The customer cancelled the day after billing. Do I have to refund?

You are not automatically required to if your terms are clear, but many merchants refund the final charge to avoid the dispute. If you contest, show the charge preceded the cancellation and the service remained available for the billed period.

Does C28 apply to annual renewals or only monthly plans?

Any recurring charge qualifies, and annual renewals are frequent triggers because customers forget them. Renewal reminder emails sent before billing are both prevention and useful representment evidence.

American Express · Consumer Disputes

Reason code C28: Cancelled Recurring Billing

With C28, the cardmember says a recurring charge hit their Amex after they cancelled the subscription or asked the merchant to stop billing. Amex expects merchants to halt recurring charges promptly on request, so the dispute turns on when the cancellation happened relative to the billing date.

Issuer filing window

typically 120 days from the disputed recurring charge

Merchant response window

typically 20 days to respond

Why C28 chargebacks happen

The cancellation was processed after the billing cycle had already generated the charge.
A cancellation submitted through email or chat was never entered into the billing system.
The customer cancelled one subscription but held others on the same card and misread the statement.
Retention flows made cancelling difficult enough that the customer went to Amex instead of finishing the process.
The account was cancelled but a separate legacy billing profile kept charging.

How to fight a C28 chargeback

Produce the billing agreement with the customer's enrollment acceptance, the cancellation terms, and the notice period.
Show the charge predates any cancellation request, using timestamps from your subscription system and support channels.
Provide usage records demonstrating the customer consumed the service during the billed period.
If the customer never actually completed cancellation, document what your records show, including any abandoned cancellation attempt.
Where the charge was a final prorated or contractual bill after cancellation, cite the exact term the customer agreed to.

How to prevent C28 chargebacks

Make cancellation immediate and self-service, then confirm it in writing with the last-charge date.
Stop billing the moment a cancellation intent arrives in any channel, even if formal processing takes longer.
Send renewal reminders before each billing, especially for annual plans, so charges never surprise anyone.
Honor Amex's expectation that a cardmember's stop-billing request to Amex also ends your authority to charge that card.
Sweep for orphaned billing profiles whenever an account closes.

Frequently asked questions

The customer cancelled the day after billing. Do I have to refund?: You are not automatically required to if your terms are clear, but many merchants refund the final charge to avoid the dispute. If you contest, show the charge preceded the cancellation and the service remained available for the billed period.
Does C28 apply to annual renewals or only monthly plans?: Any recurring charge qualifies, and annual renewals are frequent triggers because customers forget them. Renewal reminder emails sent before billing are both prevention and useful representment evidence.

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