# Why does it take 3-10 days to reverse a credit card transaction? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 6, 2024, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-3-10-days-to-reverse-a-credit-card-transaction/1009802 "2024-11-06T17:59:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-3-10-days-to-reverse-a-credit-card-transaction/1009802/1 "2024-11-06T17:59:52Z")
Inspired by an incident which happened to me with Uber Eats just now. When I placed the order my credit card was charged instantly, of course; but when Uber Eats cancelled the order (a story in itself) they inform me it will take 3-10 days to refund the charge. But why? If payments can run instantly, why not refunds? A suspicious mind might say it’s so that the bank or _someone_ can hold on to my money and earn interest on it for a few days. But of course it’s not really my money, it’s a credit card so it’s the bank’s money they’re lending to me. So what’s the deal? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-3-10-days-to-reverse-a-credit-card-transaction/1009802/2 "2024-11-06T19:14:10Z")
IME credits from most fully computerized vendors usually happen (nearly) instantly too. But they _might_ not. I read that more as CYA than float-gaming. ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2024, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-3-10-days-to-reverse-a-credit-card-transaction/1009802/3 "2024-11-06T19:47:58Z")
Indeed the pending transaction has now disappeared from my bank account in only a couple of hours, despite them explicitly saying 3-10 days. Which goes to support your theory that it’s CYA. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2024, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-it-take-3-10-days-to-reverse-a-credit-card-transaction/1009802/4 "2024-11-07T08:26:12Z")
You’re lucky; we’re still trying to resolve a dispute with Walmart that began August 30th. Our credit union took 10 business days (holidays excluded) to file the complaint and Walmart has 45 business days (holidays excluded - that’s nine weeks!) to counter. No amount of phone calls has helped - no one knows nothing!