Need a refund because the package never showed up, arrived broken, or looks nothing like the listing? Write the order number, the amount, the dates, and a specific ask. You don't need courtroom language.

The chat already went nowhere. Put those facts in writing and keep a copy.

This is written for U.S. shoppers. Seller return policies, marketplace guarantees, and credit card billing disputes run on separate tracks. A letter helps you on all three. It does not freeze a marketplace deadline or the 60-day window on a card statement.

Copy-and-fill complaint letter

Use this as an email or a mailed letter. Change the bracketed bits and keep the rest.

The FTC's guidance on solving problems with a business tells consumers to say clearly what they want and to save a record of every contact.

[Your name]
[Your address]
[Email]
[Phone]
[Date]

[Seller or marketplace name]
[Support email or mailing address]

Re: Complaint about order [order number] - [short issue, such as item not received]

I purchased [item description] on [order date] for [amount], paid with [card brand and last four digits, or other method]. Tracking number: [number or "none provided"].

The problem is [one or two factual sentences: never delivered / delivered damaged / wrong item / not as described / billed for goods I did not get]. I contacted you on [dates] by [chat, email, or phone]. [What they said, or that you received no reply.]

I request [a full refund of $X / a replacement shipped by a stated date / cancellation of the charge] by [a date, such as 14 days from this letter].

Enclosed: [order confirmation, photos, tracking screenshot, chat transcript].

If this is not resolved, I will use the marketplace claim process where one exists and, if I paid by credit card, dispute the charge with my card issuer.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Email is usually enough because it time-stamps the complaint. If the purchase is expensive, certified mail adds a delivery record some issuers still like to see.

Thing is, length doesn't impress anyone, and one page of dates and dollars beats a long vent.

If you already emailed once last Tuesday and they promised a look and then vanished, put that date in the letter, don't just say they were unhelpful, because a date is something a supervisor can actually check. Skip threats you won't follow through on.

Proof worth attaching

A complaint without proof is easy to brush off. Collect this before you hit send:

• Order confirmation showing the item, price, and payment method
• Tracking screenshot, or a page that still says awaiting shipment
• Photos of damage, or the wrong item next to the original listing
• Dates and copies of prior chats, emails, or tickets

Name files with the order number so an agent can match them. Screenshot live chat before you close the window.

What actually controls the dispute

Three systems can apply to one bad U.S. online order. Turns out mixing those clocks is how people miss deadlines.

A store's return window is company policy. Thirty days or 90 days is common, but that clock comes from the merchant, not from a single national returns statute. Marketplace buyer guarantees are also company programs. A credit card billing-error dispute is a federal process with its own written-notice deadline.

If a seller took an internet order and never promised a ship date, the FTC's Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule generally treats 30 days as the shipping time, and the seller is supposed to offer a cancellation and refund if it cannot ship as required.

That rule is about merchant shipment and refund timing. It does not replace Amazon's or eBay's claim form, and the rule won't move money off a credit card by itself.

If you were charged for goods you never received, start with the FTC page on what to do if you're billed for things you never got. Credit card billing errors generally have to be disputed in writing. Do it within 60 days of the first statement that showed the error.

The issuer should acknowledge the dispute in writing within 30 days unless it is already fixed, then finish within two billing cycles, not more than 90 days. You don't have to pay the disputed amount or related finance charges during that investigation.

The CFPB's billing error resolution rule is the detailed text. Some issuers stretch the 60 days when a package is late. That extra time is not something you should count on.

Amazon and eBay still run on their own clocks

If you checked out on Amazon or eBay, file their claim on their timeline even if the letter is already in your outbox. The PDF will not pause their timer.

The in-platform button is what their staff actually work from, and the letter is backup you'll forward to a card issuer later.

Use the ticket or dispute tool on other sites. That includes many apparel and marketplace apps. Lean on the letter, and on the issuer if you paid by credit card. Don't invent a deadline they never published.

Opening a credit card billing dispute

A merchant letter is not notice to your card issuer. If you paid with a credit card and the goods never arrived, contact the issuer too. Do the same if the item is not what you bought, or you were billed for unordered merchandise.

1. Find the statement that first showed the charge and write down that date.
2. Call the number on the card, then follow up in writing so the 60-day protection the FTC describes actually applies.
3. Attach the letter, tracking, photos, and marketplace case number.
4. Pay the rest of the bill. You can withhold the disputed amount while they investigate.

Debit cards, bank transfers, and pay-in-four plans follow other rules. Check that account's dispute page instead of assuming the credit-card clock applies.

Fill the letter today, attach the proof, and send it. Then open the marketplace claim or the card dispute if those clocks are already running. To be honest, people lose these cases by waiting to see if the seller "does the right thing" next week.