Consumer complaint received 2020-02-15
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: KS
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:
Billing Disputes, This is regarding dispute numbers D XXXX and D XXXX. Both purchases were through XXXX XXXX. 

D XXXX dated XXXX was for {$46.00}. I disputed the item on XXXX for {$18.00}. I disputed the item as goods/services not as received due to the condition of the pizza and XXXX  failing to issue a refund as promised. XXXX  acknowledged the error and refunded my card. Citibank has rebilled me for the transaction. 

D XXXX dated XXXX for {$42.00}. I disputed {$42.00} on XXXX due to the condition of the order and XXXX  failing to issue a refund as promised. I withdrew the case on XXXX because the merchant issued a refund. I proactively spoke to the merchant about this dispute as well due to Citibanks accusation that I had misrepresented disputes, specifically mentioning the {$18.00} dispute ( executive office employee XXXX ). To date, Citibank has not reversed the dispute on my account. I e-mailed billing dispute XXXX that I would withdraw the dispute when the charge came through on the account and explained they entered the amounts incorrectly. XXXX  messed up when processing the refund which was stated in the email. They entered it in two amounts : {$4.00} and then {$46.00}. So, it doesnt match the original disputed amount of {$42.00}. They actually refunded more than was due. I think he confused the refunds since the other purchase amount was {$46.00}. Seems he most likely ran {$4.00} first by accident and then ran it again for {$46.00}, although he stated something about confusing it with my tipped amount of 10 % on the {$46.00} bill. Who the XXXX knows at this point. I brought the error to his attention. He stated he didnt think it was a big deal, XXXX  has plenty of money, and he wasnt worried about getting me extra money back. As shown in the e-mail, I offered to repay him for the difference. He said no. Obviously, he couldnt rebill because the account is now closed. As you can clearly see by the e-mails, I explained in detail to one of the other managers who forwarded the e-mail to the other manager. It clearly breaks down the disputed amounts to {$18.00} and {$42.00}. The financial operations manager also has the right figures, because she pulled each dispute for investigation. I think the way he applied the refund is part of the rebill problem. Citibank isnt able to properly match up the figures. 

Finally, XXXXs operations manager thought they were not paid on these items initially. She stated, While I often send them copies of receipts for records, we don't actually expect to get anywhere with the disputes, as we don't have chip readers and therefore we're automatically considered at fault for any fraud/disputes either way. Anyways, here 's what I found with their card number : I received a chargeback from XX/XX/19 for XX/XX/19 for {$42.00}. I sent merchant services a copy of the receipt and just accepted the charges since it was noted as " defective merchandise/services ''. I received a chargeback from XX/XX/19 for XX/XX/19 {$18.00} for a {$46.00} ticket. I sent merchant services a copy of the receipt. I marked on their checklist that I was sending them a signed copy of the receipt. I didn't leave any notes or state anything past that ... they often just ask for a copy of the ticket. Not sure why they told her we said they never complained. I wouldn't personally have knowledge on whether the guest complained. Not sure if merchant services would have talked to someone else or what? But I definitely didn't say anything to them. It is weird that the guest would go through merchant services rather than the restaurant for product/service issue. Normally that's just used for fraud ... so I understand why the credit card company might question whether they are trying to scam the system. I just checked our credit card processing system and it looks like the {$18.00} chargeback did hit our account. I'll paste a screenshot below. Is the guest asking about the {$18.00} because merchant services hasn't credited her or what is she needing? I'm not following that part. 
I told them it shouldnt matter whether they have a chip reader or not, all disputes should be handled the same way. I also stated disputes arent just used for fraud and referred them to the FTCs link on reasons for disputes. I reached out to billing disputes by e-mail, and XXXX  states they rapidly reached out to them. Here is the response : I have spoken with XXXX again and have ensured that everything financially is cleared on our end. Merchant services reached out from the bank, and we have verified that the purchases were made and were valid for credit. We are not sure why they would be saying we were refuting your dispute claims, however ... And we have been appropriately recompensed for the previously mentioned instances as well. 
There was a misunderstanding on my end initially, and I have applied the {$18.00} credit to your account today. You should see it posted to your Citibank account within the next 24 hours. 

Please let me know when the credit hits your account. 

Ive never been so confused on a dispute and the explanations involved in my life. They thought they werent paid initially but merchant services says they were once they reached out to them. Are they filling out disputes incorrectly? 

I am requesting written documentation on D XXXX including the merchants response. I dont need it on D XXXX because Citibank sent me a letter apologizing for the confusion. 

Please try to get this problem fixed. I have been trying to fix these problems for weeks and I am worn out. On another note, they burned another pizza. This time I took pictures and complained directly to them in writing. I am having to seek a refund through XXXX. I am so tired of this location screwing up and don't plan on dining at this location ever again. I have attached pictures of it so Citibank 's executive team can clearly see XXXX burns pizzas, even though it clearly isn't related to this dispute. XXXX should have never accused me of lying about the XXXX   dispute, saying I made no effort to say anything at the time about the pizza, I didn't seek a refund, and implied it wasn't burned. I think the only thing off on the dispute is probably that we dined in the restaurant. I must have been confused when I entered it in the dispute system. 

To be clear, when eating at XXXX, you can order through the line for dine-in or carry out. If there is a problem with the food, a customer tells the manager on duty and he or she can process the refund based on the receipt alone. Same if you complain over the phone. The refund just didn't get applied, period. XXXX  isn't the first restaurant to make this kind of mistake. We eat out all the time. We spend about {$1200.00} a month on dining out. We put nearly $ 46k in charges on the Citibank card last year ; we used it for everything. Mistakes happen at the restaurant level. All restaurant managers and owners will tell you that. Managers get busy, forget to apply the refunds in person and over the phone, and forget to send out gift certificates or promptly issue refunds all the time. Three instances that I have had in the last two weeks alone are XXXX XXXX, XXXX 's and XXXX. Now, I make sure I am getting everything in writing so problems like this never happen again. 

I am only reporting this to the CFPB because I want this properly resolved and rebilled to my account immediately.

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