A “Turnbull CFT” line on your bank or credit card statement almost always points to a purchase from Turnbull & Asser, a British menswear retailer on Jermyn Street in London. The “CFT” tag is a processing code that the payment network or acquiring bank adds during settlement; the merchant didn’t choose it. If you don’t remember buying shirts, ties, or accessories from Turnbull & Asser, federal law lets you dispute the charge, though the deadlines and dollar limits depend on whether it hit a debit card or a credit card.
What the Descriptor Actually Says
Bank statements compress a merchant’s full business name into a short string, and international retailers get mangled more than most. “Turnbull” maps to Turnbull & Asser, which sells through its London stores and an online shop that ships worldwide. The “CFT” portion is appended by the payment processor during clearing. Depending on which card network handled the transaction and how the merchant’s terminal is configured, you may also see variations like “TURNBULL&ASSER” or “TURNBULL LDN.”
Because the sale is international, your bank likely converted British pounds to dollars at the day’s exchange rate and may have added a foreign transaction fee, so the amount can look unfamiliar even on a purchase you did make.
Rule Out a Purchase You Forgot
Before calling your bank, spend a few minutes checking whether the charge is legitimate. Search your email for order confirmations from turnbullandasser.com. Ask anyone who shares the account, such as a spouse or authorized user, whether they placed the order. Look at the exact dollar amount and date, since those two details tend to jog a memory faster than a garbled merchant name.
Contact the Merchant First
If nobody in your household recognizes the charge, try Turnbull & Asser directly. Retailers will often reverse an erroneous charge without any bank involvement, and a merchant refund is faster than a formal dispute. If the merchant insists the charge is valid, ask for proof: a signed receipt, a shipping confirmation, or an order record tied to your card. Only after that conversation goes nowhere should you escalate to your bank.
What Your Bank Will Ask For
Have the specifics ready. Open the transaction in your online banking portal and note the exact date, the dollar amount, and any reference number attached to the entry. Reference numbers typically run 12 to 23 digits and let the bank locate the digital record of that specific charge.
Most banking apps have a “dispute this transaction” link next to the charge. If you’re reporting possible fraud rather than a simple billing error, the bank may ask you to complete a fraud affidavit, a sworn statement describing the unauthorized activity. Some institutions require the affidavit to be notarized, which usually costs $10 to $15. A false affidavit carries serious legal consequences, so only sign one if you genuinely believe the charge is unauthorized.
If It Hit a Debit Card: Regulation E
For debit card or checking account charges, your dispute rights come from the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, implemented through Regulation E. The bank has 10 business days to investigate after receiving your notice. If it can’t finish in that window, it may extend to 45 days, but only if it provisionally credits your account within the initial 10 business days so you aren’t out the money during the investigation.
The 45-day window stretches to 90 days in three situations: the charge came from a point-of-sale debit card transaction, it involved an international transfer, or it posted within the first 30 days after you opened the account. A Turnbull & Asser charge normally hits at least the first two of those. Once the investigation ends, the bank must report results within three business days. If it finds an error, it has to correct it within one business day of that determination.
If It Hit a Credit Card: the Fair Credit Billing Act
Credit card charges are governed by the Fair Credit Billing Act, codified at 15 U.S.C. ยง 1666 and implemented through Regulation Z. You must send written notice of the billing error to your card issuer within 60 days of the statement date. The notice needs your name, account number, the amount you believe is wrong, and why. The statute requires the notice to go to the address the issuer designated for billing disputes, which is not always the same as the general customer service address. Check the back of your statement or the issuer’s website for the correct one.
After receiving your notice, the creditor must acknowledge it in writing within 30 days. It then has two full billing cycles, but no more than 90 days, to investigate and either correct the error or explain why it believes the charge was accurate. While the investigation is open, you don’t have to pay the disputed amount, and the issuer cannot report it as delinquent to credit bureaus or threaten adverse action against you for withholding payment on that portion of the bill.
How Much You Could Owe
Liability is where debit and credit cards diverge sharply. For credit cards, federal law caps your liability for unauthorized charges at $50, and most major issuers waive even that.
For debit cards under Regulation E, your maximum liability depends on how quickly you report the problem:
- Report within two business days of learning about the unauthorized use, and your liability tops out at $50 or the actual amount of unauthorized transfers before you gave notice, whichever is less.
- Report after two business days but within 60 days of your statement, and liability can climb to $500, covering unauthorized transfers between the two-day mark and the date you notified the bank.
- Report after 60 days from the statement date, and you could lose everything taken by unauthorized transfers occurring after that 60-day window closes and before you give notice. There is no cap.
Consumer negligence, such as writing a PIN on the card, does not let the bank impose liability above these regulatory limits.
If the Bank Rules Against You
If the bank agrees an error occurred, your account is corrected and any provisional credit becomes permanent. If the bank decides the charge was legitimate, it cannot just take back a provisional credit under Regulation E. It first has to mail or deliver a written explanation of its findings, tell you that you can request copies of the documents it relied on, and then wait at least five business days after sending the explanation before debiting the provisional credit.
For credit card disputes resolved against you under the Fair Credit Billing Act, the creditor must send a written explanation of why it believes the original charge was correct and, on request, provide copies of supporting documentation. Only after that step can the issuer attempt to collect the disputed amount and resume normal billing on it.
If you disagree with the bank’s conclusion, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which oversees both Regulation E and Regulation Z. You also retain the right to sue, though for a single disputed charge the practical path is usually a CFPB complaint or an internal appeal with your bank.