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Online order never arrived? How to get your money back

If you paid for something online and it never showed up, start with the seller, then use your rights: the FTC requires sellers to ship on time or offer a refund, and a credit card dispute can get the charge reversed if the seller won’t help.

1. Check tracking and contact the seller first

Look at the tracking page and your order confirmation. If tracking says delivered but you have nothing, check around your door, mailroom, and with neighbors, then tell the seller right away. Many sellers will reship or refund once you ask. Save screenshots of the order, the shipping promise, the tracking page, and every message.

2. Know the seller's shipping duty

Under the FTC's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule, a seller must ship within the time it promised, or within 30 days if it gave no time (50 days if you applied for credit with the seller to pay for the order). If it can't ship on time, it must tell you and let you either agree to the delay or cancel for a full, prompt refund. If you paid by cash, check, or a regular credit card, a refund the rule requires is due within seven working days after the order is canceled, and the seller can't substitute store credit or a voucher.

The FTC explains these duties in its business guide to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule.

3. Send a written refund request

Write to the seller with your order number, order date, amount paid, the delivery date it promised, and what happened. Ask for a full refund to your original payment method, or a reshipment if you still want the item, by a clear deadline such as 10 or 14 days. Email works if that is how the seller does business; for a seller who ignores email, certified mail gives you proof.

4. Dispute the charge with your card issuer

If you paid by credit card, the Fair Credit Billing Act lets you dispute a charge for something that wasn't delivered as agreed. Your letter must reach the card issuer within 60 days after it sent the first bill with the charge, at the address for billing inquiries. The issuer must acknowledge your dispute within 30 days and resolve it within 90 days. Debit card and payment app disputes follow the bank's or platform's own rules, so act fast.

The FTC lays out the steps in Using Credit Cards and Disputing Charges. FixLetter can draft the chargeback letter to your bank or card issuer, and our billing error guide covers the dispute process in more detail.

5. Report it if the seller won't fix it

Report the seller to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov and to your state consumer protection office. If your card issuer mishandles the dispute, you can file a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. For larger amounts, small claims court is another option.

ReportFraud.ftc.gov · find your state consumer office · CFPB complaint · small claims demand letter guide

What your letter should include

• Your name, address, email, and phone number
• The seller's name, your order number, and the order date
• What you ordered, the amount you paid, and how you paid
• The delivery date the seller promised, and the tracking number if there is one
• What happened: never shipped, lost in transit, or marked delivered but not received
• What you want (a full refund to your original payment method, or a reshipment) and a clear deadline
• A list of enclosed screenshots: order confirmation, shipping promise, tracking, and earlier messages

Keep a copy of everything you send, and note the date you sent it.

Sample letter

Adapt this to your situation. Replace everything in [brackets] and remove anything that does not apply.

[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[Email] · [Phone]

[Date]

[Seller Name]
Attn: Customer Service
[Seller Address or Email]

Re: Order #[number], placed [order date], not received

Dear Customer Service,

On [order date], I ordered [item] from your website and paid $[amount] by [credit card / debit card / PayPal]. Your site said the order would arrive by [promised date]. As of today, I have not received it. [Tracking number [number] has shown no movement since [date]. / Tracking says it was delivered on [date], but nothing was delivered to my address.]

I contacted you on [date(s)] and [have not received a response / was told ___].

Please refund the full $[amount], including shipping, to my original payment method within [10/14] days of this letter. [If you can ship the item by [date], I will accept a reshipment instead.] If this is not resolved by then, I will dispute the charge with my card issuer and report this to the Federal Trade Commission and my state consumer protection office.

Copies of my order confirmation, the shipping promise, the tracking page, and our earlier messages are enclosed.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]

Frequently asked questions

Tracking says delivered, but I never got it. What now?

The FTC rule is about shipping on time, so once the seller hands your package to the carrier, a missing package is usually handled under the seller's own policy, the carrier's claim process, or a card dispute for goods not delivered as agreed. Tell the seller in writing quickly, include the tracking details, and ask them to reship or refund. If they refuse and you paid by credit card, dispute the charge within 60 days of the bill.

Can the seller give me store credit instead of a refund?

When the FTC rule requires a refund, for example because the seller couldn't ship on time and you canceled, the seller can't substitute store credit, credit vouchers, or scrip. You can still accept store credit if you want it.

What if I paid with a debit card or a payment app?

The Fair Credit Billing Act covers credit cards and other revolving credit, not debit cards. Banks, card networks, and payment apps usually have their own dispute processes with their own deadlines, so contact them as soon as the seller stops responding.