Consumer complaint received 2019-01-10
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: MT
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Card was charged for something you did not purchase with the card

Complaint:
To Whom It May Concern : This is regards to the charges I have been disputing since XX/XX/XXXX. I have tried getting this dispute resolved through my Citi Simplicity credit card and with the Merchant XXXX XXXX, nothing has been resolved. I spoke to the merchant and to Citi Simplicity on XX/XX/XXXX as I was in XXXX XXXX, NV and my credit card said they couldn't do anything while I was out of town and to call then when I was back home in Montana. I went to the merchant in person on XX/XX/XXXX showing him my receipts of 2 different transactions on 2 different receipts which I did not authorize charges of {$1000.00} and another charge of {$1600.00} for beauty products, which I did not realize he had put on my card until I got back to my hotel and was looking through the receipts, when I called the merchant he said there was nothing he could do. I also called the Citi Simplicity credit card again when I was home on XX/XX/XXXX, they said that they would start an investigation but it would take until XX/XX/XXXX. I called the merchant again in XX/XX/XXXX and he just laughed at me. I called Citi Simplicity again in XX/XX/XXXX asking if we could get this taken care of sooner than XXXX as this is a lot of money and stressful on me. Citi Simplicity said that they would send me an email with a form that I could fill out to dispute the charges and to send proof back with the letter. I never received any form from Citi Simplicity. The next thing that I received was a letter from Citi Simplicity stating that they had heard back from the merchant, which was a letter of misspelled words and blatant lies saying I was happy when I left their store and was impressed with the kindness of the salesperson therefore based on the information available they have closed their investigation. None of that is true and also I did not leave the store with any of their products as they had to be shipped first of all and second I just wanted to get out of there the first time I when I was there and the second time I went there after I realized what they had done I was crying and upset. This handwritten letter from the merchant doesn't say one thing about their fraudulent charges This is clearly fraud. Please see details below and attached all documents. 

I never went into XXXX XXXX to shop, I was walking by when an employee approached me as I was walking by the store he kept badgering me to come into the store as he wanted to just show me one beauty product. Finally I went in to the store and was coerced in to providing my credit card information for products that I did not want and also that I have NEVER been in possession of. On XX/XX/XXXX I was in XXXX XXXX, NV looking around at some shops while my husband was recovering from XXXX, I was approached by a sales person from XXXX XXXX who was very persistent on pushing his products on me. Numerous times I told the salesman I was not interested in purchasing any of the products and stated I did not have the money for their products. This salesman would not let me leave, after hours of this person hounding me about these products I felt so overwhelmed and under such duress with him pressuring me to purchase these products and to " just give him my credit card '' and the stress of my husbands XXXX I just wanted to get away from this salesman, therefore he was able to manipulate me into providing my credit card to him as he asked for over and over again. As soon as I got back to my hotel, which was within 1 hour of being conned into this insane purchase, I called this sales person ( XXXX, XXXX ) as he provided me with his name and phone number on a business card, I was crying and let him know that I wanted to cancel the order immediately and that I realized that he had done two separate transactions as I had a copy of several receipts from him that were showing a transaction for {$1600.00} which I never agreed to and another receipt showed a transaction for {$1000.00} which I also never agreed to, these were charged on my credit card without my permission!! I was in such a hurry to just get out of the store I didn't look at the amounts on the receipt that I was signing. He stated that there was nothing that he could do, but that he would call his boss and see if there was anything that could be done to to fix this. XXXX never returned my call. I knew they could not have possibly mailed out the order of products and that was another reason I was cancelling right away as I figured this should be an easy fix, as I let XXXX know I did not want to do business with a company that just tried to scam me. XXXX assured me this was a mistake and he would talk to his boss. I let him know how unhappy I was that I had let him manipulate me in the first place, but then to add a whole other transaction on to my card was disgusting and fraudulent. The total of these two receipts added up to {$2700.00} for a purchase that I was unaware of, never agreed to and especially could not afford. At that time I am sure it was noticeable especially that I was obviously in a vulnerable states of mind, that is why I was not able to just walk away and he was very aggressive and he would not let me walk away. I also wanted this order cancelled before they processed the credit card. Which on my statement they charged my credit card on XX/XX/XXXX, which is also fraudulent as a company is not supposed to charge a person 's card until items have shipped, see more detail below and attached as items did not ship until XX/XX/XXXX. When XXXX never returned my call, I went back to the store the next day on XX/XX/XXXX to speak to XXXX, I was told that they could not cancel the order because of his boss. I begged and pleaded with him since I had not received any products the day prior when I was in the store since all products have to be shipped and also due to those charges being fraudulent. He kept stating that he would get in to much trouble from his boss. There was another lady there also in tears trying to cancel her order, I am not sure if she also had charges she was unaware of, but she was crying and pleading with another employee to refund her credit card. XXXX stated " look at that lady, she is out {$5000.00} which is a lot more money that you ''. Obviously this is a very common thing with this company that they do to people is get them to purchase anything and then add outrageous transactions and numerous transaction to an unaware elderly person. I continued to beg XXXX to please not charge my credit card for these products I did not ask to purchase and to just do the right thing, I begged him to cancel what orders he placed, but he continued to say he was sorry but he could not as his boss would be very upset. Upset that you did fraudulent transactions? I made it very clear that I did not want the products that he ordered or for them to be mailed to me, I let him know that I would be turning him in to my credit card company for this. He continued to say he was sorry and that his boss would be extremely mad at him if he cancelled the order. He just kept acting like he did nothing wrong and telling me that all sales are final. This is a case of fraud and I would like these charges taken off of my credit card immediately. Also please see the attached receipts they do not say all sales are final, they say finel and finale, those words do not mean FINAL! 

