Many consumers worry that unauthorized or undelivered purchases will ruin their credit. “A major company is threatening to turn my account over to a collection agency over a charge I never made,” one woman complained. “The bill concerns a purchase I never authorized.”

Another woman is in a quandary about her obligation to pay for merchandise that was never delivered. “There’s a charge on my credit card billing statement for something I never received, I have called the company that’s billing me many a times. Each time a representative assures me I’ll receive the item within a day or two. But the order never arrives. All I get are more letters from the credit card company warning me to pay my bill.”

Specifics vary, but the question remains the same. “How do I fix this mess and restore my good credit?” one consumer wrote, echoing the feelings of many others.

You don’t have to pay for unauthorized purchases or undelivered merchandise. However, you do have to act quickly to protect your rights. Too many consumers pay for purchases they could have removed from their accounts because they wait too long to complain.

The federal Fair Credit Billing Act lets consumers dispute billing errors on credit card statements. These include charges that list the wrong date or amount, math errors, charges for goods and services you never received or didn’t accept, and unauthorized charges.

Under federal law, you can only be held responsible for the first $50 of unauthorized charges. Many major credit card issuers extend that to zero liability for fraudulent charges. But there’s a catch.

You have to give the credit card issuer written notice within 60 days of receiving the first bill that contained the error. That’s a source of confusion for consumers, who often try to resolve the problem themselves with the merchant.

Contact the merchant once to explain the problem. But unless the merchant removes the charge within a few days, don’t waste time or energy trying to force him to take action. Some questionable merchants will stall consumers repeatedly because they know the consumer only has 60 days to dispute the charge with the credit card company. By repeatedly promising to correct the error, they keep the consumer from disputing the charge within the time specified by federal law.

Don’t take a chance. Send a written dispute to your card issuer when you find a billing error. Look on your monthly billing statement for an address specifically for billing errors. Once you dispute a charge, your credit card issuer will contact the merchant on your behalf.

The company can still correct its mistake. It just can’t take advantage of the consumer.

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