Consumer complaint received 2020-06-10
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: TX
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:
I purchased a XXXX stove XX/XX/XXXX from a Sears outlet store located in XXXX, TX. in the amount My salesperson 's name was XXXX? At the time of the purchase I also purchased SEARS MASTER PROTECTION PLAN in the amount of {$290.00}, which was refundable if not used within a year. I began calling XX/XX/XXXX with a request to cancel the protection plan. I never made a claim on the stove, so the protection plan was fully refundable per the salesperson -- XXXX. When I first began calling the cancellation number, I was told I could not cancel the agreement as I was originally told by my salesman. XXXX put me in contact with a Mr. XXXX. This process began last year in XXXX. Several unsuccessful attempts were made -- -- or so I thought! 

Since I had a year to keep the plan without incurring any penalties if the plan was never used, I decided to keep it until closer to the one-year anniversary date. Therefore, I began calling again in XX/XX/XXXX because realizing the nearness of the deadline for the protection plan. To my surprise, when I finally did speak with someone in XXXX, I was told the protection plan had been cancelled on XX/XX/XXXX and " you were issued a check '' I was told, to which I replied, I never received a check. No adjustment was ever made to my account as best I can tell! This was the beginning of several calls with various numbers. Here is a list of all the numbers I have been unsuccessfully calling over the past 3 months : XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX, XXXX -- -- all with EXTENDED wait times of more than 45 minutes with many of them!! One of the personnel gave me case number ( s ) : XXXX, XXXX and was told to ask for a Ms. XXXX @ XXXX. 
When I asked about the check that was supposedly issued to me, I was told several times that someone would research the check and get back with me -- -I have never received a return call from either of these numbers. I did not think that was a difficult problem since the check has a number that can easily be traced. Others gave me a time to call them back to get the status of the check, to which I did faithfully each time. To date, I am at square zero and it has been over a year since my initial contact with Sears. During the initial break out of Covid-19, the wait times were extremely long -- -more than an hour each time -- - due to lack of personnel. Each time I would make several calls in a day because I was always given different departments to call and I was desperate for a resolution! I have been extremely patient with them.

It was a 12-month interest-free credit card purchase which was to be paid in full XX/XX/XXXX. Because I have not been able to resolve this issue, I now have {$190.00} of interest added to my card along with the {$290.00} service protection fee that was never removed. My focus was on resolving the protection plan issue and I failed to pay down the principal on the stove resulting in default on the 12 month interest-free offer, which would have not been a problem at all ; but my focus was only on getting through this. My last statement was {$510.00} of which a {$32.00} payment was made on XX/XX/XXXX. I continue making payments until an equitable resolution because I do not want this reflected on my credit report. 
I have attempted several times to find out what the purchase amount was. I was told that they do not keep those records after a year, and I do not have the purchase agreement. The only thing I was able to get from them was the receipt number -- - # XXXX. To my knowledge, I probably owe another $ XXXX on the account. I need to know because I will never know when I am done due to miscommunication or non-communication with them.

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