Also please see the package that they sent me in via XXXX XXXX of there products which I refused, therefore I have NEVER been in possession of their products. Please note the date the package was not shipped until XX/XX/XXXX and received on the XX/XX/XXXX and immediately RETURNED, but they charged my credit card on XX/XX/XXXX, also there was plenty of time for them to cancel the shipment of the order since I spoke to XXXX on XX/XX/XXXX within 1 hour of him manipulating me into the purchase and fraudulently adding on extra transactions and then another entire receipt of transactions. Attached is proof of the box I returned. 

Please see the attached evidence of receipts, None of them say " ALL SALES ARE FINAL ''!! 

Receipt # 1 States " All Sales are Finel '' Receipt # 2 States " All Sales are Finale '' Receipt # 3 States " All Sales are Finel '' Receipt # 4 States " All Sales are Finale '' **The definition of " Finale '' is the last part of a piece of music, a performance, or a public event, especially when particularly dramatic or exciting. 

**The definition of " Finel '' there is no such word, this word does not exist. 

A little history of why these workers are so persistent and manipulative to get these products sold and the reason they are not willing to do the right thing by cancelling a customers order or refunding charges that the customer did not even authorize is because the employees are in fear as the Employer 's use intimidation to make the employees fearful of them. The employees daily goal is to protect their own job by being persistent and conning people into purchasing these products. The majority of these employees are immigrants from all over the world. The environment they are working in is volatile, they also are subject to racism, sexism and ageism which is generally expected and accepted from this company. 

None of these receipts state that all sales are final, therefore I would like all charges from this company taken off of my credit card immediately!! I would also like all charges taken off of my credit card due to the sales person adding on the transactions that I was unaware of and NEVER agreed to!! Also I refused their products so they already have their products back, untouched, unopened all brand new ready for them to con their next victim!! Again please see the 5 attachments which are proof and evidence. 

If there is anything further that you need from me please don't hesitate to contact me ASAP as I would like this get this resolved as soon as possible. I have obviously been unable to resolve this through the merchant and also through my credit card company. I have confidence in your company that after you review my detailed letter and proof that is attached you should be able to settle this outrageous ongoing dispute that I have been trying to settle with this company and through Citi since XX/XX/XXXX when this dispute arose 1 hour after being in their store. It doesn't seen like Citi Credit Card has take this seriously as I don't feel this dispute has been handled correctly or even investigated. 


Sincerely, XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

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