Consumer complaint received 2023-06-14
Company: Google Compare Credit Cards Inc.
State: CA
Product: Credit card or prepaid card
Sub-product: Gift card
Issue: Problem with a purchase or transfer
Sub-issue: Card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase or transfer

Complaint:
On Friday, XX/XX/XXXX, I purchased a {$200.00} Google XXXX gift card on XXXX. I successfully redeemed the balance to my Google XXXX account. Upon attempting to make purchases in multiple games ( I included a screenshot from two games as examples ), I received an error message telling me that the transaction could not be completed and to fill out a form ( screenshots included ). I have filled out the same form at least three times since last Friday. Every time, the following day, I am told that I can not be assisted because their are account inconsistencies that can not be disclosed to me. My money is not returned to me. 
Every message tells me that my gift card can not be redeemed, which makes no sense, as it is already redeemed on my Google account. The account balance is unusable. Given the prior CFPB complaint of XXXX, I know that the issue is that their verification department refuses to verify the balance in question. My experience with the prior case, which took about 8 weeks to resolve, tells me it is not an account or security, or software engineering and infrastructure problem. The verification department refuses to verify my balance. 

I understand that there are more scams and fraudulent activities than ever before and that Google is trying to stop all of these bad actors. However, honest, paying customers who just want to game are being caught up as false positives in their overzealous security and verification process. I believe this is the fourth time I have encountered this issue since I first ran into it last XXXX. The next two times this happened, the problem was resolved in house through Google verification process and form, despite the form only referencing physical gift cards. My gift card was a digital, online purchase. 


Case numbers and dates : I have been running into this issue since last XXXX. This is the fourth time. 

Below are the prior case numbers : XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX, ( XX/XX/XXXX ) XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ), and XXXX ( XX/XX/XXXX ) Yesterday, Tuesday, XX/XX/XXXX, I was told that there were account inconsistencies that prevented any resolution. I asked for further information on how to resolve the inconsistencies, but was told that due to Google 's commitment to privacy, they could not answer me. This makes no sense, as I am the customer who is inquiring. Google serves as a financial intermediary and payments processor between customer and game software company. Their refusal to honor their own gift cards is both obstruction of business and outright theft. They have refused to provide any means of accessing, transferring, or refunding my currently unusable {$200.00} Google XXXX gift card balance. My research into this issue on social media indicates that other customers/ gamers have run afoul of Google 's overzealous security verification. 

Because of this issue, I have already missed out on in game purchases and bundles that had time limited value bundles or character skins as I have not been able to use the funds that I planned to use. My weekend was ruined.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation