Customer was charged twice, or paid another way

Visa 12.6 is the double-charge reason. The buyer says they were charged twice for one purchase, or paid another way and were charged on the card too. If the double charge is real, you will lose, because your records will show two charges for one order.

The winnable cases look like double charges to the buyer but are two separate purchases. Your order and shipping records show the difference.

How it arrives

A 12.6 usually comes within two billing cycles of the charge. The notice lists both charges and the customer's account. Respond before the date on that notice. Your payment company sets it, and it comes before the card network's own limit.

Three situations cause most of them: a staff member retried a manual charge that had already gone through, a buyer switched payment methods at checkout and the first approval was never cancelled, or an automatic retry on an apparent decline went through anyway.

What the issuer is looking for

The customer's bank asks one question: are the two charges for the same purchase or for two purchases?

If both charges match one order ID, the same items, and one shipment, they are duplicates. Refund one. If each charge matches its own order ID, items, or shipment, you can show they are separate.

For in-person sales, the useful records are both timestamps, any cancellation or reversal attempts, and the receipt for each charge. For online sales, the order log linking each charge to its own cart, session, or shipment is the evidence.

If the buyer says they paid another way (cash, a different card, a check), you need the record of that payment. Without one, show that no such payment exists in your system.

Common scenarios

• You ran the same charge twice. Refund it. Fighting a true duplicate gains nothing and costs time.
• Buyer paid cash or by another card and the original charge also went through. A clean sales record with no matching second payment supports the original charge.
• A retry on a failed payment that went through. The log shows the first attempt declined and the second succeeded, with one charge collected.
• Two similar orders on the same day. Show both order IDs, both shipments, and both shipping records.

Related codes

If the customer says a charge was not theirs, the dispute belongs under Visa 10.4 (customer says they didn't make the purchase). If the buyer received only one of two purchases, refund the charge for the order you did not fulfil.

How we help

We draft responses where your records show two separate purchases. Where the records show a genuine duplicate, we recommend a refund. If you have received one, your first response is free. Try free.