On December 13 I made an electronic purchase for a Christmas gift at a popular department store. I used my credit card. Before I go further, this is my first credit card in many years and have never had any prior problems. Well, this time there was an issue with the purchase. They had to refund my account and repurchase the item.

I received my statement that was itemized on January 9 and it appears this item was charged twice. No credit appears. The department store says they show a credit, but my card company does not show a credit. Where do I go from here? Is it too late to dispute the second charge?

Not at all. Just call the card company (phone number should be on your statement), tell them that there was supposed to be a credit issued and it does not show on the statement. Tell them you have talked with the merchant and confirmed they issued the credit.

I had a similar situation last year. I purchased something from a web site. It had a 60 money back guarantee. And it was to be billed in 3 installments. We returned the item and the on our next bill we saw a credit for 2 of the payments. I thought it might be a timing issue so I waited for the next statement, but the credit didn't appear. So I first called the merchant who said their records show 3 credits issued. So I called the card issuer. There was some confusion because of the amounts being the same, but eventually I was credited with all three payments, plus interest.