Consumer complaint received 2021-09-29
Company: CITIBANK, N.A.
State: CA
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:
On XX/XX/2021 I purchased concert tickets that I never received from the merchant. They charged my card for the concert tickets, but never gave me my tickets. Its a total of 3 converts, in the following amounts : {$590.00}, {$59.00}, and {$350.00}. I immediately notified my card company, CITI CARDS, and opened a dispute on XX/XX/2021. They issued me a temporary credit and I didnt hear back from them until XX/XX/2021 ( almost two months later ) saying the merchant responded and I was responsible. They didnt tell me what the merchant said as to why I was responsible. I called in, and CITI CARDS asked me to sign and return a document with a written statement as to why I should not be found responsible so they can go back to the merchant. I did that, and a couple days later they denied my claim again. I called back in, and they asked me for an email updating them letting them know that at this point, over 2 months later, the concerts have passed and I never received my tickets nor attended the concerts. I did as they asked, and today I got another notification that my claim was still being denied. I called in and they said that the merchant is asking for proof that I requested a cancellation. I called the merchant several times, and they were unresponsive. I didnt email them because they are in a different country and I didnt feel comfortable emailing a foreign email address. They asked me for my phone records. I am trying to find those, but they want to pin this on me because I didnt email them or have any paper trail. The reason why I dont is because I notified my card company, CITI CARDS, the people who are denying my claim, immediately when I knew I was receiving what I paid for and because they didnt get back to me for almost two months, thats why I dont have any paper trail. They never communicated to me that I should have been reaching out to the merchant via email, or whatever other method, to continue to request cancellation. The times I tried, they did not answer my calls, so I thought the safest thing to do was to notify my card Company. Now it seems like that was a mistake because they are taking sides with the merchant and stressing me out because I can not get my money back. I told them the concerts already happened, and I never received my tickets. Why dont they ask the merchant for proof that I received the tickets instead? That way they can see that the merchant doesnt have that proof because I NEVER received my tickets. Instead of harassing me and making me feel like Im the fraudulent person in the transaction. I have cooperated with them all along hoping they will protect me and my money, their customer. Instead they are siding with the merchant in making me feel like I am in the wrong when they had me mislead by allowing the merchant almost 2 months to answer and still come back only to request paper trail. I resorted to the people I thought I can trust, my credit card company CITI CARDS, and they have failed me greatly up until this point. Please help me in getting them to stand up for me, their customer.

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