Consumer complaint received 2023-02-14
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: KY
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: Credit card company isn't resolving a dispute about a purchase on your statement

Complaint:
Engaged merchant to remove squirrels from inside my chimney and entire yard. Merchant placed trap and camera and promised to catch and remove squirrels until all were gone. After several days no squirrels were caught. Tried to contact many times over several weeks to resolve the situation to no avail. Discovered over this time merchant was rated F on XXXX  and had many complaints of the same nature. Also discovered merchant was being investigated by the State Fish & Wildlife for not following wildlife laws and regulations, and there had been several negative news stories regarding the illegal/unethical business practices of this merchant. Ultimately, had to hire another merchant to remove all the squirrels which they did effectively in less than a week. Filed dispute in early XXXX with bank to receive credit back on my credit card for fees paid in advance to the first merchant who never provided the services promised. After first providing my dispute with the bank 's Credit Card Dispute Department via phone in early XXXX, subsequently had to file again in writing along with other supporting documentation as requested later by the bank. Bank sent letter on XX/XX/XXXX stating they were denying my dispute because they had received documentation from the merchant " that shows disputed services were provided '' and stating they enclosed a copy of this information for my review ( which they did not ). It took many attempts ( many hours and calls ) over several weeks to subsequently receive the information the merchant had provided to the bank, but which wasn't received until the end of XX/XX/XXXX. After reviewing the merchant 's information it was clear that there was no proof provided that services were ever provided. I provided my responses to the merchant 's documentation on XX/XX/XXXX which again summarized my dispute, the evidence that I provided and the proof I provided that services were never provided, and pointing out to the bank that the merchant 's information did not speak to whether or not services were provided as they had stated, and based their denial of my dispute upon. The bank 's whole dispute process is flawed, with difficulty in filing a dispute, determining the status of the dispute, and the overall ability to effectively communicate with the people reviewing and making decisions on the disputes. Their response times and follow up are awful, transparency is nonexistent, attention to detail is inadequate, and their personnel have been very unprofessional. Overall, their dispute process is not at all customer friendly or customer oriented in any way. Finally, I would note that at the time I originally filed my dispute over the phone, the bank employee indicated that yes they have had a lot of other customer disputes with this particular merchant. If true, than even more frustrating considering the amount of evidence that I had provided proving this merchant had not provided the paid for services as promised, as well as evidence of the merchant history of fraudulent business practices.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation