Consumer complaint received 2023-05-02
Company: FIRST PORTFOLIO SERVICING INC
State: AZ
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 have had a First Access BankXXXX XXXX XXXX  credit card for a few years. Over the past few months, I've been trying to pay down the balance at $ XXXX ( my credit limit is only {$300.00} ) to pay off this card and move on. Unfortunately, I chose to receive my statements online at some point and have not paid as close attention to the account as should have happened. However, I believe I did receive an email notification about my statement being available on XX/XX/XXXX. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my balance was {$300.00}! Over the limit. And my payments had been received. Nor have I used this card for many months. In any case, I immediately went onto the First Access website and looked up the instructions for reporting fraud. The instructions stated that I would fill out a fraud affidavit form on their site and then fax it to their fraud department. I filled out the form, although there were not enough spaces for all the fraud I had found. I was a bit apprehensive about this product since there have been at least two occasions in the past where I found fraud on my account, went through this process, and never received any response from the company. I attached a copy of one of these fraud affidavits from XX/XX/XXXX. 
After 48 hours passed without me receiving an acknowledgment of my affidavit, I called customer service, who put me through to the fraud dispute department, which has an unlisted, unpublished phone number. I did speak with someone and followed it up with an email I sent on their website ( which has since mysteriously disappeared ). I believe the email was in response to spending over 2 hours on the phone with someone who ( a ) knew nothing about my affidavit as no one had recorded it and ( b ) went through every fraudulent charge I had found dating back to XX/XX/XXXX. Every transaction I reported was met with a deep sigh and a voice asking, " Is that everything NOW? '' The woman to whom I spoke, whose name is unknown to me, told me that it would take 30-90 days for the fraud department to `` investigate '' my claim, and my account would NOT be adjusted with any provisional credit until that time. I tried to explain that that was called a " permanent '' credit, not a provisional one and that I would be paying money I did not owe. After the person I spoke with explained that this was this " rule '' and nothing could be done about it, I sent my email through their website ; the only way to send them an email is they do not list an email address in customer support at all. In the letter, I explained that I had just had a rash of identity theft involving XXXX for the fourth or fifth time in the last three years and that every credit card I owned and my bank accounts had all suffered a loss. I further explained that I had already filled out fraud reports with every company and had received a provisional credit, which had become permanent credit within 48 hours of my report, as XXXX did not fight the charges in any of the cases and returned every dime to all of my accounts. I also expressed my concern that the uninterested-sounding woman to whom I had spoken had even reported all my charges and that by the next day, I expected a complete list of every incident for my records, along with a summation of when the credit would be received, the company 's timeline and plan for any investigation and that the card be terminated so that no one else could use such. I added my personal feelings that this company, knowing I was a XXXX American, was trying to " appease '' me while doing nothing, as had happened in the past, as they assumed I would not have the resources to fight them. I added that their behavior was illegal under the A.D.And if that was the case. I thought my letter had achieved its goals when I received a phone call from someone at First Access the next morning. This was the first time they had ever communicated by phone. I was assured that they were sending out a new affidavit of fraud that day which I was to sign and send back. Not every single incident of fraud I had reported was on this piece of paper. However, every charge from XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  to XX/XX/XXXXXXXX  was listed. I was assured that once I signed the document, the case would then " begin. '' Since this was now XX/XX/XXXX, I asked why the case hadn't started on XX/XX/XXXX, when they received my affidavit. I received no satisfactory answer, but I was told that I would receive my transitional credit within 7-10 business days. However, the full investigation " could '' take up to 90 days, and in the meantime, I would not be charged any monthly fees, interest, etc. In addition, I would not have to make another monthly payment until I had my new card, which was to have been sent that day, and I had a total amount that I owed minus interest, monthly fees, etc. The man I spoke to agreed to my requests, and thus, I signed the affidavit, which is attached hereto. Today, on XX/XX/XXXX, I received a reminder that my monthly payment was due to First Access on XX/XX/XXXX, with a minimum payment due of {$41.00}. I went online and was disturbed to see that my account was in the same condition as it had been on XX/XX/XXXX, the day the affidavit was signed, plus monthly and interest fees were added. I then made another phone call to First Access. Since apparently, their dispute department was no longer open at XXXX XXXX. P.S.T., I could only talk to a customer service representative, who looked up my account and let me know that ( a ) there was no report of any fraud investigation ; ( b ) my card which I had already sliced up was still open so more fraud could be committed and ( c ) that the " rules '' were, I had to wait 90 days to get a credit if I was going to get one. Since there was no one more XXXX  to speak with, I let her know that I would be reporting all of this to your agency. She did not appear concerned, as I don't believe she knew about the CFPB, the A.D.A., or any other federal government acronym which could apply to our dispute. 

Even with their lack of notification of the total amount of fraud, looking at the affidavit, there are charges which total over {$100.00} and perhaps over {$150.00}. This may be a small amount, but when the card limit is {$300.00}, it's significant.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation