City Hive builds the technology but does not fulfill orders or handle customer-service issues for the shops on its platform.
How to Dispute an Unauthorized Charge
If the charge is genuinely unauthorized or incorrect, federal law gives credit card holders a clear path. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, you can send a written dispute to the card issuer’s billing-inquiry address within 60 days of the statement date. The issuer must acknowledge the dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days. During the investigation, you are not required to pay the disputed amount, and the issuer cannot report it as delinquent.
Federal law caps personal liability for unauthorized credit card charges at $50, and many issuers offer zero-liability policies that waive even that. Debit cards work differently. Liability depends on how quickly you report the problem: notification within two business days limits exposure to $50, while waiting longer can raise it substantially.
If a dispute stalls with your card issuer, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau or report the matter to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
How to Reach City Hive
City Hive’s support is built mainly for its merchant clients. The company’s contact page tells consumers with order-specific questions to go to the store where they made the purchase. For reference, the published contact details are:
- Merchant support phone: +1 (917) 475-6618
- Merchant support email: support@cityhive.net
- Support hours: Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern
- General and sales email: contact@cityhive.net
- Office address: 250 Greenwich St. (Seven World Trade Center), Floor 10, New York, NY 10007
Consumers can also submit a ticket through the help portal at support.cityhive.net, though for a disputed or unrecognized charge, your card issuer is the faster route.