Consumer complaint received 2023-11-16
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: FL
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
1 ) Dispute with Citibank Disputes : Case # XXXX XXXX XXXX ) Complaint against merchant known as Guest Reservations/ cci guest services XXXX or XXXX The facts are as follows : On XX/XX/XXXX I went online to what I thought was the reservation website for the XXXX XXXX in New York XXXX to check in on XX/XX/XXXX for XXXX night to visit my son and grandson. 
The charge for the room was quoted as {$550.00}. I charged the room to my Citi Advantage Platinum Select card ending in XXXX but after the situation with the merchant I cancelled that card and was issued a new card ending in XXXX because I did not trust them and was worried about my card being compromised. 
A few minutes after my credit card was charged I received a confirmation stating I had been charged a total of {$840.00} significantly higher than the initial quote of {$550.00} the higher amount included {$280.00} for what was described as Tax Recovery Charges. 
So to summarize so far, I had made the hotel reservation through a third party website who had deceived me into believing they were the hotels official website. In addition, a non-cancellation policy was added, but not until after my credit charge was charged. 
As I mentioned the charges were significantly higher than initially presented due to the undisclosed Tax Recovery Charges. 
I contacted the merchant the next day to cancel with them as I had been misled and overcharged and wanted to book directly with the hotel which was my original intention. 
The merchant only offered me a partial refund of {$200.00} which still left me short of the amount of {$640.00}. 
As a basis of fair comparison, when I made the reservation directly with the hotel, the same room was XXXX plus {$82.00} taxes for a total of {$600.00} with just a XXXX hour cancellation policy compared with the merchants room rate of {$550.00} plus taxes of {$280.00} for a total of {$840.00} with a non-cancellation policy. 
No hotel reservation that I have ever made has such a non- cancellation policy without giving a full cancellation refund at least a few weeks ahead of the check in date, and I cancelled the next day after realizing I hadnt booked directly with the hotel. 
If I had not been deceived, I would have never made the reservation with the merchant and would never have agreed to such a non-cancellation policy had I been aware of it before I gave my card. 
I believe my account is corroborated by a similar complaint to mine on a Trip Advisor review stating the following : This company is completely unethical. They are extremely deceptive and lure customers into thinking they are booking directly through the hotel. 
To conclude : I would like to lodge a complaint against the business practices of Guest Reservations/ XXXX guest services XXXX or XXXX Regarding Citibank, I contacted their Disputes department : XXXX Case # XXXX I gave them all the information and they initially credited my account with the {$640.00} They then rescinded the credit after the merchant contacted them. I responded to them by saying I was disappointed and dissatisfied with the reversal of my credit based on the information provided by the merchant not addressing the deceptive practices and lack of transparency in their booking process I would appreciate you reviewing first my complaint against the business practices of the merchant and second -the fact that Citibank should reinstate the {$640.00} credit to my account.

Company public response: Company has responded to the consumer and the CFPB and chooses not to provide a public response
Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation