Has the merchant failed to meet certain requirements regarding your purchase on a Web site? You can cancel your purchase if you follow the terms and time limits.

Has the merchant failed to provide a refund within 15 days of the cancellation of your purchase? If you paid by credit card, you can file a chargeback request with your credit card company within 60 days.

Contents of a chargeback request

Your chargeback request must be submitted in writing. It must contain the following information:

• the credit cardholder’s name ;
• the credit card number and expiry date ;
• the merchant’s name;
• the contract conclusion date;
• the amount charged to the credit card account;
• the amount the merchant is required to refund;
• a description of the goods or services covered by the chargeback request;
• the reason for cancellation;
• the cancellation date of the purchase;
• the means by which the cancellation notice was delivered.

The credit card issuer’s obligations

The credit card issuer must acknowledge receipt of your request within 30 days of receiving it.

The card issuer must credit the amount paid to your account and cancel any fees related to the purchase charged to your account, in the shorter of the 2 following time periods:

• no more than 90 days after receiving your request;
• within a timeframe corresponding to 2 complete account statement periods.

Exceptions: chargeback request not applicable

The regulations governing chargebacks do not apply to certain types of online purchases:

• prearranged funeral services and pre-purchased sepultures;
• goods that may perish quickly, for example, food products;
• goods purchased by auction, as defined by article 1757 and subsequent sections of the Civil Code of Québec;
• lottery tickets (from Loto-Québec, for example);
• credit agreements;
• service contracts for training, teaching or assistance (defined as “contracts of successive performance”), for example:
  • registration for a series of courses,
  • membership at a fitness centre,
  • contracts for a daycare service or vacation day camp,
  • contracts with a dating service.

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