Consumer complaint received 2023-10-11
Company: FIFTH THIRD FINANCIAL CORPORATION
State: KY
Product: Credit card
Sub-product: General-purpose credit card or charge card
Issue: Problem with a purchase shown on your statement
Sub-issue: Overcharged for something you did purchase with the card

Complaint:
On XX/XX/XXXX of this year I booked a car rental for my vacation with my wife in XXXX. What follows is a timeline of events that occurred as a result, culminating in me being conned by the merchant and then further victimized by my bank, which claims to have working processes in place to protect against such actions. 

1. After landing at the airport in XXXX, I showed my printed reservation/confirmation number and total to the XXXX clerk XXXX who did not speak XXXX. They took my card and charged it. As you can see from the attached itinerary, the total for this car rental was {$170.00}. Furthermore, I paid {$44.00} for auto insurance coverage at time the reservation was made ( XXXX XXXX 

2. When I returned to the States, I checked my card balance to discover that I was charged {$1000.00} for this car rental, in what appeared to be either a scam or a serious accounting error. I contacted XXXX immediately and proceed to receive a proper run around by both phone and online messaging for several weeks. Despite promising to look into and correct the situation by phone, they failed to do so, failed to call or message me back, and offered no attempted solution. However, I did notice that the charge on my card from them had suddenly ( and inexplicably ) changed to {$440.00} on my 5th 3rd Bank account login. 

3. Because working with the merchant proved unfruitful, I then filed the dispute with 5th 3rd bank and began a new adventure. To the dispute team, I provided the confirmation email/itinerary indicating the confirmed amount of {$170.00}. I requested the overcharge of {$260.00} be removed from my balance. 

4. Weeks passed and I received a call that the Dispute Team needed the receipt from XXXX. The day I received the call from them, I forwarded this email sent to me from XXXX ( including the receipt as an attached Zip file ) to the Dispute Team. 

5. More time passed and I received a letter stating my dispute had been denied because I had " failed to provide the needed information. '' I then asked to be escalated to a manager who assured me the case would be reopened, that she would get someone to translate the XXXX receipt ( which is entirely in XXXX ), and that the dispute would be resolved. 

XXXX. When I called back a week later to check on this I was told the dispute was still closed and that there was no record I had even spoken with a XXXX or that anything else had been done. After hours on the phone with them and numerous other times I forwarded the requested information by email again, I was told there was nothing they could do to help.

7. Therefore, I contacted 5th 3rd 's Ethics department and explained the situation was a significant concern. It was then I received a call from XXXX from the office of the president. After ( I assume she communicated with the Dispute Team directly ) she stated that the security features of the Dispute Teams email did not allow them to open zipped files ( which is how XXXX had sent my receipt as an attachment in their email ). She requested that I save the receipt as a PDF and send it to the Dispute Team again, which I did. At no point prior to this did the Dispute Team tell me they could not open the attachment. Instead, they just denied my claim by stating the receipt was not provided within timeframe [ sic ] which is a demonstrable falsehood since I have numerous emails indicating it was provided the very day it was requested.

8. This would be understandable and not perceived as an obvious attempt to deny a valid claim if not for the events that followed. Although I had sent the XXXX receipt as a PDF to the dispute team as requested, I then received another call from XXXX relaying the message that they said they still havent received it. XXXX suggested I provide it to her boss, XXXX XXXX, and gave me her email address XXXX, who would forward it to XXXX because she didnt have an email where I could contact her. Although this sounded odd, I complied and sent the PDF to XXXX who I assume forwarded it to XXXX, who forwarded it to the Dispute Team that I had already sent the PDF to in the first place multiple times.

9. Although one would think this solved the problem ( the charge amount on the receipt was clearly MUCH higher than the confirmed reservation amount ), it did not. Numerous calls with both XXXX and the Dispute Team followed, along with further statements that they were investigating and appeared unable to recognize that a discrepancy between a confirmed reservation amount and a much higher charge actually applied was an inappropriate overcharge. During one conversation with ( I apologize, but in all the back and forth I cant remember whether it was the Dispute Team or Suzie ), I was told the higher amount on the XXXX receipt was because I was charged for extra days, fees, and insurance. 

10. At this, I demonstrated to them that the car was returned on time and I noted that I possessed ( and still possess ) photos showing there was no damage, the odometer reading, that the car was returned full of gas, and so forth. At no point did we do anything that would trigger an additional charge and an additional charge being made was never mentioned to us by any XXXX staff person either in XXXX or the US. 

11. XXXX said that if I could demonstrate I had already paid for insurance this would help them complete the dispute. I showed them a screen shot of their own records ( my 5th 3rd account showing they had collected the insurance charge at the time of booking ). I thought, surely, this will resolve the situation. 

12. Next, however, I received a letter ( signed by XXXX XXXX XXXX again denying the claim that had stretched at this point nearly 4 months into the dispute process, stating, the Dispute Resolution Department found that the transaction was validOur records indicate the dispute will remain denied. If you have proof that the merchant is willing to issue a credit, you can provide that proof and the case will be reopened for an additional review to be completed. So, ultimately, after I told my bank that the merchant was uncooperative, necessitating the dispute, their response to me was to return to the merchant for help. 

13. Obviously, this made no sense to me. I provided all of the information they requested and more, pushing back every time the Dispute Team attempted to claim I had not sent information or that the reasons for the charge were valid when they clearly were not ( there were no extra days of use, no damage to the vehicle, insurance was paid for at the time of booking, etc. ). It was at this point that I recognized 5th 3rd Bank appeared to have a vested interest in denying my claim and had no intention of honoring it. 

14. After calling and speaking with a representative of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, I was dismayed ( but not surprised given the circumstances ) that 5th 3rd Bank has received XXXX other complaints, with XXXX focused on credit card issues like the one I am experiencing. Learning about the ongoing lawsuit against 5th 3rd Bank from XXXX was eye-opening considering the charges of them failing to adequately address misconduct, acting under false pretenses, making false representations, engaging in unauthorized transactions, taking actions against consumers without permissions, and other violations of multiple consumer protection acts. Considering this information, I understand I am not alone in this maltreatment of customers and, as a result, I will be paying off the existing balance with 5th 3rd Bank and canceling my credit card with them very soon. Even so, I feel it is only fair that they honor my dispute in light of ( what I feel is glaring evidence against the merchant, XXXX ), and refund me the overcharged amount. 

15. Though most communications were by phone ( XXXX would not provide her email address, XXXX never responded to my contacts in writing, and the Dispute Team never replied to any of my emails, preferring instead to mail denial letters ), I have provided the written information I sent to 5th 3rd bank for your review. If there is anything further you need to review this case, please let me know and I am happy to provide whatever is needed. 

*Please note, I have also attached the receipt emailed to me from XXXX XXXX which I provided to 5th 3rd bank numerous times. Although they said that they translated this into English, and although I requested a copy of the English version since I do not speak XXXX, this was never provided to me, so to this day, I am still unable to actually read what the receipt says in English.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation