Consumer complaint received 2018-12-16
Company: BANK OF AMERICA, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
State: MA
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:
I purchased a XXXX store owned by a seller through escrow.com. Using XXXX and XXXX, the seller misrepresented facts about fulfilling orders, failed to resolve customers complaints about identify theft, and scammed customers and me. XXXX and XXXX have been alerted of this misrepresentation and illegal activity, yet they have not done anything to resolve the open issues of defrauded customers. 

I filed a dispute for quality of service with Bank of America. I provided over 38 pages of supporting evidence to enable the investigation of the {$3900.00} charges, including : - The signed Action Required letter ( pages 1-4 ) - Transaction Summary/Invoice showing charges ( page 5 ) - XXXX   Exchange Transaction Summary describing what I was supposed to receive from the merchant ( page 6-15 ) - Communication with Seller prior to Purchase ( page 16-17 ) - Communication requesting cancellation, refund and attempting to resolve dispute with XXXX Customer Service regarding dispute, misrepresentation, scam transactions, ( page 18-19 ) - Communication requesting cancellation, refund and attempting to resolve dispute with XXXX regarding dispute, full refund request, and misrepresentation ( page 20-23 ) - Response from XXXX still no resolution ( page 24-27 ) - Response from Escrow no resolution ( page 28-29 ) - Sample communication from defrauded customers ( over 50 of such communication available alleging identity theft and unfulfilled orders ; page 30-32 ) - Most recent communication with XXXX ( page 33-35 ) XXXX  is a company that is supposed to protect buyers and sellers from being defrauded in purchases. Their transaction security team is supposed to detect any fraud indicators for a transaction. They claim services offered through XXXX   are safe and buyers are protected every step of the process, thanks to stringent logging, tracking, and verification procedures. However, via an XXXX   purchase of a XXXX  store, I was defrauded and sold a scam website. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I made an offer to the seller for a XXXX store based on representations of a legitimate store that was actually shipping products to customers, had a certain advertising expenditure and profits. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, I received an XXXX  milestone that stated The buyer shall receive complete ownsership over the shopify store. The seller stated that I would receive complete ownership after accepting the milestone. At that time, I did not have access to customer emails ( which would later allege fraud, scams and unfulfilled orders ) nor did I have access to the advertising accounts. 

On XX/XX/XXXX, Escrow and XXXX  provided access to the store. It became evident that the seller misrepresented information. Since then, I have sent XXXX and XXXX significant communication showing that although the seller was collecting payments, he was not actually shipping products to customers. I shared over 30 emails from customers claiming fraud, scams and identity theft. I also shared that the seller provided inaccurate information regarding advertising expenditure. 

The seller has defrauded customers and myself using XXXX and XXXX. He has misrepresented facts about shipping products to customers. There are unfulfilled orders from XXXX to date and customers alleging a scam. 

The specific problem is that the seller represented the store as a legitimate store that had been fulfilling customers orders when in fact the seller was only collecting payments and not fulfilling orders. I have alerted XXXX  and XXXX   with over 50 customer complaints alleging fraud. The seller also misrepresented information related to advertising expenditure when the order was placed. Once received, I became aware from customers that since XXXX, the seller has not been shipping orders and misrepresented advertising expenses. The order was placed over the internet. I have requested a full refund as I do not want to be associated with a XXXX store that has a history of fraud and scams. The seller misrepresented the services. I am dissatisfied with the quality of service I received from XXXX. XXXX   did not protect me as a buyer from being defrauded. I am disputing the full amount of {$3900.00}, which was paid to the seller via XXXX 

I am requesting full relief through Bank of America and have  provided over 38 pages of evidence to support this request. Bank of America is now asking for a signed second opinion letter from another qualified merchant in the same profession, on their business letterhead, that specifically details how each disputed item listed on the merchant 's original invoice is considered defective or not as described. The letter should include an explanation of the steps that are necessary to correct the merchandise or services, along with an estimated cost to repair. 

Prior to making the {$3900.00} purchase using my Bank of America Mastercard, the bank did not provide me with any notice of this second opinion policy. The cost of a third party and lawyer 's time, including inspection and letter writing, as Bank of America Mastercard requests, would certainly exceed the value of the amount in dispute. I am filing a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as this second opinion policy is unreasonable given the amount of supporting evidence I have provided the bank and the cost to get a third party and lawyer involved.

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