Double-charged? How to tell a real duplicate from a hold

The harmless version: one transaction, two entries

When a purchase settles, the bank posts the charge and the pending authorization disappears. If you checked the app in the middle of that window, you saw both: a pending entry for the authorized amount and a posted entry for the settled amount. Same purchase, two rows.

The tell: the pending entry vanishes within a few business days. If one of the two rows disappears on its own, you were never double-charged. Restaurants add a second, legitimate wrinkle — the pending amount is the meal, the posted amount is the meal plus tip, so the two rows can even differ in size.

The real version: two posted charges that stay

A genuine double charge is two posted transactions, both settling, neither disappearing. It happens more than you’d think: a card run twice at a terminal, a payment system that re-sent a failed request, a merchant that charged at order time and again at shipment. Online merchants are a common source because their systems can retry authorizations silently.

The Federal Trade Commission lists "you were charged more than once for something" among the standard billing errors consumers are entitled to fix — which is exactly the legal footing you stand on.

The 60-day rule that protects you

Federal law gives you a fixed window to act. The FTC’s dispute guidance is direct: you must notify your card company about a billing error within 60 calendar days of the first statement that showed the charge. Credit cards have stronger legal protections than debit cards, and some debit issuers offer more protection voluntarily — but the window is the window.

The notice is best in writing. The FTC publishes a sample dispute letter covering the facts to include: your name and account number, the disputed amount and date, and why the charge is wrong. Certified mail with a return receipt gives you proof the bank received it.

1. Wait out the pending window If one entry is still pending, give it a few business days. A pending-plus-posted pair is one transaction, not a duplicate.
2. Contact the merchant first Most duplicate charges are honest errors. The merchant can reverse the extra charge — keep a record of who you spoke with and when.
3. Dispute in writing within 60 days If the merchant does not fix it, notify your card company within 60 days of the first statement with the error. The dispute letter tool on this site drafts the notice.
4. Follow up until the credit posts After the refund, check your statement shows the credit. If it does not appear, call the bank again.

The descriptor tells you who to call

The two rows will carry a merchant name — sometimes the same, sometimes subtly different. Identical descriptors mean the same merchant charged twice; different descriptors can mean a processor and a merchant both took payment, a common setup for online sellers where PAYPAL *STORE and STORE name can both appear.

The decoder on this site resolves both names, so you know exactly which merchant to contact before you start the refund conversation.